11 South Street, Suite 203 Glens Falls, NY 12801
MEETING MINUTES OF THE A/GFTC TAC
August 18, 2010
Holden Room, Crandall Public Library
251 Glen Street, Glens Falls
Attendees Agency
Members
Brian Abare Village of South Glens Falls DPW
Stu Baker Town of Queensbury Community Development
Ed Bartholomew City of Glens Falls
Mike Fiorillo Village of Hudson Falls DPW
Bob Hansen NYSDOT-Region 1
Wayne LaMothe Warren County Planning Department
Jeff Tennyson Warren County DPW
Scott Tracy Washington County DPW
Mike Valentine Saratoga County Planning Department
Others
Kevin Hajos Warren County DPW
David King Lake George RV Park
Mary Anne Mariotti NYSDOT-Region 1
Staff
Aaron Frankenfeld A/GFTC
Sarah Gebbie-Measeck A/GFTC
1. Welcome / Introductions – Aaron Frankenfeld called the meeting to order at 1:05 PM.
2. Visitor Issues
A. Dave King of the Lake George RV Park – wants to be involved in the discussion of and
offer his knowledge on the proposed Chocolate Moose RV Park on Route 149 in the
Town of Fort Ann. Mr. King stated that from his experience the proposed entrance
design is inadequate for the standing and storing of inflow traffic during peak times. A
600 ft, 2-lane entry is proposed and he would expect traffic to back up onto Route
149 as well as lack of access for emergency vehicles during peak days and hours. This
congestion is also made dangerous with the existing intersection of Tripoli Rd, the
curve and limited sight distance and the set speed of the Route 149.
Mr. King pointed out that due to the existing land use across from the proposed RV
park (mini-golf and ice cream parlor) that people will still attempt to cross the road
regardless of the pedestrian rules the RV park puts in place. This has potential for
pedestrian accidents.
The Chocolate Moose is proposed as a seasonal RV park as opposed to one that caters
towards shorter-term visits, but elements of their proposed development do not
appear to be consistent with that model.
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August 18, 2010
Page 2
The traffic impacts and resulting congestion during peak times will decrease the
ability of emergency services to reach their destinations on an already congested
corridor.Mr. King suggested that creating a longer interior access road to the back of
the property would better handle the stacking of inflow traffic. The longer road as well
as appropriate screen along Route 149 would also discourage people from attempting
to cross Route 149 to access other attractions.
Discussion among the TAC included what action is Mr. King asking the TAC to take,
that the TAC was asked by the Town of Fort Ann at the last meeting to support
requesting DOT to do a speed/safety study for the 149 corridor, if there is anything
that can be done now since the Town Planning Board has already granted site
approval, if A/GFTC’s Access Management Guide could be used in this situation and if
a traffic impact study is needed. Mike Valentine sought assurance that these concerns
were not being raised by Mr. King on account of him owning a potentially competing
operation. Mr. King stated that these issues were not raised out of any sense of
economic self-interest.
A motion was made to encourage
the Department to require that a traffic study that
better quantified both the site-specific and corridor-wide traffic impacts of the
proposed development be conducted prior to the issuance of the driveway permit, and
that that responsibility be placed on the applicant.
MOVED BY: Wayne LaMothe SECONDED BY: Ed Bartholomew MOTION CARRIED
Bob Hansen abstained
A motion was made to send a letter to the Town of Fort Ann Planning Board and offer
assistance with future site plan reviews of regional impact and c.c. the Washington
County Planning Board Chairman.
MOVED BY: Wayne LaMothe SECONDED BY: Mike Valentine MOTION CARRIED
3. Administrative Items
A. TAC structure / meeting administration – Aaron – We are currently without a TAC
chair and TAC co-chair due to Willy Grimmke’s departure and Bill Lamy’s retirement.
Past committee chairs have felt it was harder to be involved in TAC discussions while
also running the meeting, but there is some value to filling the position as it is
periodically necessary to process ongoing MPO activities.
A motion was made to recommend to the Policy Committee that Aaron would chair
the TAC for the purpose of running meetings, while a TAC member would be
appointed Co-Chair that could handle occasional administrative items or run meetings
in Aaron’s absence.
MOVED BY: Wayne LaMothe SECONDED BY: Mike Valentine MOTION CARRIED
B. Sustainable Communities Grant Application Resolution – Aaron – the City of Glens
Falls is applying for a regional grant and the MPO is a required participant. The Policy
Committee approved and signed a resolution for A/GFTC’s participation and the
contribution of in kind services as needed to the project. Mr. Bartholomew stated that
most municipalities are on board and a few more will be approached for resolutions
this week. They are looking at a more regional approach (like the A/GFTC structure)
to planning and economic development. GGFT and SUNY Adirondack are also both on
board. Aaron noted the City of Glens Falls is also applying for a HUD Community
Challenge grant for that A/GFTC has also sent a letter of support.
August 18, 2010
Page 3
4. UPWP
A. Consultant / Staff Activities
1) GIS Services – Sarah – Fountain Spatial is working out the last few bugs with the
Traffic Count Viewer and we hope to make it available on our website soon. They
are also working on the pavement scoring application, which we hope to start
using this fall. Mr. Tennyson noted that Warren County would like to be involved
in the data collection and work together with A/GFTC to cover the entire County
system. Ms. Mariotti wanted to make sure we will be standardizing the data and
perhaps receiving training. Mr. Tennyson also noted pavement scoring training
with PDHs was available.
2) iPoolNorth contract – Sarah – we are having issues with the lack of scalability of
pricing and no longer being able to communicate with ipool2 due to an upgrade on
their part. We have asked Ecology & Environment to look into scaling the
maintenance fee we pay for iPoolNorth to reflect the fewer users we have
compared to ipool2 in the Capital District. We will wait to hear from Ecology &
Environment before pursuing other options.
3) Road Safety Assessment training – Sarah – the 2-day workshop was offered by
FHWA and was well received by the participants. Mr. Baker noted the outdoor case
study was very helpful. Aaron would like to require Road Safety Assessments for
each TIP highway project. Mr. Tennyson agreed as long as it was offered to non-
TIP projects as well. Aaron noted that it was already in our UPWP to offer RSAs to
non-TIP projects at the request of the project owner. Mr. Hansen noted that
identifying needed safety improvements could help projects get partially funded
by safety funds.
A motion was made to require Road Safety Assessments for each TIP project.
MOVED BY: Stu Baker SECONDED BY: Mike Valentine MOTION CARRIED
4) Travel Demand Modeling – Aaron – Aaron, Marc Warner of Warner Transportation
Consulting Services, Chris O’Neill of CDTC and Nathan Erlbaum of DOT met
recently to discuss the model for A/GFTC and issues that Marc Warner is
encountering with model calibration. We hope to receive a final model by the end
of this year.
5) Local Traffic Engineering Assistance Program
a. Lake George Gateway Corridor – Aaron – Chazen Companies is working with
the Town of Lake George to plan improvements to the entrance/gateway
corridor from Exit 21 north into the Village along Route 9. A public meeting has
been held and a second public meeting is scheduled to coincide with the Town
Board meeting in September. The result will be a conceptual map, list of
recommendations and a firm list of funding sources.
b. Residential Traffic Calming Demonstration Project – Aaron – The City of Glens
Falls is requesting assistance with a traffic calming demonstration project on a
residential street. Lincoln Avenue residents approached the City’s Board of
Public Safety with concerns about vehicle speed and children walking to the
nearby schools. Aaron disclosed that he lives on Lincoln Avenue but was not
involved in his neighbors’ efforts to raise the issue. The residential traffic
calming demonstration project was offered to the City of Glens Falls when
Scott Sopczyk was A/GFTC Director but the City never acted on the original
offer. The $20,000 study budget could potentially allow for analyses of
multiple locations.
August 18, 2010
Page 4
A motion was made to accept the City of Glens Falls request to conduct a
residential traffic calming demonstration project and to share the study results
with other municipalities.
MOVED BY: Wayne LaMothe SECONDED BY: Mike Valentine
MOTION CARRIED
c. Greenwich Bicycle/Pedestrian Assessment – Sarah – As part of our UPWP and
part of the Healthy Communities Coalition of Washington County we are
providing a bicycle/pedestrian assessment to the Village of Greenwich. Mr.
Tennyson noted that the Town of Queensbury had approached him about
bicycle improvements and stated that if there were bicycle improvement funds
available the County could potentially make use of them. Aaron noted that we
do have the Make the Connection program specifically for filling in gaps in the
bicycle and pedestrian network. There is also potential for A/GFTC to offer staff
resources to help municipalities complete ADA transition plans.
B. Transit
1) GGFT Update – none provided
5. TIP
A. 2007-2012 TIP
1) Project Updates
a. Warren County – Kevin Hajos – Corinth Road, Alder Brook Bridge, Tannery
Street Bridge and Milton Street Bridge are all on schedule and under
construction. Mr. Tennyson asked about the Beach Road right of way
acquisition. Aaron noted it was held up by miscommunication on the E-STIP.
He will check with DOT on the STIP approval. Aaron relayed GGFT’s concern
about maintaining trolley service during the construction of Beach Road. Mr.
Tennyson noted there would be an 8:30 AM meeting on August 19
th with
primary stakeholders.
b. Washington County – Scott Tracy – Clinton Street and Division/Saunders
Street Bridges in Whitehall are slated to be completed by late 2010. A public
meeting for CR 61 over the Batten Kill (Buffum’s or Tackle Box Bridge) will be
held soon and the final design will be done soon after that.
c. Saratoga County – Mike Valentine – None, but eagerly anticipating the Spier
Falls intersection improvements.
d. NYSDOT – Mary Anne Mariotti – Construction is underway the aforementioned
Route 9 / Spier Falls Road intersection project. Exits 18 – 24 on I-87 are also
under construction with 1R resurfacing and replacement of rustic rail. Route 4
in Hudson Falls has a letting date of November 2011. The design is underway,
but the northern project limit has not been defined yet due to potential
drainage issues in the design process. Construction is anticipated for 2012.
Mr. Hansen noted that the constraints on the DOT budget are forcing state and
local system letting targets to be combined. DOT will have to decide the
appropriate splits. Scheduling will be more of an issue now. FHWA reviews will
lead to changes in construction management plans. Some discussion ensued
on eSTIP communication protocol. Warren and Washington County are late in
submitting ARRA 1R bills. The Regions have been directed to identify any
potential savings in ARRA projects.
August 18, 2010
Page 5
2) Amendments and Modifications – None
B. 2010-2015 TIP – None
6. Other Items – None
7. Next meeting schedule and adjourn – Aaron – the next meeting will be scheduled for
mid October.
A motion to adjourn at 3:10 PM was made.
MOVED BY: Mike Valentine SECONDED BY: Mike Fiorillo MOTION CARRIED