GTC Board - Minutes

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GENESEE TRANSPORTATION COUNCIL

QUARTERLY BOARD MEETING

Radisson Hotel

Henrietta, NY

March 9, 2006

GTC BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT

Maggie Brooks, Monroe County (GTC Chairperson)

Robert Duffy, City of Rochester

Mary Pat Hancock, Genesee County

Paul E. Haney, Rochester At-Large

James Hoffman, Wayne County

Daniel Hogan, Monroe County At-Large

Esther Leadley, Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Council

Edward Marianetti, Monroe County At-Large

Robert Shipley, Seneca County

Wayne Zyra, Monroe County

ALTERNATE REPRESENTATIVES PRESENT

Leslie Bamann, Ontario County, representing Theodore Fafinski

David Cook, RGRTA, representing John G. Doyle, Jr.

Joan Dupont, NYSDOT Region 4, representing Thomas Madison

E. Joseph Gozelski, Wyoming County, representing A. Douglas Berwanger

Robert Griffith, Federal Highway Administration, representing Robert Arnold

Ed Houseknecht, Orleans County, representing George Bower

Paul Johnson, Monroe County Planning Board, representing Bonnie Pedrick-Coles

Edward G. Muszynski, Empire State Development Corporation, representing Charles Gargano

Thomas Pericak, NYS Thruway Authority, representing Michael Fleischer

William Sullivan, Rochester City Council, representing Lois Giess

Chris Wilson, Yates County, representing Robert Multer

David Woods, Livingston County, representing James Merrick

GTC BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT AND UNREPRESENTED

Philip Brito, Federal Aviation Administration

Tracy Logel, Monroe County Supervisors Association

Denise M. Sheehan, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation

Letitia Thompson, Federal Transit Administration

Vacant, Rochester City Planning Commission

OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE

Deborah Elliott, GTC Staff

Erik Frisch, GTC Staff

Ron Hayes, NYSDOT

Dan Hallowell, NYSDOT

Paul Holahan, City of Rochester

Kristen Mark Hughes, Ontario County

David Lyon, Town of Palmyra

Patricia Malgieri, City of Rochester

Kevin OBuckley, NYSDOT Region 4

Richard Perrin, GTC Staff

Terrence J. Rice, Monroe County

Robert Slaver, NYSDOT Region 4

James Stack, GTC Staff

John Thomas, City of Rochester

David Zorn, G/FLRPC

 

1. Call to Order and Roll Call

Richard Perrin called the meeting to order at 8:37 a.m.

James Stack, GTC staff, called the roll; a quorum was present.

2. Public Forum

No one from the public spoke during the Public Forum.

3. Election of Officers

Richard Perrin noted that Marvin Decker, the immediate-past GTC Chairman, appointed a Nominating Committee to identify and nominate candidates for the positions of Chair and Vice-Chair. The Committee included Terry Rice of Monroe County Department of Transporation, David Woods of Livingston County Planning, and Ed Doherty formerly of the City of Rochester Department of Environmental Services.

The Nominating Committee nominated Maggie Brooks, Monroe County Executive, for the office of Chairperson and Robert Shipley, Seneca County Board of Supervisors, for the office of Vice Chairperson. Additional nominations were solicited from the floor. No additional nominations were made.

William Sullivan moved to approve the nominations for the GTC Board; Wayne Zyra seconded the motion. The motion passed unopposed.

Maggie Brooks thanked the GTC Board and asked everyone present to introduce themselves.

4. Approval of Minutes

Dan Hogan moved for approval of the minutes from the December 8, 2005 GTC Quarterly Board meeting; Paul Haney seconded the motion. The minutes were approved as submitted.

5. Communications and Announcements

         Richard Perrin announced the following appointments to the GTC Board:

      By his election as Mayor of Rochester, Robert Duffy has become a GTC Board member and designated Paul Holahan as his alternate

      By his election as Chairman of the Ontario County Board of Supervisors, Theodore Fafinski, Supervisor of the Town of Farmington, has become a GTC Board member and designated Leslie Bamann, Supervisor of the Town of Victor, as his alternate

      By his election as Chairman of the Wayne County Board of Supervisors, James Hoffmann, Supervisor of the Town of Williamson, has become a GTC Board member

      By his election as Chairman of the Orleans County Legislature, George Bower, At-Large Legislator, has become a GTC Board member and has designated Edward Houseknecht, Orleans County Highway Superintendent, as his alternate

      Yates County Legislature Chairman Robert Multer has designated District 3 Legislators Deborah Flood and Nancy Taylor as alternates

      Livingston County Board of Supervisors Chairman James Merrick has re-designated David Woods as his alternate

6. Reports and Action on Old Business

a.      Planning Committee Report David Woods, Chairman

David Woods provided the following report:

The Planning Committee met January 12 and February 16, 2006 and recommends that the GTC Board:

         Adopt the FY 2006-2007 Unified Planning Work Program

         Adopt 14 amendments to the 2005-2010 Transportation Improvement Program as requested by:

      The Main & Clinton Local Development Corporation

      The Town of Penfield

      Monroe County

      The New York State Department of Transportation

      The City of Rochester

      The Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority

         Accept the following final project reports as evidence of completion of their respective UPWP Task

      Transportation Safety Information Analysis (Task 4600)

      Horizontal Alignment Safety Study (Task 6200)

Additionally, the Planning Committee took the following actions:

         Approved the FY 2006-07 Unified Planning Work Program Public Review Document

         Amended the 2005-2010 Transportation Improvement Program to more accurately describe the Renaissance Square and RTS Fare Collection System Replacement projects

         Approved scopes of work for the following Unified Planning Work Program projects:

      Accident Rate Database Project (Task 4380)

      Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan for the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region (Task 5500)

      Safe Passing Zone Survey (Task 6620)

      Travel Time Data Collection Assessment (Task 7120)

      Coordinated Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan (Task 8150)

      RTS/Lift Line Operational Analysis & Facility Utilization Study (Proposed Task 8420)

b.      GTC Staff Report Richard Perrin, Executive Director

Richard Perrin provided the following report:

         Staff have put a large amount of effort into working with the Unified Planning Work Program Development Committee and the Planning Committee to develop the FY 2006-2007 UPWP for your consideration and will be discussed further as part of agenda item 7.a.

         Staff are advancing a Strategic Plan to identify the administrative and programmatic priorities as well as associated resource requirements necessary to effectively execute its responsibilities to the GTC Board. Staff have met several times over the past six weeks to identify customers, develop vision statements, define organizational values, and conduct an assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats

         Staff are also continuing work on Air Quality planning activities related to validation of the GTC Travel Demand Model, classification of new projects for which funds are earmarked in the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act a Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU) and FFY 2006 U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Appropriations Act, and criteria for selecting projects to receive Congestion Mitigation Air Quality funds

         In addition, GTC has continued to provide technical assistance to member agencies and communities throughout the region via travel demand modeling, data analysis and collection, and mapping

c. Old Business

There was no old business.

7. New Business

a.      Adopting the FY 2006-2007 Unified Planning Work Program Action on Proposed Resolution 06-2

The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) is the annual program of work activities to be undertaken by or on behalf of GTC staff, member agencies, and municipalities in the region between April 1, 2006 and March 31, 2007.

The FY 2006-2007 UPWP includes $1.7 million of new funds and $1.2 million of rollover funds. $830,000 is allocated for GTC Staff activities and expenses (approximately 2% more than was allocated for GTC staff in the previous fiscal year) which include transportation planning and programming activities, rent, retiree expenses, health care, salary, fringe, and capital.

A solicitation for proposals from member agencies and municipalities in the region was issued in September 2005 with proposals due October 28, 2005. An applicant workshop was held October 12 at the Henrietta Town Hall.

Forty-one proposals were received 33 from the region and eight from GTC staff. The UPWP Development Committee (UDC) met December 5, 13, and 15, 2005 to review the proposals and produce a draft program of projects for Planning Committee review. The Planning Committee reviewed the draft program of projects as submitted by the UDC and recommended it for public review at its January 12, 2006 meeting. A 30-day public review period ran from January 13 to February 14, 2006 with copies of the draft program available at the central repository libraries in Monroe, Livingston, Ontario, and Wayne Counties, eight county planning offices in the region, NYSDOT Region 4 office, GTC office, and on the GTC website. No public comments were received.

The Planning Committee reviewed and recommended the draft document for approval at its February 16, 2006 meeting.

Highlights of the draft FY 2006-2007 UPWP include continued funding for the Monroe County and Regional Land Use Monitoring Reports, the Priority Trails Advancement Program, and Regional Traffic Count Collection.

New projects include those that respond to SAFETEA-LU mandates such as the Long Range Transportation Plan Non-air Environmental Scan, Monroe County High Accident Location Program and Overhead Traffic Sign Visibility Upgrade, Route 96 Traffic Signal Coordination Study, and Circulation, Accessibility and Parking program among others.

The Circulation, Access, and Parking Program allocates $200,000 to conduct studies in four communities to enhance the transportation systems contribution to village, hamlet, and city neighborhood quality of life and economic development.

Esther Leadley moved to approve Resolution 06-2; Edward Marianetti seconded. The motion passed unopposed.

b. Accepting the final project reports as evidence of completion of various UPWP tasks

Chairperson Brooks suggested that proposed Resolutions 06-1 and 06-3 be considered under one motion. The Board concurred.

(1) Accepting the report, Horizontal Alignment Safety study, as evidence of completion of UPWP Task 6200 Action on Proposed Resolution 06-1

Richard Perrin stated that Livingston County conducted this study which identified 274 curves on the 250-mile Livingston County road network and inventoried and assessed the more than 1,000 signs associated with these curves. A geographic information systems database was developed with location and condition information, and prioritization of signs for improvement or replacement was completed. The study was conducted by Livingston County staff and recommended for GTC Board approval by the GTC Planning Committee at its January 12 meeting.

(2) Accepting the technical memorandum, Transportation Safety Information Analysis, as evidence of completion of UPWP Task 4600 Action on Proposed Resolution 06-3

Richard Perrin stated that GTC staff conducted this study which assessed the quality of and access to motor vehicle accident data in the region. The study consisted of a roundtable of information users (transportation planning and engineering consultants) to identify issues and opportunities. A survey of information providers (law enforcement agencies and NYS Department of Motor Vehicles) regarding current practices and development of recommendations to improve quality, timeliness, and format the data was completed.

Richard noted that proposed Resolutions 06-1 and 06-3 were reviewed and recommended for approval at the February 16, 2006 Planning Committee meeting.

David Woods moved to approve Resolutions 06-1 and 06-3; E. Joseph Gozelski seconded. The motion passed unopposed.

c. Adopting amendments to the 2005-2010 Transportation Improvement Program

Richard Perrin noted the transmittal memo on pages 45 through 49 summarizes the proposed amendments. Eleven of the 14 amendments are the acceptance of federal discretionary funds included in SAFETEA-LU and the FFY 2006 USDOT Appropriations Act. SAFETEA-LU provides specific guidance on how funds are allocated on a percentage basis by year and project sponsors can advance the projects at their own risk. The remaining three amendments are the result of additional Federal Transit Administration funds allocated to the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority above the estimates used to develop the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) last spring. USDOT requires that amendments to the TIP be within available funding limits to maintain fiscal constraint. These 14 amendments meet all fiscal constraint criteria. Discretionary funds can only be used for the projects specified in the respective legislation and are not available to other agencies.

Chairperson Brooks suggested that proposed Resolutions 06-4 through 06-17 be considered under one motion.

Paul Haney requested that proposed Resolution 06-4 be considered separately from the others.

The Board agreed to consider proposed Resolutions 06-5 through 06-17 under one motion and proposed Resolution 06-4 separately.

(1) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by increasing the total cost of the Renaissance Square project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-4

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment noting that revenues to the project would be increased by $27,803,750 through earmarks included in SAFETEA-LU and the FFY 2006 USDOT Appropriations Act.

Richard noted that the proposed Resolution was reviewed and recommended for approval at the February 16, 2006 Planning Committee meeting.

Wayne Zyra moved to approve Resolution 06-4; Dan Hogan seconded. The motion passed with 1 opposed.

Paul Haney asked if there is an estimate of the operating expenses for the bus terminal and who would pay for it.

Richard responded that the TIP is meant to program funds and that operating costs cannot be determined until the design phase of the project is near completion or has been completed.

(2) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by adding the Daytona Avenue Highway Improvement project - Action on Proposed Resolution 06-5

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(3) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by adding the John Street Extension, Bailey Road to Lehigh Station Road project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-6

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(4) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by adding the Lake Road (Seaway Trail), NY Rte. 250 to Monroe-Wayne County Line Road project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-7

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(5) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by increasing the total cost of the Route 590 Reconstruction; Titus to SeaBreeze project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-8

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(6) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by increasing the total cost of the Route 531 Extension (Rt 36 to Brockport) project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-9

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(7) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by adding the Research at RIT Alternative fuels and Life-Cycle Engineering project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-10

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(8) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by adding the University Avenue/ArtWalk II project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-11

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(9) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by adding the Brooks Landing Transportation Improvement project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-12

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(10) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by increasing the total cost of the Preventive Maintenance project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-13

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(11) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by combining two Lift Line Bus Replacement projects and decreasing the total cost of the two projects Action on Proposed Resolution 06-14

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(12) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by increasing the total cost of the Livingston County Transportation Center project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-15

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(13) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by adding the RGRTA IT Software Systems project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-16

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

(14) Amending the 2005-2010 TIP by increasing the total cost of the Broad Street Tunnel East Approach/Aqueduct project Action on Proposed Resolution 06-17

Richard Perrin reviewed the amendment.

Richard noted that the proposed Resolutions were reviewed and recommended for approval at the February 16, 2006 Planning Committee meeting.

Dan Hogan moved to approve Resolutions 06-5 through 06-17; Robert Duffy seconded. The motion passed unopposed.

David Woods noted that Livingston County is in full support of the Livingston County Transportation Project, Resolution 06-15.

Paul Haney asked why the Right-of-Way costs for the Route 590 project were increasing if the road is being narrowed.

Joan Dupont responded that the northern end of the road will be shifted to the west and meet Culver Road in a new location which will require additional land.

Ed Muszynski inquired about the status of the Aqueduct project. Paul Holahan responded that the new administration is reviewing all of the projects related to the Aqueduct and is committed to advancing all of the projects, including that one. These funds will allow the design to advance.

Maggie Brooks noted that this Board meeting and the next will have a significant number of TIP amendments due to the fact that this region and its congressional delegation worked hard to secure discretionary funds in SAFETEA-LU and the FFY 2006 USDOT Appropriations Act.

8. Any Other New Business

a. 2006 Meeting Calendar

Richard Perrin noted the Meeting Calendar for 2006, included in the package, provides dates, times, and locations for all GTC Board and Planning Committee meetings in 2006.

Richard Perrin notified the Board and others present that the printed version of the Long R ange Transportation Plan for the Genesee-Finger Lakes Region: 2005-2025 is available for distribution after the meeting.

9.                 Next Meeting

The next Board meeting will be held Thursday, June 15, 2006 at 8:30 a.m. at the Radisson Hotel in Henrietta.

10. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 9:15 a.m.