PLANNING
COMMITTEE MEETING
Meeting Minutes
May 2, 2007
Geoff Bornemann, City of Saratoga Springs (Vice-Chairman)
Judy Breselor, City of Troy
Steve Feeney, Schenectady County
Rocky Ferraro, Capital District Regional Planning Commission
Michael Franchini, Albany County (Chairman)
Steve Iachetta, Albany County Airport Authority
Barb McHugh, Town of Clifton Park
John Poorman, Capital District Transportation Committee (Secretary)
Dave Rettig, NYSDOT Region 1
Dede Rudolph, City of Albany
Phil Serafino, representing
Bill Rinaldi, New York State Thruway Authority
Denise Sheehan, Town of Colonie
Mike Valentine, Saratoga County Planning
Kristina Younger, Capital District Transportation Authority
STAFF AND OTHERS
Anne Benware, Capital District Transportation Committee
Frank Bonafide, NYSDOT Region 1
Patrick Campbell, Capital District Transportation Authority
Peter Comenzo, Town of Rotterdam
Todd Fabozzi, Capital District Regional Planning Commission
Dave Jukins, Capital District Transportation Committee
Teresa LaSalle, Capital District Transportation Committee
Sandra Misiewicz, Capital District Transportation Committee
Michael Morris, FHWA
Sreekumar Nampoothiri, Capital District Transportation Committee
Philip Parella, Jr., Capital District Transportation Authority
Jason Purvis, Capital District Transportation Committee
Paul Reuss, Village
of Menands
Deb Stacey, Capital District Transportation Committee
John Stangle, Town of Colonie
Steve Watts, Town of Halfmoon
VISITORS ISSUES
Chairman Franchini opened the meeting at approximately 9:40 am. There were no
visitor’s issues.
PRESENTATION BY JOHN POORMAN ON NEW VISIONS 2030
John Poorman presented a brief summary of the New Vision
2030 effort, outlining SAFETEA-LU requirements, the success of the New Visions
elements as outlined in the 2010, 2021 and 2025 plans, and the process that is
being used to develop a more detailed New Visions 2030 Plan. The 2030 plan will
not be a 250 page document, but will maintain the original material and
cross-reference the new work that has been performed under the five working
groups, the Quality Region Task Force, the Bike/Ped Task Force and other
efforts. The goal is to be
SAFETEA-LU compliant by July 1st, 2007 and to have an adopted final New Visions 2030 Plan by December 31st, 2007.
Action Items
Approval
of the April 4, 2005 Meeting
Minutes
The minutes of the April 4, 2004 meeting were approved.
SAFETEA-LU COMPLIANCE/SAFETEA-LU ELEMENTS OF NEW VISIONS 2030
Draft
Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan
Deb Stacey reviewed the previously-distributed summary of the
proposed Draft Coordinated Plan. Monies
programmed under the JARC, Section 5310 and New Freedom programs cannot be allocated
or spent in the Capital District unless a “coordinated plan” is in place and
adopted by CDTC. The plan recommends
that the current JARC activities continue, that the coordination element of the
evaluation of Section 5310 applications be weighted more heavily and that
mobility management projects be given special consideration under the New Freedom
solicitation.
Denise Sheehan questioned the coordination aspect of the section 5310
evaluation process. Agencies that
currently coordinate service will be given priority over those that do not, but
those that currently do not coordinate will not be precluded from receiving
funds in the first year that the new rules take effect. The members approved the plan.
Draft
Safety Planning in the Capital District
Sandy Misiewicz reviewed the previously-distributed summary of the
draft Safety Plan. SAFETEA-LU introduced
a new safety planning factor for MPOs to incorporate into their planning and
programming activities. The Plan looked
at Safety requirements, NY State’s Approach and CDTC’s approach to integrating
safety in its planning and programming policies. A new safety principle was created for
inclusion in the New Visions 2030 Plan.
A few Planning Committee members questioned the meaning
of “reasonable range of tolerance” as it pertained to the new principle. After discussion, it was recommended that the
principle be re-worded to read, “…reasonable range of risk…”. The members approved this document and
principle with the correction noted.
Draft
Security Section of New Visions
Jason Purvis reviewed the previously-distributed summary of the
draft Security section of New Visions.
SAFETEA-LU requires that security of the transportation system be a
stand alone planning factor. To meet
these requirements, CDTC will work with and support NYS, CDTA and other agencies
responsible for security by providing a forum for discussion, provide funding
strategies and assist with transportation modeling. The draft Security section was approved by
the members.
Draft
Working Group A Report
Consideration of different growth scenarios is required
by SAFETEA-LU. The New Visions 2030 Working
Group A examined four growth scenarios for the Capital District. The Working
Group A report, which was completed in 2005 was amended with the transportation
analysis of the CEG Economic Modeling/ Benchmarking Study that was conducted in
2006. The members approved the Working
Group A document with the caveat that a bullet regarding fuel availability and
one regarding land use and transportation be added to the summary document.
Draft Environmental
Mitigation and Consultation Requirements of SAFETEA-LU
SAFETEA-LU requires a discussion of the types of
potential environmental mitigation activities that may have the greatest
potential to restore and maintain the environmental functions affected by the
long-range regional transportation plan.
To meet these requirements, CDTC staff will review the TIP projects to
determine if any have the potential to impact the environment. Staff has also
created a new mailing list that will be used to solicit input on potential
environmental mitigation activities. It
is recommended that CDTC reach out to NYSDEC and request their participation at
the CDTC table. Discussion regarding the
environmental aspect of the TIP project evaluation process ensued; members approved
the plan with a recommendation to modify the environmental element of the
project justification package.
Draft Metropolitan
Congestion Management Process
The Congestion Management Process is an update to CDTC’s
Congestion Management System that has been in place and operational since
1995. The CMP includes new performance
measures, new data sources and introduces three new congestion management
principles. Mike Valentine suggested that principle #3 should be added or
cross-referenced to the Working group E work.
Kristina Younger requested that an “h” be added to principle #10, noting
that roundabout design should consider transit stop issues. The members approved the CMP with the
corrections noted.
Draft Self-Certification
Self-Certification of CDTC’s Planning process is
required annually, and must be adopted prior to the adoption of the TIP. Federal certification occurs every four
years. Rocky Ferraro recommended that
the relationship between CDTC and CDRPC be described (as excellent) under the
“roles and responsibilities” section on page 1.
Members approved the Self-certification with Mr. Ferraro’s note added.
Other
Members suggested that the material distributed be
packaged with page numbers and with DRAFT clearly marked on each document.
2005-10 TRANSPORTATION
IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM REVISIONS
SA133
(1754.55) South Broadway/Ballston Ave.
Improvements
The City of Saratoga Springs is requesting this amendment because there is a design
phase which wasn’t noted in the existing TIP Listing. Dave
Rettig indicated that NYSDOT is reviewing
all of the TIP projects and will be recommending changes for some projects because
of over-programming issues. No projects
will be deleted, but the phasing might be pushed to the outer years of the
TIP. Project SA133 is one such
project. John Poorman indicated that the
members should vote on the amendment and will have a chance to look at the
changes that NYSDOT is proposing at the next (May 23rd) Planning Committee
meeting. The members approved the amendment
with Dave Rettig abstaining.
T17
(1820.48) Replacement Transit Vehicles
CDTA is requesting this amendment because Section 5309
monies were not fully earmarked by congress last year and FTA has the left over
monies that will be awarded by solicitation.
The solicitation will be for projects that can be obligated by September 30, 2007. However, these
monies ($5M) must show in the TIP as a discretionary source before CDTA can
apply for the monies. CDTA is also
requesting that the current listing read “transit bus purchase” rather than
“transit bus replacement”. The members
approved the amendment.
2007-12 TRANSPORTATION
IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM UPDATE
Issues to
be Resolved
The discussion of the 2007-12 TIP Update was tabled
until the mid-may Planning Committee meeting because NYSDOT has not completed
their analysis of the TIP given the over-programming issues. The members requested NYSDOT to distribute
proposed changes prior to the mid-May meeting.
NEW VISIONS 2030 ELEMENTS
Draft
Updated Bicycle and Pedestrian Game Plan and Toolbox
Jason Purvis reported that this Plan was reviewed by the Planning
committee last month and that a summary was prepared and a few other minor
changes were made to the document. The Bicycle and Pedestrian task force has
been active since 1995 and is interested in continuing to be involved in
decisions and actions. Dave Rettig voiced his concern that the regional greenway concept
was getting greater support as a “Big Ticket” item than the other initiatives
outlined in Working group C’s report.
Kristina Younger countered with the fact that the Greenway is one of the
only affordable Big Ticket items. John Poorman suggested that Dave Rettig’s concerns could be accommodated by rewording the
paragraph, putting the second sentence first, and noting that the task force is
very interested in pursuing the Regional Greenway Concept. Mike Valentine requested a rewording of the
sixth short term bullet to reflect that not all localities have planning
departments and/or municipal plans. The
members adopted the Plan with the corrections noted.
Draft
Updated Environmental Justice Report
The Updated Environmental Justice (EJ) report is an
update to the existing plan which was required under an Executive order issued
by President Clinton. The update
primarily focused on identifying any significant EJ issues relating to the
2007-2012 TIP Projects. Currently, of the 246 projects on the proposed TIP, 48%
are located within EJ areas. Apart from
the initial disruption caused by construction work, the TIP projects do not
negatively impact these EJ areas.
Overall the projects enhance safety, accessibility and the quality of
life in EJ areas. Members approved the
Update to the EJ Report.
Discussion Items
OTHER
It was pre-determined that this meeting would end at noon and that the remaining New Visions Elements and TIP
issues would be discussed at the May 23rd Planning Committee
meeting. At that meeting, the schedule of the Policy Board will also be
discussed.
There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned
at 12:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
John P. Poorman
Secretary