Policy Committee Meeting

Minutes of Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Attendance:
Members
:
Ralph Bentley, Supervisor, Town of Horicon
Jack Diamond, Mayor, City of Glens Falls
Keith Donohue, Mayor, Village of So. Glens Falls
Preston Jenkins, Supervisor, Town of Moreau
Bill Lamy, Warren County DPW (rep. F. Monroe)
James Lindsay, Supervisor, Town of Kingsbury
Brian Rowback, Regional Director, NYSDOT Region 1
Daniel Stec, Supervisor, Town of Queensbury
Steven Sweeney, NYS Canal Corp. (rep. Bill Rinaldi)
Louis Tessier, Supervisor, Town of Lake George
JoAnn Trinkle, Chairman, Washington County Board of Supervisors
Others
:
Brian Brockway, Town of Fort Edward (rep. M. Suprenant)
Tom Donohue, City of Glens Falls
Willy Grimmke, Washington County DPW
Dan Hall, City of Glens Falls
Robert Hansen, NYSDOT Region 1
Frank Komoroske, NYSDOT
Mary Anne Mariotti NYSDOT-Region 1
Scott Sopczyk, GGFT
Mike Valentine, Saratoga County Planning Board

A/GFTC Staff:

Monika Bulman, Administrative Assistant
Aaron Frankenfeld, Transportation Planning Director
Sarah Gebbie-Measeck, Transportation Planner

I. Welcome & Introductions
1. Introductory remarks- Chairman JoAnn Trinkle called the meeting to order
at 1:35 PM
II. Visitors Issues – None
Administration
III. Approval of March 12, 2008 minutes

Motion was made to approve the March 12, 2008 minutes

MOVED BY : James Lindsay SECONDED BY: Ralph Bentley MOTION CARRIED

IV. Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP)
1. Transit
A. GGFT Report-(handout) Scott Sopczyk – Mr. Sopczyk reviewed
the capital projects as outlined in the handout. GGFT intends to
make full use of the anticipated ARRA funds expected to be
allocated to public transit capital improvements in the Glens Falls
area. This will go towards projects that funds were not available
Adirondack / Glens Falls Transportation Council

Washington County Municipal Center
383 Broadway, Room A-231 Fort Edward, New York 12828
phone: (518) 746-2199 fax: (518) 746-2441
www.a
gftc.org info@agftc.org

Policy Committee Minutes
Page 2
March 4, 2009

for previously including replacement for an in-ground vehicle lift
in the garage, rehab and slight relocation of the Ridge Street
terminal, and the purchase of a hybrid bus.

B. Transit Development Plan (TDP), GGFT has been working with
A/GFTC and a consultant to prepare a new Transportation
Development Plan. Existing service structure is being examined
and a set of recommendations for future service levels will be
developed. A public Open House is scheduled March 9
th so the
draft recommendations will be reviewed. Final recommendations
are expected this summer.

2008 Transit ridership was the highest in the history of the
system which began operation in 1984. Mr. Hansen asked Mr.
Sopczyk if he was still working with CDTA on the NX runs. Mr.
Sopczyk said discussion is still taking place and a unified fare
medium is under consideration. Discussion also took place
regarding potential services generated by Luther Forest.

2. Consultant Projects
A. Aviation Road Corridor Study-Approval, Aaron – The study is
complete and has resulted in a good product. The Study has been
approved by the Town of Queensbury. The core recommendations
yield about 3.4 million dollars worth of potential improvements.

A motion was made to adopt the Study.

MOVED BY: Ralph Bentley SECONDED BY: Mayor Donohue MOTION CARRIED

Exit 20 Corridor Management Plan-Aaron, Expecting a draft of the
final plan within a month. There are not many easy solutions
along this corridor and interchange options are limited. Rte 9 is
the core problem.

B. GIS Services, Aaron-Our consultant, Fountains Spatial, has
delivered to us an updated data system including a desktop map
management tool bar for us. Currently they are working on a web
application that will improve our ability to visualize our data, show
our TIP and planning projects, etc. They are also working on a
transit data ridership collection tool. Hope to complete all of these
services by late spring.

3. 2009 UPWP Update Approval, (handouts) Aaron – There are a few active
consultant projects that will carry over into this UPWP. New in the work
program are the offering of road safety audits and training for municipal
staff (planning and zoning boards). The training will kick off April 14 with
the offering of access management training session. This is an ITE web
session so it is eligible for professional development hours.
The on-call engineering services are still being offered and do not require
a local match. The cap is $10K. Also planned is an update to the bike/ped
plan. The overall program is smaller this year due to unreleased carryover
and the threat of rescission.

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March 4, 2009

A motion was moved to approve the administrative 2008 UPWP
Update pending any public comments received prior to March 11.

MOVED BY: Dan Stec SECONDED BY: James Lindsay MOTION CARRIED

4. Long Range Plan, Aaron-Drafts of all the chapters are complete. Still
working on the financial chapter. Once the financial element is complete,
the draft LRP will be submitted to the TAC for its approval and subsequent
public comment and review.

V. Transportation Improvement Program(TIP)
1. 2007-2012 Transportation Improvement Program
A. Stimulus Program (handout), Brian Rowback gave a powerpoint
presentation highlighting the information on the handout. The NY
share for high and bridges under the bill is estimated to be $1.120
billion, the NY share for transit $1.245 billion. Rail discretionary is
one of the big surprises in this bill and covers high speed rail
under the discretionary program, but we still do not know how the
funds may be applied. Aviation also received discretionary grants.
For statewide funds there are provisions that 50% must be
obligated within 120 days of apportionment. For any state $ with
obligated balances, the funds will be redistributed to other states.
There is a locally administered federal aid project manual
available. Mr. Rowback pointed out that Mary Anne Mariotti is the
key person to contact for all of A/GFTC projects, issues and
concerns as it relates to DOT or federal aid.
Mr. Rowback commented that our MPO is unique in that most of
our projects are local projects. Even with the stimulus package
there is still a much larger need that DOT sees growing (bridges
and pavements). Region 1’s strategy will be to prevent all of this
aging infrastructure from requiring major work simulataneously.
Robert Hansen -There are some set-asides that are required to be
done for rural areas and small urban areas. Bay Street in Glens
Falls would help to satisfy our small urban requirement and the
bridge projects in Washington and Warren Counties will help to
satisfy the rural requirements.
B. Stimulus Amendment – Aaron – The material faxed out on Friday
is different than what is in front of you (handout). Aaron
summarized the projects. The bridge projects for Warren County
did not include the Woolenmill Bridge project in today’s handout
because of a fear of not meeting the deadline date due to a lack of
utility agreements to date. Also the list of Transit projects is
different than what was faxed out. Aaron noted that FHWA will
not require a TIP amendment in order to make transfers of
existing TIP projects eligible for receipt of stimulus funds.
Additional discussion included: front loading TIPs; adding new
projects to the STIP as illustrative which means they do not
appear in the fiscal totals and a possible round two/highway act.

Policy Committee Minutes
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March 4, 2009

A motion was made to approve the Stimulus TIP Amendment

MOVED BY: Mayor Diamond SECONDED BY: Dan Stec MOTION CARRIED

C. Adjustment of TIP change procedures (handout), Aaron- Not too
different from the previously approved amendment procedure in
2000. It identifies any TIP deletion or addition as requiring a TIP
amendment. Anything that is deemed to be a TIP amendment
requires public comment. The handout is self-explanatory. Bob
Hansen mentioned that the scope and cost changes on our
procedures are different than CDTC.

A motion was made to approve the TIP change procedures

MOVED BY: Ralph Bentley SECONDED BY: James Lindsay MOTION CARRIED

D. Change in TIP schedule, Aaron-The stimulus program has caused
uncertainty. The MPO directors, after a discussion, decided to
delay TIP cycles for 6 months. DOT suggested delaying it for a
year. To keep the TIP current we just need to take more action by
TIP amendment or administrative modifications.

2. Recent developments or action items for ongoing federal aid projects
A. New York State Department of Transportation, Brian
Rowback/Robert Hansen-Marchiselli money may be reassigned; the
CHIPS program is up in the air.

B. Warren County DPW, Bill Lamy –
-The Corinth Road/ Exit 18, Have to meet a September deadline to
have access to the funds needed. Last ROW of being acquired;
Town is finishing up the underground utility design; Supervisor
Stec is very confident the September deadline will be met.
-The two bridges that were included in the stimulus amendment
are ready to go.
Mr. Hansen asked if Mr. Lamy had an updated estimate for Corinth
road. Mr. Hansen would like to go through the estimate to
determine if everything is eligible and that there is enough to pay
for it.

C. Washington County, Willy Grimmke –
-As per the amendment the railroad brides in the Village of
Whitehall are stimulated. Working with DOT and A/GFTC to address
CR 12 and Lower Turnpike over the Mettawee.
D. Saratoga/Town of Moreau, Preston Jenkins-nothing to report

Mr. Rowback- prior to the stimulus package which includes a 3%
setaside for enhancement projects, an announcement was going to
be made as to what projects were selected. Now things have to be
reevaluated.

E. City of Glens Falls, Mayor Diamond
Is happy the Bay Street project is back on the TIP; the city will be
doing the infrastructure subsurface improvements needed; moving
along with some issues on South Street

Policy Committee Minutes
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March 4, 2009

F. Town of Queensbury, Dan Stec
Thanked A/GFTC for help with the studies on Aviation Rd. and Exit
20; electrical utility work on Corinth Road is in final design;
easement issues should be resolved soon; Queensbury is
committed to the Corinth Road project and will meet the deadline.

VI. Revised meeting schedule, Aaron-previously a meeting schedule was
distributed but it is difficult to adhere to with meeting conflicts. Tentatively a
TAC meeting is planned for May and a Policy Committee meeting for June.

VII. Next meeting and adjourn
Next meeting is anticipated in June.
A motion was made to adjourn the meeting at 3:15