Policy Committee Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
Attendees Agency
A/GFTC Committee Members
Mitch Suprenant, Chair Supervisor, Town of Fort Edward
John Strough, Vice‐Chair Supervisor, Town of Queensbury
Frank Bonafide RPPM, NYSDOT Region 1
Mike Breault Washington County DPW
Gardner Congdon Supervisor, Town of Moreau
Cassie Fedler Supervisor, Town of Cambridge
Kevin Geraghty Chairman, Warren County Board of Supervisors
Bob Henke Chairman, Washington County Board of Supervisors
Dana Hogan Supervisor, Town of Kingsbury
Laura Oswald Washington County
Scott Sopczyk Greater Glens Falls Transit
Frank Thomas Supervisor, Town of Stony Creek
Mike Valentine Saratoga County Planning Department
Mo Wright Chairman, Saratoga County Board of Supervisors
Timothy Zinn Washington County DPW
Other Participants
Amy Collins City of Glens Falls
A/GFTC Staff
Aaron Frankenfeld
Kate Mance
1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Visitors Issues
3. Administrative Items ‐
A. 2016 Committee Update ‐ Aaron listed the updated committee roster (distributed as handout) for
Calendar Year 2016:
chairmanship of the Transportation Council has rotated back to Washington County for
2016; thanks to Mitch Suprenant, Supervisor of the Town of Fort Edward, for agreeing to
once again chair the Policy Committee and thanks as well to Warren County Chairman of the
Board of Supervisors Kevin Geraghty for serving as Chair for the last two years.
John Strough, Supervisor of the Town of Queensbury, has been selected by Kevin Geraghty
to serve as Vice‐Chair
Sam Zhou, Regional Director of NYSDOT Region 1, continues as Council Secretary
Adirondack / Glens Falls Transportation Council
11 South Street, Suite 203
Glens Falls, NY 12801
p: (518) 223 – 0086 f: (518) 223 – 0584
info@agftc.org
www.agftc.org
Welcome to our new members, including:
o Bob Henke, Chairman of the Washington County Board of Supervisors
o Gardner Congdon, Supervisor, Town of Moreau
o Catherine Fedler, Supervisor, Town of Cambridge (Wash. County Rural
Representative)
o Dana Hogan, Supervisor, Town of Kingsbury
o Mo Wright, Chairman of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors
B. In‐kind Services ‐ data update ‐ Aaron explained the In‐kind services form (distributed as handout).
This information is required from all committee members in order for staff to document the
mandatory local match for the services and support that we provide through use of FHWA and FTA
planning funds. Members were asked to complete and return the form to the A/GFTC office.
C. FAST Act Summary ‐ Aaron provided a summary of the FAST ACT, the multi‐year authorization for
FHWA and FTA programs (attached as handout). Frank Bonafide noted that the act falls short of
providing a comprehensive financial solution for deteriorating infrastructure.
4. Annual Work Program (UPWP) ‐ (Aaron)
A. Summary of completed and ongoing tasks from SFY 15‐16 ‐ Aaron summarized previous
accomplishments during the last year (distributed as handout). Specifically noted were:
Exit 18 rezone study ‐ analysis of potential traffic impacts associated with changes to
commercial zoning around Exit 18; analysis determined that full buildout allowable under
proposed zoning could have serious congestion impacts that would require significant
alteration of the transportation network; CHA recommended changes to the zoning to
encourage development that would entail more reasonable mitigation; Town has engaged
development community on discussions to jointly purse intersection improvements. John
Strough provided additional detail regarding the evolution of this study and the positive
impact that the discussion of rezoning had had upon economic development activity.
Greenman‐Pedersen Inc. completed a thorough inventory of locally owned bridges and
identified maintenance and preservation work needed for qualifying structures; that will
help information will help guide A/GFTC’s bridge preservation programming activities. MIke
Valentine requested a copy of the report.
CME completed a safety evaluation for the intersection of CR 21 and CR 18 in the Town of
Whitehall; recommended improvements included a number of signing improvements,
continued data monitoring, and consideration of physical modifications to improve sight
distances if the signing enhancements are ineffective.
The Dix Avenue Corridor Study reassessment is underway; initial conclusions are that the
growth projections formulated in the 2000 study have not been realized and many of the
projects recommended in that study are not supported by existing or forecasted conditions;
Chazen Companies is working on a revised draft for committee review. Kate Mance
expanded upon some of the traffic count results and capital project recommendations.
Mitch Suprenant noted that the lack of sewer service has limited development in the
corridor.
Chazen also completed a streetscaping and bike/ped improvement plan for River Street in
the Town of Warrensburg
Staff provided data collection and a prioritization approach for pedestrian facilities in the
Town of Queensbury as part of an ADA Transition Plan; this was part of a federal audit
conducted because Queensbury was the recipient of federal transportation funds; we could
see more of these become necessary. Frank Bonafide noted that this information was also
be asked of CHIPS recipients.
An infrastructure flood vulnerability assessment is underway for Washington County for the
White Creek Watershed in Salem; Fitzgerald Environmental Associates has conducted public
outreach, completed survey of bridges and began developing the hydraulic model.
B. Approval of Draft Documents ‐ public comment period closes today on the following draft
documents. with acknowledgement from sponsors that the work is complete:
1) CR 21 / 18 Intersection Evaluation ‐ A motion was made to approve the CR 21/18
Intersection Evaluation as final:
Moved by: Bob Henke Seconded by: Frank Bonafide Motion Carried
2) Exit 18 Rezone Study ‐ A motion was made to accept the Exit 18 Rezone Study as final:
Moved by: Frank Thomas Seconded by: Gardner Congdon Motion Carried
C. 2016‐17 program summary ‐ Aaron reported that the draft work program has been developed in
consultation with the Technical Advisory Committee and released for a 30‐day public comment
period that closed on Monday (summary distributed as handout). The following elements were
noted:
revised planning allocations associated with the FAST Act have increased the total program
with match by $8,251 to a total of $815,999
New Administration tasks
: website upgrade, replacement of aging office hardware, database
management training
New Comprehensive Planning tasks
: transition to performance based planning, collection of
traffic counts, data reporting, on‐call planning and engineering assistance projects; GIS
development
New Long Range Planning tasks
‐ travel demand model calibration; rural transportation
needs assessment; bike/ped planning projects, including evaluating connection alternatives
to the new Champlain Canalway Trail from the Feeder Canal; completed White Creek
watershed infrastructure analysis; assessment of locally‐owned traffic signals; Route 9
corridor study from the Hudson River to Round Pond Road
New task added during public comment period (not in preceding draft)
‐ assessment of
QUFSD access options from Aviation Road. John Strough noted prior discussion leading to
this request.
Mitch Suprenant asked if A/GFTC would be involved in a requested speed limit change for NYS 197 in
Fort Edward. Aaron said that A/GFTC typically has no role in that process; Frank Bonafide suggested
that Mitch contact Mark Kennedy. John Strough asked at what level of government would
performance measurements be likely to have an impact; Frank Bonafide surmised that they would be
aggregated first at the State level and then at the local government level. Noting the new project
under consideration for the TIP, Mike Valentine asked how the relative funding amounts for each task
category were determined. Aaron replied that those amounts were determined more by historically
splits than by current task content. It would be unlikely that those funding amounts would need to be
adjusted based upon workload, and there is flexibility allowed before an amendment process is
needed.
D. Approval of 16‐17 UPWP ‐ A motion was made to approve the 2016‐17 UPWP as final.
Moved by: John Strough Seconded by: Dana Hogan Motion Carried
5. Greater Glens Falls Transit Update ‐ Scott Sopczyk noted ridership statistics and ongoing and completed capital
projects (list distributed as handout). Overall system ridership in 2015 was an all‐time high for GGFT.
Implementation of a real‐time passenger information system is under consideration. Scott also noted that, due
to formula limitations in funding distributions that are dependent upon service mileage, state funding assistance
for small upstate transit systems has not kept pace with demand or with other federal and local contributions. In
response to a question from Gardner Congdon, Scott replied that trolley ridership accounted for 25‐30% of
overall system ridership. Mike Valentine asked about where the 10% annual increase in ridership could be
attributed; Scott replied that fixed route services were up 5% and Freedom and Mobility Express services were
down slightly.
6. Transportation Improvement Program
A. Capital Project Updates and Review (major developments for 2015 and/or planned activities for
2016):
1) Warren County ‐ no report provided
2) Washington County ‐ Mike Breault reported on recent developments for the CR 10 over the
Poultney River, CR 113 over the Batten Kill, and bridge painting projects.
3) Saratoga County ‐ no new developments outside of pavement preservation projects.
Gardner Congdon stated that traffic was worsening in the Exit 17 area and wanted to raise
that issue for committee consideration.
4) City of Glens Falls ‐ no report provided
5) Town of Queensbury ‐ no new developments. John Strough reported that the Aviation Road
roundabout project has been largely successful.
6) NYSDOT ‐ Frank Bonafide listed several upcoming pavement maintenance projects for NYS
Routes 32, 254 and 911E. Planned bridge painting projects include 418 over Schroon in Thurman
and 149 over the Champlain Canal in Kingbsury. The Route 9 Gateway project in Lake George will
be under construction in 2016. Bridge preservation projects include Route 29 over the Batten Kill
and Baldwin Corners Road over the Champlain Canal.
B. 2017‐2021 TIP Development Update (Aaron) ‐ Staff has collected project priorities from our capital
project sponsors; those project requests basically exceed planning targets by twofold. After
accounting for State highway system preservation needs, approximately $5.2M per year is available
for local project programming, with over 1/2 of that eligible for bridges only. That we have that much
bridge money is attributable to programming flexibility offered by Region 1, allowing us to trade
money basically only eligible for interstates for local system bridge money. Frank Bonafide explained
that MAP‐21 prioritized most funding eligibility towards the highest classification of roads, and NYS
has shifted towards a preservation‐first strategy and has encouraged local sponsors to do the same.
Technical Advisory Committee has deferred program formulation to a subset of project sponsors,
including Counties, staff and NYSDOT. That group will be meeting in the next month to review a draft
program prior to consideration by the TAC; after public comment on the draft, this group will meet in
June to approve final program.
7. Other Items ‐ none
8. Next meeting and adjourn
(Next meeting of the Policy Committee is scheduled for 6/8; next Technical Advisory Committee meeting is 4/20)
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 11:24.
Moved by: Dana Hogan Seconded by: Mo Wright Meeting Adjourned