Meeting Minutes of the A/GFTC Technical Advisory Committee
June 25, 2013
Attendees Agency
Brian Abare Village of South Glens Falls DPW
Stu Baker Town of Queensbury Community Development
Ed Bartholomew Community and Econ. Development Director, City of Glens Falls
Michael Breault Washington County DPW
Rob Cherry NYSDOT Region 1
Richard Doyle Washington County DPW
Ed Doughney Warren County DPW
Kevin Hajos Warren County DPW
Karen Hulihan NYSDOT Region 1
Joe Moloughney NYS Canal Corporation
Mike Valentine Saratoga County Planning
A/GFTC Staff:
Greg Francese
Aaron Frankenfeld
Kate Mance
1. Welcome and Introductions: Aaron opened the meeting at 1:30.
2. Visitors Issues: No visitors present
3. Administrative Items –
A. Personnel update – Aaron introduced Greg Francese, A/GFTC’s Planning Assistant for
Summer 2013.
B. Host Agency fee – Aaron reported that NYSDOT Expenditures had conveyed that advance
payment of the Host Agency fee to LC-LGRPB in absence of billable tasks was not an
eligible expense. The RPB has been informed that these expenses will need to be
recouped through other means.
C. UPWP Amendment – FTA MPP – Aaron reported that revised allocations for Federal
Transit Administration Metropolitan Planning Program funds (+$898) and Federal
Highway Administration PL funds (-$281) were included in Federal Register.FTA
regulations require an amendment to the UPWP for any change in MPP funds. A motion
was made to approve initiation of a public comment period for the required
amendment in advance of Policy Committee consideration.
Moved by: Ed Bartholomew Second: Mike Valentine Motion Carried
D. 5310 Administration – Aaron reported that NYSDOT has requested notification from
A/GFTC that indicates that A/GFTC consents to NYSDOT continuing to administer the FTA
5310 program on the MPO’s behalf. A/GFTC has the option to assume hosting of its own
program and solicitation, but staff recommends that we do not choose this option as the
administrative requirements would be a significant burden to MPO or GGFT staff.
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 was made to approve NYSDOT continuing to administer FTA 5310 on
behalf of A/GFTC.
Moved by: Stu Baker Second: Ed Bartholomew Motion Carried
E. iPoolNorth contract – Aaron reported that A/GFTC has been invoiced for $7,500 by
Ecology and Environment (ENE) to continue to maintain iPoolNorth, A/GFTC’s ridesharing
website. Staff has reviewed the contract and determined that the expense outweighs the
benefit given that iPool2, a similar service operated by Capital District Transit Authority
(CDTA), could accommodate our users. Staff consulted CDTA prior to contacting ENE to
request an estimate to merge the two systems. ENE has provided a cost of $2,040 to
migrate iPoolNorth users to Ipool2. A/GFTC and CDTA will work out a cost sharing
mechanism for future services. A motion was made to approve the ENE proposal to
merge iPoolNorth with iPool2.
Moved by: Ed Bartholomew Second: Stu Baker Motion Carried
4. UPWP
A. Completed / Ongoing Activities
1) Coordinated Human Services Transportation Committee – Kate reported on the
ongoing efforts to identify and develop an online mobility management tool. The
eventual product will likely not be map-based, but will allow users to enter
information regarding location and destination, trip purpose, and accommodation
needs in order to obtain transportation service options. The difficulty in securing
continued committee input was noted, and staff is continuing to pursue avenues
that would allow for greater participation. Ed Bartholomew noted that regional
mobility would be considered as part of the Adirondack Gateway Council’s
Sustainable Communities regional planning grant, funded by the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development.
2) On-call assistance projects
a. Fire Road Pedestrian Improvements – Kate reported that a kickoff meeting
and a joint public meeting of the Glens Falls School Board and the Glens
Falls Common Council have been held. Both meetings were well attended
and enabled productive discussion. The committee discussed the Jerome
Avenue component, engagement of the YMCA, and a potential link to Cole’s
Woods.
b. Bay / Sanford Crash Analysis – Aaron reported that the Glens Falls Police
Department has requested a review of crash history at this location. Of
particular concern are two incidents involving roadway departure along this
heavily traveled pedestrian corridor. Staff has summarized the crash reports
and forwarded that data to CHA for consideration.
3) Exit 17 Land Use Study – Aaron reported the Creighton Manning Engineering has
been selected from seven applicants to conduct the study. Region 1 Planning has
provided a significant amount of related traffic data to staff and the consultants. A
late July kickoff is anticipated.
5. Long Range Plan Presentation – Kate presented progress made in updating the Long Range
Plan. The document will be reorganized, tying projects and priorities to the Planning
Principles. The Goals and Objectives, somewhat duplicative of the Planning Principles, will be
removed. Rob Cherry noted his support for that approach. Kate continued to summarize the
document section by section, noting changes to the content, challenges and opportunities,
and proposed projects and priorities. Changes in Census statistics and infrastructure were
reviewed. The public engagement process, originally proposed prior to formulation of the
draft, was reviewed and clarified. The committee was asked to consider the information
presented and submit comments by 7/5. A draft document will be circulated to the committee
around 7/19, and the committee will be asked to vote on the document at its 8/14 meeting.
6. Transportation Improvement Program
A. Amendments and Modifications
1) Town of Warrensburg request for MTC funds – Aaron reported that Warrensburg
was requesting an award of the unprogrammed funds from the last round of the
Make the Connection program in order to address concerns raised by NYSDOT staff
regarding increased FHWA scrutiny of allowable in-kind contribution. As a result,
the Town will have to bid out certain elements of its existing Make the Connection
and Safe Routes to School projects in order to satisfy administrative requirements
(the Town had planned on completing those elements with Town labor). In
response to questions from the committee, staff clarified that there were no
competing needs for these funds from other sponsors or program applicants. A
motion was made to award the previously unprogrammed Make the
Connection funds to the Town of Warrensburg.
Moved by: Kevin Hajos Second: Mike Valentine Motion Carried
2) Beach Road Phase II Amendment – Aaron noted that the ballot to approve funding
for the second phase of the Beach Road project had been distributed to the Policy
Committee with a requested response date of 7/1
B. Status of TIP Development – Aaron reported that he was continuing to reconcile
differences from the approved TIP found in draft STIP. A letter to NYSDOT confirming
coordination of those two programs will be delivered by the end of this week.
C. TEP solicitation – Kate updated the committee on the ongoing project solicitation for the
Transportation Enhancements Program.
D. Project updates (added to the agenda)
1) Warren County – Kevin Hajos reported the following:
Beach Road was nearing an anticipated 8/1 completion. There will be a
gap between completion of the County project and initiation of work on
the State-owned section.
The County was still waiting for federal authorization for Crane Mountain
Road and Hicks Road (Karen Hulihan stated that both were at FHWA for
review)
FHWA had been provided with additional information regarding the
ongoing investigation of the Stony Creek ARRA bridge projects
2) Washington County – Mike Breault reported the following:
CR 16 – DDR has been reviewed; RK Hite is ready to begin ROW ACQU
CR 12 – construction is ongoing and ahead of schedule
CR 61 – existing structure has been removed; construction is ongoing
Dewey’s Bridge – demolition is complete
CR 10 – Governor of Vermont has added this project to FFY 14 roster
CR 12 / Hatch Hill Road scope is under review
3)
Saratoga County – Brian Abare noted positive progress in NYSDOT’S Route 9 safety
project in South Glens Falls.
4) NYSDOT – Rob Cherry reported that Route 197 over the Hudson (west branch) was
on track for a late August letting. Rob also noted that that NYSDOT was awaiting
delivery of PS&E for two projects – the Route 149 MTC project (Warren County)
and Broad Street reconstruction (Glens Falls).
5) Town of Queensbury – Stu Baker reported that elements of the design report for
Aviation / Dixon were under development. ROWACQU will begin in August, with
construction scheduled for next April.
7. Other Items
A. Cleaner Greener Phase II – Kate reported on the availability of NYERDA funding for the
next round of Cleaner Greener Communities program. Program details will be distributed
to the committee.
B. Bike/ped data collection – Aaron reported that staff may initiate two data collection
efforts later this summer – (1) an analysis of the effectiveness of sharrows at select
locations in Glens Falls and (2) updated trail user counts along the Feeder Canal Trail
and Warren County Bikeway.
8. Next Meeting and Adjourn
The next meeting was scheduled for August 14 at 1:30. The meeting was adjourned at 3:30.