Policy Committee Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, March 8, 2017 10:00 AM
Attendees Agency
A/GFTC Committee Members and Participants
Mitch Suprenant, Chair Supervisor, Town of Fort Edward
John Strough, Vice‐Chair Supervisor, Town of Queensbury
Sam Zhou, Secretary Regional Director, NYSDOT Region 1
Frank Bonafide RPPM, NYSDOT Region 1
Sarah Bowman CHA
Mike Breault Washington County DPW
Chris DeBolt Washington County Administrator
Kevin Geraghty Warren County Administrator
Steve Godlewski Creighton Manning Engineering
Wayne LaMothe Director, Warren County Planning Department
Dan Rourke Barton and Loguidice
Scott Sopczyk Greater Glens Falls Transit
Frank Thomas Supervisor, Town of Stony Creek
Mike Valentine Senior Planner, Saratoga County Planning
Greg Wichser NYSDOT Region 1
Staff
Aaron Frankenfeld A/GFTC
Jack Mance A/GFTC
1. Welcome and Introductions
2. Visitors Issues
3. Administrative Items
A. Committee roster for 2017 ‐ (Aaron) a printed copy of committee and staff members was
provided; new voting members of the Policy Committee for 2017 are Ed Kinowski, Chairman
of the Board of Supervisors in Saratoga County, and Ron Conover, Chairman of the Board of
Supervisors in Warren County.
B. Action item
‐ renaming of the Technical Advisory Committee to the Planning Committee
(Aaron)
staff proposes changing the name of the Technical Advisory Committee to the
Planning Committee;
hoping to generate more public involvement, and this convention is by far the more
common among NYS MPOs;
the draft UPWP for consideration today has been formatted as the change is
approved, as the TAC has reviewed an no comments were provided; and
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
a motion is needed to process change.
Moved by: Frank Thomas
Seconded by: John Strough Motion Carried
Wayne LaMothe reminded staff of his prior request to have a letter sent to the County Attorney’s office
as notification of this change.
4. Transit
A. GGFT Update (Scott Sopczyk) ‐ handout provided
Capital projects include purchase of one replacement operations vehicle and award
for purchase of three replacement trolleys.
Received 2017 FTA grant award, also to include hybrid vehicle replacement battery,
facility updates, and operations and preventative maintenance funding.
Specifications are being developed for the purchase of four replacement buses in
2019.
2016 ridership was 351,900, the second highest total in GGFT history (2015 was the
highest).
Staff expansion to include a new Deputy Director position to engage in new service
enhancements and developments is under consideration.
Scott also noted that a possible cap on guest workers may impact trolley ridership during the
summer season.
B. Action item
‐ revised MOU between A/GFTC and GGFT ‐ (Aaron)
GGFT has proposed a renewal to the MOU with A/GFTC to allow for shared staffing
support to advance transit‐related planning tasks;
new MOU would increase annual billing limit from GGFT to A/GFTC, set by annual
work program updates, to $20,000;
committee participation and reporting protocols are also reinforced ;
TAC has reviewed and approved this for Policy Committee consideration; staff
seeking motion to approve.
Moved by: Frank Bonafide
Seconded by: John Strough Motion Carried
C. Rural Mobility Analysis ‐ (Jack) ‐
Progress to date includes completion of an interim report highlighting
transportation service deficiencies, based upon interviews with transportation
providers and social service agencies.
A committee meeting is scheduled for this afternoon (3/8/17, 1:00 PM) to review
potential services that could help to address those deficiencies.
Chris DeBolt asked if the consideration of allowing Uber‐ and Lyft‐type operations in
New York would impact the options provided; Jack replied that some of the
proposed remedies were very similar to rural versions of those services.
Mike Valentine asked if municipal clerks had been contacted for feedback; Jack
replied that the focus was on contacting agencies that provide transportation
services.
5. Annual Work Program (UPWP)
A. Ongoing activities
1) Aviation Road / QUFSD Study
I. Presentation (Aaron)‐ One of our ongoing tasks is an access analysis from
Aviation Road to Queensbury Schools. The town has been experiencing
difficulties with the existing traffic signal at the main entrance to the school
campus, and the school district is working on its own capital improvement
plans. Barton and Loguidice was hired by A/GFTC at the Town’s request to
work with the Town and the school district to develop conceptual
improvements for school access to maximize safety and efficiency. Aaron
introduced Dan Rourke, Project Manager from Barton and Loguidice, who in
turn provided a presentation of the study. Dan reviewed existing traffic
conditions (including poor LOS and above‐average crash rates at select
intersections) and a number of suggested improvement alternatives. The
preferred conceptual improvement that emerged from the project steering
committee is a phased project that includes upgraded traffic signal
hardware at the existing entrance to the school, a westbound right‐turn
lane entering the campus from Aviation Road, and the construction of a new
four‐way intersection at Cottage Hill Road ‐ that would include a traffic
signal that would be coordinated with the improved signal at the main
driveway. Discussion ensued. Sam Zhou suggested that the project could be
a potential Highway Safety Improvement Program candidate, and that the
corridor may benefit from a more comprehensive analysis, including access
management strategies. Scott Sopczyk asked if the signals would be
actuated; Dan replied that that would be the preferred approach.
II. Next steps ‐ additional analysis ‐ (Aaron) ‐ Supervisor Strough has
requested additional technical analysis to provide information to the Town
on how short‐term repairs to the malfunctioning traffic signal would
integrate with longer ‐term improvements recommended in the report. B&L
has responded with a supplemental scope of work and fee that is
reasonable and addresses the Town’s concerns. Staff will direct B&L to
proceed.
III. Action item
‐ staff requests a motion to approve to the study as complete
before initiating the supplemental work.
Moved by: John Strough
Seconded by: Mike Valentine Motion Carried
2) Traffic Count RFP ‐ (Jack) ‐ An RFP was issued for consultant assistance for the
traffic count program discussed at the TAC and included in the upcoming UPWP.
No proposals were received. Feedback from a consulting firm suggested that the
maximum annual budget to conduct the program over a three‐year
implementation period was too low. A number of options are available; staff will
re‐issue the RFP after reconsideration of how to present the target cost.
3) Other staff and consultant activities ‐ (Aaron)
Staff has been working with our existing website host, Mannix Marketing,
to identify updates and upgrades to the A/GFTC website. A proposal is
under review.
A/GFTC has been providing staff assistance to the Warren County
Planning Department in its efforts to encourage municipalities to update
their ADA Transition Plans. A meeting was held with the Town and Village
of Lake George, and a meeting with the Town of Chester is scheduled for
March 20.
Staff is also coordinating with Warren County Planning to prepare a GIS‐
based substitute for the GGFT online route map viewer that has been
rendered inoperable by software updates at Google.
An initial meeting was held with the Town of Queensbury and Warren
County Safe and Quality Bicycling Organization to discuss the Halfway
Brook Connector, another upcoming A/GFTC UPWP project.
B. UPWP Update (2017‐2019) ‐(Aaron)
1) Review of accomplishments ‐ a handout listing the accomplishments from the
previous state fiscal year (SFY) was reviewed; one change from the list included in
the draft is that the Rural Mobility Analysis will continue into the next SFY rather
than be completed by then.
2) Program Summary ‐ A handout summarizing the proposed contents of the two‐
year work program was reviewed. During that review, the following items
generated additional discussion:
Following mention of the possibility of adding a GIS intern, Wayne
LaMothe suggested that consideration be given to sharing that staff with
Warren County Planning.
Wayne also suggested that the scope of the proposed Warren County
Bikeway extension project be expanded to include analysis of a
connection to Chestertown.
The draft program was reviewed by the Technical Advisory Committee and
approved for public comment; the public comment period closed on March 3rd
with no comments received.
3) Action item
‐ approval of 2017‐19 UPWP ‐ staff requests a motion to approve the
work program.
Moved by: Mike Valentine
Seconded by: Frank Thomas Motion Carried
6. Transportation Improvement Program
A. Capital Project Updates and Review (major developments and/or planned activities for
2017):
1) Warren County ‐ Aaron read from an update provided by Warren County DPW,
including anticipated construction completion dates for:
West Brook Road sidewalks (05/2017)
County Route 44 over the Hudson River bridge painting (07/2017)
CR 31 and CR 13 bridge painting (08/2017)
West Mountain Road pavement preservation (06/2017)
Bay Road pavement preservation (08/2017)
2) Washington County ‐ Mike Breault reported the following:
The Final Design Report for the CR 113 bridge replacement has been
delivered to NYSDOT.
CR 10 over the Poultney ‐ VTrans is the lead agency for documenting
potential adverse effects to NYSHPO.
Lower Turnpike / Center Falls bridge painting ‐ County is recommending
award to P.S. Bruckel; package was sent to GPI; pre‐construction
meeting to be scheduled soon.
CR 40 and 75 pavement preservation ‐ awaiting proposed fee and scope
of services from consultant.
3) Saratoga County ‐ Aaron reported that Saratoga County DPW is advancing the CR
27 pavement preservation project, and that a meeting was held with NYSDOT,
A/GFTC, and the Town of Moreau to progress the Reservoir Road and Feeder Dam
Road pavement preservation project.
4) City of Glens Falls ‐ Steve Godlewski reported that the City opened bids for the Fire
Road TAP project and that the project was expected to be awarded next week.
5) NYSDOT ‐ Frank Bonafide reported the following:
Local sponsors were thanked for their role in helping Region One’s State
and local project delivery performance.
The Route 9N spot‐repair project will be constructed this year.
Additional bridge and pavement preservation projects are targeted for
Washington County.
An announcement on the TAP /and CMAQ awards is expected soon,
possibly by the end of March.
A culvert project in Fort Ann was awarded as part of the Bridge NY
program. The program is expected to be ongoing, with four additional
rounds of $200M in projects to be solicited for on an every‐other‐year
cycle.
The Empire Trail program has been announced by the Governor’s office. This will be a
collaborative effort with NYSDOT and NYSPRHP to advance completion of statewide
bicycle trail. The anticipated alignment through the A/GFTC area would largely follow
State Bike Route 9. Alta Planning and Design is leading the planning effort. Aaron noted
that conditions along sections of Route 4 (a component of State Bike Route 9),
particularly between Fort Ann and Whitehall, do not allow for comfortable on‐road
bicycling operations and that opportunities exist, with adequate funding, to consider
off‐road portions along the Champlain Canal. Frank affirmed that A/GFTC would be
provided an opportunity for input during the planning process.
7. Other Items ‐ Chris DeBolt noted that Washington County was planning improvem
ents to its facility
parking areas and that inclusion of electric vehicle charging stations was under consideration. Chris
requested A/GFTC assistance to inform that consideration. The ensuing discussion yielded that
NYSERDA was actively soliciting for project candidates as part of a program to fund charging station
installations; Jack then offered to provide the County with a contact for NYSERDA.
Kevin Geraghty stated that it would be far more valuable for the State to be repaving roads like NYS
418 than constructing bike trails.
8. Next meeting and adjourn ‐ The next Policy Committee meeting is scheduled for October 11; the next
Planning Committee is April 12.
The meeting was adjourned at 11:40.