[s1]CAPITAL
DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE
Meeting Minutes
December 2, 2010
MEMBERS ATTENDING
Carm Basile, Capital
District Transportation Authority
Sarah Crowell,
representing Mayor Daniel Dwyer, City of
Rensselaer
Michael Franchini,
representing Michael Breslin, Albany County
Mayor James Gaughan,
Village of Altamont
Terry Hurley, Albany Port
District Commission
Steve Iachetta,
representing John O, Donnell, Albany County
Airport Authority
Mary Ivey, NYS Department
of Transportation Region 1, Secretary
Andrew
Kreshik, representing Mayor Harry Tutunjian, City of Troy
Joseph LaCivita,
representing Paula Mahan, Town of Colonie
Mayor John T. McDonald
Rosemary Nichols,
representing Mayor Michael Manning, City of
Watervliet
Joe Rich, Federal Highway
Administration
Deidre Rudolph,
representing Mayor Gerald Jennings, City of
Albany
Phil Serafino,
representing William Rinaldi, NYS Thruway
Authority
Linda von der Heide,
representing Kathleen Jimino, Rensselaer
County
Tom Werner, Saratoga
County
Rob Cherry, NYS Department of Transportation Region 1
Maria Chau, Federal Highway Administration
Jim Digioia, Interested Citizen
David Jukins, Capital District Transportation Committee
Sandra Misiewicz, Capital District Transportation
Committee
Christopher O’Neill, Capital District Transportation
Committee
John Poorman, Capital District Transportation Committee
OPENING REMARKS
Chairman McDonald opened the
Capital District Transportation Committee meeting at 3:05 pm and welcomed those
in attendance. Members and attendees
introduced themselves.
Approval of the September 2, 2010 Meeting Minutes
The September 2, 2010 meeting
minutes were accepted as written.
Administrative & Financial Standing Subcommittee
Report
The A&F Standing Subcommittee
has not met since the last Policy Board meeting. A meeting is scheduled for later this month. The A&F will review the 2009-10 Audit
Report, review the draft policy for CDTC’s use of social media and will make
recommendations regarding CDTC’s 2011 Staffing Plan.
Appointment of the 2011 Nominating Subcommittee
It is the responsibility of
the Board chairman to appoint the nominating subcommittee. Tom Werner, Mary Ivey, Carmino Basile, Mike
Breslin and Kathy Jimino were appointed to the nominating subcommittee.
The nominating subcommittee
will meet in February 2011 to discuss nominations for Policy Board action in
March regarding:
• officers for 2011-12
• town and village at-large
members on the policy board
• town and village at-large
members on the planning committee.
PRIVILEGE OF THE FLOOR
Chairman McDonald indicated that CDTC provides an
opportunity for visitors to address items on the agenda. No one
from the public attending the meeting made a request to speak.
PRESENTATION —ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Joe Rich from FHWA attended
the meeting and presented a PowerPoint on Energy Efficiency and Climate
Change. This PowerPoint summarized some
of the items that were published in a FHWA report that Joe authored, entitled, A Federal Scan of Energy Efficiency and Climate
Change Activities. Joe noted that
some people do not believe in the relationship between Greenhouse Gas Emissions
and Global Warming, but noted that FHWA and NYS both believe in the
relationship. Joe provided some
interesting statistics regarding New York State’s reliance on foreign fuel
sources and on greenhouse gas emissions.
The Scan found that State and local agencies in New York are actively involved
in pursuing energy efficiency and conservation, reducing reliance on fossil
fuel and reducing the carbon footprint. Additional
information was provided about a wide variety of measures and programs that
affect greenhouse gas emissions, such as smart growth, cap and trade incentives
and disincentives, the NYS Smart Growth Act, and the Governors initiative to
reduce greenhouse gases by 80% by 2050.
The entire report will be posted on CDTC’s website.
An
update of the New Visions Plan will be needed by October 2011. This short time
frame will not allow an in-depth, comprehensive update to the plan. Chris O’Neill briefly outlined the proposed
approach for meeting the update deadline.
CDTC staff proposes that CDTC pursue a maintenance plan update
consisting of staff work to produce brief status reports on all key aspects of
the New Visions 2030 Plan; opportunities for Planning and Policy members and
other interested parties to comment on the assessments and contribute ideas for
consideration in scoping out the subsequent plan update; extension of the
horizon and conformity determination, and adoption. Members approved the proposed approach for
updating the New Visions Plan.
2007-12 TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM AMENDMENTS
T9 Facility Improvements
CDTA submitted two
applications for Earmarks for roof replacement at the Albany Bus Garage. CDTA was successful, with the help of Congressman
Paul Tonko, in receiving funding. CDTA
is working with NYSERDA to install “green” infrastructure. Members approved the amendment as presented.
An update of the Capital District
Air Quality Conformity determination is required because a project in the City
of Amsterdam has been determined to be non-exempt for the purpose of transportation/air
quality conformity. Chris O’Neill stated
that although Montgomery County is outside the CDTC Planning area, it is part
of the Albany-Schenectady-Troy metropolitan non-attainment area for the 8-hour
ozone standard. Chris will prepare a
revised Conformity determination in December.
Given the timing, CDTC staff requests that the Policy Board give
authorization to the Planning Committee to approve the revised Conformity
Document. A thirty day public review
period is required, which would commence on January 5th after the
Planning Committee meets. Policy Board
members approved this approach to revising the Conformity document.
STATUS REPORT ON FINANCIAL PROSPECTS
A copy of the letter that
Stanley Gee wrote to Senator Gillabrand and Senator Schumer and a copy of a
summary of the Thomas DiNapoili report entitled, Planning for the Long Term: Capital Spending reform in NYS were
distributed to members. The current extension of the SAFETEA-LU legislation
expires at midnight on December 3rd.
If this bill is not extended again, the federal funding that provides
the backbone for maintaining and improving New York State’s highways, bridges
and transit systems will cease. Discussion
centered on the federal gas tax, state dedicated fund issues, the deficit
reduction commission, and the highway trust fund.
STATUS REPORTS ON MAJOR CAPITAL
Tiger II Grants — TIGER II awards were announced recently. $600 million was available nationally; two
NYS projects were funded totaling $26 million (Niagara Falls Train Station and
Bronx Intermodal Station)
HUD Sustainable Communities
Regional Planning Grant — Todd Fabozzi reported that
despite an excellent application, with 11 project partners, the Capital
Region’s application to HUD was not approved for funding. About 40 applications were funded nationwide
out of 260 applications submitted. CDRPC
scheduled an exit interview with HUD which will be held on December 3rd. Feedback gained at the exit interview should
help strengthen the application in the event of a second round of funding.
Transportation Enhancement
Program (TEP)/Safe Routes To School — CDTC staff worked with the
NYSDOT Main Office and the other NYS MPOs to iron out the evaluation process
for the TEP program. As a result, one ranked list will be submitted for the
region. It is anticipated that a TEP solicitation for funding will be
advertised in early 2011. Solicitations
for the Safe Routes to School Program will likely be advertised in 2012.
Patroon Island Bridge — NYSDOT reported that the project scoping report will be circulated
shortly. The report will indicate that
rehabilitation is preferred over replacement as it will cost about one third
the cost of replacing the bridge. John
Poorman noted that the scoping document was directly related to the NYSDOT
sponsored Hudson River Crossing Study corroborating the positive relationship
between planning and implementation.
Livingston Avenue Bridge — Scoping has begun with NYSDOT taking the lead, even though NYSDOT does
not own the bridge. CDTC, the cities of
Albany and Rensselaer, NYSDOT and others have stressed the importance of reinstituting
bicycle and pedestrian access on the bridge.
High Speed Rail — Chris O’Neill and David
Jukins represent CDTC on the Empire Corridor Committee which is looking at High
Speed Rail in NYS. Two million dollars
is earmarked for a study to look at options for the entire Empire Corridor.
Erie Mohawk Corridor — NYSDOT is sponsoring a
study to investigate multi modal issues and concerns, including highway access,
freight, passenger rail, transit and trails along the Erie Mohawk Corridor,
from Massachusetts to Buffalo. This
study will be coordinated with the High Speed Rail Study to avoid duplication
of effort. Chris O’Neill represents CDTC
on the study advisory committee.
STATUS OF PLANNING
CDTA
CDTA recently completed another round of service
consolidations. Bus Rapid Transit, or
BusPlus, is on target to begin on April 3, 2011. BusPlus stations are being erected along the
NYSDOT
NYSDOT has been dealing with the impact of losing a
large portion of their workforce due to the retirement incentive and
layoffs. Some restructuring will take
place. Eighteen of the 23 Capital
District ARRA projects are complete, three are nearly complete.
Albany
Airport Authority
The Airport just completed a $3.5M job in asphalt
rehabilitation; another $3.5M asphalt rehabilitation project will commence in
the Spring.
Albany
Port Authority
Maritime volume has increased the last two quarters.
The Port is gearing up for a marked
increase in volume in 2011 do to increased grain production. The Dock and Wharf improvements will be
complete by June 2011.
CDTC
Project applications for the 2011-12 Linkage program
are due on December 17th. The
emphasis for this round of Linkage Studies is on implementation. The I-87/US 9 Integrated Corridor Planning Study
should begin shortly (the contract with the consultant has recently been
signed). PB America was chosen as the
consultant team for the project.
ADJOURNMENT
There
being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at approximately 4:30 pm. The next meeting is scheduled for 3:00 pm,
Thursday March 3, 2011.
Respectfully
submitted,
Mary
E. Ivey
Secretary