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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-02-28 MinutesCity Council Street Committee Minutes February 28, 2008 Page 1 of 14 Member Aldermen Mayor Dan Coody Ward 1 Position l — Brenda Thiel V10 Ward 2 Position 2 — Nancy Allen CityAttorney Kit Williams � 1 Ward 3 Position 2—Robert Ferrell Ward 4 Position 2 - Lioneld Jordan City Clerk Sondra Smith ARKANSAS City of Fayetteville Arkansas City Council Street Committee Meeting Minutes February 28, 2008 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Street Committee was held on February 28, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Alderman Lioneld Jordan, Chair; Alderwoman Nancy Allen, Alderman Robert Ferrell, Alderwoman Brenda Thiel OTHER COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: Alderwoman Shirley Lucas STAFF PRESENT: Mayor Dan Coolly, Ron Petrie, Chris Brown, Gary Dumas, Tim Conklin 1. Call to Order Chairman Jordan called the meeting to order. 2. Approval of the minutes from the January 14, 2008 Street Committee meeting Alderman Ferrell moved that the minutes of the Street Committee meeting held on January 14, 2008 be approved as distributed. Alderwoman Allen seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 3. Discussion of a request to vacate a portion of a platted alley located between Park Avenue and Highland Avenue and to the north of Prospect Street as requested by Chip Dickenson. This item was tabled at the December 10, 2007 meeting. Ron Petrie reminded the Committee of the specifics of this issue. On a slide he pointed out the section of the alley for which the vacation is requested. He displayed several pictures of this section of the alley which is grown up and has never been used as an alley. He said this item was tabled at a previous meeting to allow a property owner to be present for the discussion. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes February 28, 2008 Page 2 of 14 Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment. There was none. Terry Gulley said he had not been in contact with the property owner requesting the vacation. He did talk to the owner of a property adjacent to the portion of the alley that is being used who said he wants the entire alley vacated if one portion is vacated. Mr. Gulley said this situation is similar to the one on Dogwood where we have a half -vacated alley and a request for us to maintain the other half. He said that is tough to do. Alderwoman Thiel said she understands that but we are asking for a lot of alleys to be built in our push toward new urbanism and we will have to maintain these. It appears to be somewhat of a contradiction to ask for these types of plans from developers and then turn around and not be able to maintain these alleys. Alderman Jordan suggested that since Mr. Dickenson is not present, this item should be moved toward the end of the agenda in case he shows up later. If he doesn't come, Mr. Jordan recommended that this item be tabled until he can be here. 4. Discussion of the Rolling Hills Drive traffic calming plan Ron Petrie had included in the agenda a copy of a memo addressed to the Street Committee dated Nov. 28, 2006. In this memo, staff recommended four areas for traffic calming, one of which was Rolling Hills Drive. The memo noted that this project had an average daily traffic of 8,539 vehicles and was an exception to the policy that traffic calming be considered when traffic is from 4,000 to 6,000 vehicles per day. Because of staff concern about how this project would be received only one prefab speed table has been installed and it is bolted down and can be removed. Staff wanted to install the one unit and get public comment before a decision was made on whether to install two more. He said he has received around 40 negative phone calls and e- mails regarding this speed table. Staff's recommendation is to remove the speed table from Rolling Hills Drive and not install any others. Alderwoman Thiel she has had nothing but negative comments about this. Alderman Ferrell asked how many collector streets in the City have speed tables. Ron Petrie said Winwood is a collector, as well as Sang and Gregg/Wilson. In answer to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Mayor Dan Coody said his office has also received complaints about this speed table and he said he supports the staff's recommendation. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment. There being none, he brought the discussion back to the Street Committee. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes February 28, 2008 Page 3 of 14 Alderwoman Thiel moved to remove the traffic calming device on Rolling Hills Drive. Alderwoman Allen seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Alderwoman Allen said she has noticed a lot of difference in the size of speed tables and she wondered how the decisions are made as to which speed table goes where. Ron Petrie said since the first speed table was installed staff has tried to make sure they are all the same dimension. He said three different contractors have installed them and all have been given the same specifications. But the cross section and slope of the road make strange variations. He said staff has measured each of the tables and the worst one has been off less than one inch from the design. He said it is the configuration of the road that causes the difference in feel when cars pass over them. Alderwoman Allen said she knows we are still getting requests for speed tables but she asked if the staff is still feeling that this is an effective traffic calming method. Ron Petrie said he has always said it is one tool out of many. It is not the end-all solution to the traffic problems in Fayetteville. He said he believes as a Committee and staff, we need to sit down and evaluate whether we want to continue this method of traffic calming. Mayor Coolly said that the people who call and complain about the speed tables are usually those traveling through the neighborhood while those who live in the neighborhood like them. He commented on the differences between the speed table on Wilson Street by Wilson Park and the one on Dickson Street and wondered if they were installed by City crews or by contractors. Ron Petrie said the one on Wilson was put in by the transportation division and the one on Dickson Street was done by Tomlinson Asphalt through the Transportation Bond program. He said staff is finishing up several studies and will have the data available to present to the Committee and begin a discussion on whether to continue to install the tables or wait to see how effective those are that have already been installed. DEAD HORSE MOUNTAIN BRIDGE REPLACEMENT: Discussion and recommendation of approval to the City Council for a payment to the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department in the amount of $20,000 for utility relocations associated with this Federal -aid bridge replacement project. Ron Petrie said we talked about this about a year ago when an agreement was completed with the State to utilize Federal funds to replace this bridge. Since that agreement was approved, the State has completed the design on the project. They are looking at building an approximately 212 ft. composite bridge with steel substructure and concrete surface. They are ready to proceed with the project and have given a verbal estimate of a little under $2 million for the project. He said there is nothing in writing regarding this estimate. We are using $1 million of federal funds and we have budgeted a little over $900,000 that we have collected over the last four years for this 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes February 28, 2008 Page 4 of 14 project. He showed a slide of the plan and pointed out that the bridge will be raised about 8 feet from its current height but will go down at a 4% grade on each side back to the original slope. This means that there will still be some flooding around the bridge at various times. If the bridge isn't built this way, it would have to be much longer and that is not practical with the amount of funding we have. Alderwoman Thiel asked if this addresses the issue of flooding as much as if the bridge was lengthened. Ron Petrie said it does not. The bridge will not be underwater in a flood situation like it is today but the approaches will be. He said from engineering calculations that type of flooding happens about every six years and there is an alternative route through Stonebridge. In answer to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Ron Petrie said the bridge is being replaced because it is in very poor condition. He said the only way to avoid the flooding would be to build the bridge to the limits of the floodway in order to pass all the flow underneath the bridge. This would make the bridge about 800 to 1000 feet long. In answer to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Ron Petrie said the State did not look at that possibility. Based on discussions with the City and the amount of money we had in the budget, this was the approach staff recommended in order to get this bridge replaced. He said the difference in cost is about two to three million dollars and the bridge would probably have to be closed before the money was available. He said in the future as money is available, many things could be done to allow water to pass under the bridge and bring the approaches up Mayor Coody said the water over the road there is secondary to the fact that the bridge itself is not in good shape and for years he has been concerned about safety. The bridge needs to be replaced regardless of where the water flows. In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Ron Petrie said he thinks this project will take at least one to one -and -a -half years to complete. He said the proposal is to demolish the existing bridge and build this one in its place and the route will be closed for that period of time. In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Ron Petrie said both roads are fairly narrow and he doesn't see any safety issues with rerouting traffic through Stonebridge during construction of the bridge. Alderman Ferrell moved that this design for the Dead Horse Mountain Bridge Replacement be approved Alderwoman Allen seconded the motion. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment There being none, he returned the floor to the Committee. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes February 28, 2008 Page 5 of 14 With a motion and second on the floor, a vote was taken and the motion was approved unanimously. 6. ARKANSAS HIGHWAY 265 WIDENING PROJECT: The discussion of the response letter dated February 13, 2008 from the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department regarding the proposed project options. Ron Petrie said staff has had numerous discussions with the AHTD about this. Jonathan Barnett, Chairman of the Arkansas Highway Commission proposed four options in this letter. If the City decides not to participate in the project, the State will continue with their project and go from Mission to Old Wire Road. If the City commits the (originally agreed upon) $7.7 million they will guarantee the project to be built out to Joyce Street from Mission. If we consider pulling the funds from Highway 16 they could guarantee to build the project to Zion Road. The fourth option is to delay both the Hwy 16 project and the part of Garland close to the University and they could possibly construct all the way to the City limits. At this point Mr. Petrie believes there is very little we can do from a negotiating standpoint and it is now time to move forward. Alderwoman Thiel said we don't need to defer the money from Hwy 16. She also believes people supported the bond issue based on the plans they saw at the meetings and a lot of people from Hwy 16 attended the meetings. She also believes the Hwy 112 project is needed. She can't support moving the money to the Hwy 265 project. She agrees with the option to use the money originally committed ($7.7 million) and go as far as it will go, which appears to be Joyce Blvd. Alderman Ferrell asked which of these street projects has the highest traffic count. Ron Petrie said for Hwy. 265 north of Joyce the traffic count is 20,800 vehicles per day and north of Zion it is 19,300 vehicles per day (2006 numbers). Garland's traffic count is 15,600 and 12,900 a little further north. The traffic count for 15th Street just to the east of Hwy 265 is 18,900 and west of the new intersection it is 14,200. Alderman Ferrell said the heaviest traffic count is on Hwy 265 right now. He asked if it is (City Attorney) Kit William's opinion that the bond issue money can be used for constructing new roads. Ron Petrie said that is correct and that opinion is reflected in a memo. Alderman Jordan asked if it is correct to say that no matter where a road design is, if we decide to use that money somewhere else, we can. Ron Petrie said that is correct. Kit recommended that the project be included in the list of projects that have been discussed for future phases of the bond program. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes February 28, 2008 Page 6 of 14 In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Ron Petrie said with current conditions, the roads with the most traffic will be the most congested. However, all these roads carry a lot of traffic. Alderman Ferrell expressed his concern with the cost of the right-of-way in the area of Hwy 265 getting higher in the future. He asked how much further it is from Joyce to the City limits. Ron Petrie said it is about two miles. Alderman Jordan opened the,/loor for public comment. Eva Madison said Crossover is really bad. She said she thinks the City needs to work hard on this and spend the money wisely. She expressed concern about having this project done in segments instead of all at once. She encouraged the Committee to think creatively and explore other alternatives that don't involve as much costly right-of-way acquisition. An unidentified member of the audience wondered if the State would consider resurfacing Hwy 265 if the decision is made to not increase the width. Mayor Coolly said he doesn't see the AHTD resurfacing Hwy 265 if the plan is to rebuild it. He said he believes if we decide to do the construction to Joyce that it will be in the next STIP to continue it on to wherever they have the money to go to at that point. He says he thinks getting started is going to lock us in to seeing an eventual completion of Hwy 265 to the city limits. They are improving in Springdale as well and the State wants to go back and connect these segments as they can. Another unidentified member of the audience reiterated a point he said he made at the Council meeting which is that Hwy 265 is a high speed road. He believes we need to get the bikes off that road and put in a trail alongside the road. He thinks that would require less right- of-way acquisition and might make the difference in whether we can go all the way north. There being no further comment, Alderman Jordan brought the discussion back to the Street Committee. Alderman Jordan said he is still bothered that the original $7.7 million commitment was enough at the time but is now not enough. He said he would rather build the road correctly and build a smaller amount than to build an unsafe road further. He asked if the Committee has any other ideas for a solution. Alderwoman Thiel asked if Alderman Jordan is talking about discussing even another design. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes February 28, 2008 Page 7 of 14 Alderman Jordan said he thinks Ms. Madison brings up a good point. The Street Committee can make recommendations. He said we have been talking about this design for years and he isn't sure if we can do another design but asked if anyone has any suggestions. Alderwoman Thiel said that is not the question before the Committee tonight. She asked if Mr. Jordan is suggesting this would be a cost savings. Alderman Jordan said he is asking if anyone has any other ideas besides the four options. Alderwoman Thiel said we have only been given two options as far as street construction. She said she isn't opposed to discussing another option but she doesn't know if that would make the economics of this question change. There's a limited amount of funds and the question is how far to go with those funds and whether to use funds from other projects in the works. She suggested deciding this question first. Alderman Ferrell said he remembered the number quoted for the amenities on each side of the street was an additional $800,000. He thinks that was exclusive of right-of-way costs. Ron Petrie said he believes that was the number given to us by the State on just the additional cost to put in the median. Alderman Ferrell said it would be good information to know how much money Springdale is getting for their part of Hwy 265. He continued that even if you took the sidewalks off each side of the highway and built a trail you are still a long way away from what the State is predicting the total cost to be. He said he doesn't think anything has changed since the Council voted on this plan and he doesn't think there would be enough votes to change that decision. He said we have to have the road and he would like to see us build it as far as we can. Alderwoman Allen said she would like to see the road built right the first time even if it doesn't go as far as we would like to see it go. She asked Ms. Madison what she would see as a way to make this less inconvenient. Eva Madison said she believes the southern piece of Hwy 265 is very workable with the turn lanes as needed. She wondered what the cost savings would be if we cut off bike lanes and the continuous median and put in turn lanes as needed and a multiuse trail on the side. She suggested asking that question of the AHTD. Alderman Ferrell said that seems like a reasonable request. Alderwoman Thiel asked how much time it would take to get that answer. Mayor Coolly said he doesn't have an answer about asking the AHTD to come back with a response on yet a third design they haven't looked at. He talked about the problems encountered 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes February 28, 2008 Page 8 of 14 when we talked about changing Wellington Road once the citizens had made their will known and the AHTD had developed a plan. He said he would hate to do the same thing with Hwy 265. The majority of the citizens supported the boulevard design and the AHTD has been working on that plan since we notified them of that choice. In his opinion the smart thing to do is go to Joyce Blvd. with the original $7.7 million commitment which will let the AHTD know we are serious and the rest can be done as the STIP allows. Alderman Ferrell asked if Mayor Coody would support a change if the savings were significant enough to take the road to the City limits. Mayor Coolly said if we take out the bike lanes and build a trail then the City will have to buy the right-of-way and build the trail without any cost share with the State. Changing the plan might save a little money but over the long term do we want to jettison the democratic process when the will of the majority definitely supported one design. Alderman Ferrell said the people voiced their opinion given the facts at the time but there is a different set of facts now. People might feel differently. He said part of him says if we get it built halfway there's going to be an obligation to finish it. But he isn't sure if he buys off on that. Mayor Coolly said he agrees with Alderwoman Allen that if we do it right for as far as we can we'll be glad we did in the long run. Alderman Jordan said he can see both sides in this. But on the bond issue the people did vote on this particular design of the road. The City Council also voted to build the road with the boulevard, bike lanes and sidewalks. He talked about the safety advantages of boulevards and said they are the safest roads you can build. He said he wants to build a good, safe road and because of the vote of the people and the vote of the City Council he believes we need to build the road to Joyce. Alderwoman Allen moved that the option provided by the AHTD to build Hwy 265 to Joyce Blvd be recommended for approval. Alderwoman Thiel seconded that motion. A vote was taken and the result was 3 to 1 (Alderwoman Thiel, Alderwoman Allen and Alderman Jordan voted for and Alderman Ferrell voted against). 7. GARLAND AVENUE (AR. HWY 112): Discussion of a proposal from the owner of the Park West Development property to relocate Garland Avenue between the Fulbright Expressway and Howard Nickell Road. Ron Petrie said there was an informational item at the December Street Committee meeting in the form of a letter to the State requesting an opinion on a proposal from Paradigm Development. We did get a letter back from the Arkansas Highway Commission. They pointed out some issues but in conceptual form they found the proposal acceptable. He said Mr. Tracy Hoskins is at this meeting to present the proposal. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes February 28, 2008 Page 9 of 14 Tracy Hoskins said this is a project that was discussed several years ago but didn't go far. It came up again in conversations with a representative from the AHTD. Using a map of the area he talked about the streets in the area and changes that could be made in the Hwy 112 route. In response to a question from Alderman Jordan, Ron Petrie said the primary focus of this particular plan is the routing of Hwy 112. The Howard Nickell and Van Asche section can be built with either route — the plan that has already been approved or this current proposal. Alderwoman Thiel said we certainly intended to get Van Asche extended as a straight shot. She said people who shop at Sam's and then go on to Wal-Mart are anxious for this to happen so they don't have to get back on I540 and go around. This proposal seems to hamper that flow from the CMN Business Park directly to Sam's. She likes the idea of the smooth curve but she thought we were trying to get access to CMN from Hwy 112. In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Ron Petrie said there are two portions of Hwy 112 in the Bond Issue. One is by North Street and it was a 50150 cost share. We have also committed 100% for Garland from Fulbright up to Howard Nickell. This project was fully funded but we did decide to delay it during discussions of lagging sales tax. Alderwoman Thiel asked if the City would still pay for it 100% if it was done according to this proposal. Ron Petrie said we have a little over $3.5 million to do the project. He said he doesn't have any estimates on what this proposal would cost. Alderwoman Thiel asked if this project has already been approved as a PZD by the Council. Gary Dumas said it has been. Alderwoman Thiel said essentially the City would be building and paying for a street running through a project. Ron Petrie said we don't know exactly how that would all break down and don't know whether the Committee will even like this option. Alderwoman Thiel pointed out some issues mentioned in the letter from the AHTD, including the need for the City to maintain access to the AHTD's area maintenance headquarters which is located on the existing Hwy 112, the need for the City to maintain the old highway replaced by this relocation and the issues with the Arkansas Darter in Clabber Creek. Tracy Hoskins said he put this together to show an overall concept but the purpose of this discussion is the relocation of Hwy 112. As far as the comments from the AHTD letter, he said the access mentioned is being retained. He said it is his understanding that once this is 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes Febmary 28, 2008 Page 10 of 14 constructed (a boulevard very similar to how Garland enters the UA) the highway department takes over maintenance of the entire road. The City takes over maintenance of the old road In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Gary Dumas said the AHTD currently maintains Hwy 112 and would maintain it if it was not relocated. Alderwoman Thiel asked if we would be taking on responsibility of a maintenance that we don't have now. Gary Dumas said that's not really true because this area (pointed out on the map) is going to develop as Park West. There will be public roads in that area that we will have to maintain anyway. Alderman Ferrell asked for Ron to give the Committee some idea of the "ups and downs" of this proposal. Ron Petrie said taking out the two 90 degree turns and straightening out the route is an obvious plus for the main highway. If we keep the same configuration the AHTD will require us to keep Hwy 112 as the main route through there. This means we will be building intersections much like the one at Huntsville and Happy Hollow. With this proposal we are not dealing with the stop conditions at two big intersections. There would be more of a through route for the future. Those are the biggest advantages of this proposal. The disadvantage is that we have paid for and have a design for Garland Avenue. We haven't moved beyond the final design on the project but we have spent close to $100,000 on the design. That would be money that would be hard to recoup. We would have to either redesign this or Mr. Hoskins' team would have to redesign 112 at no expense to us. In response to a comment from Tim Conklin, Tracy Hoskins said he has a letter of tentative agreement from the property owner of the Bel Claire subdivision to the north which will allow this relocation through that area. Gary Dumas said he believes everyone is in agreement from an operational perspective that this is a better solution than the existing configuration. Regarding Alderwoman Thiel's comment about access from Sam's to Wal-Mart, there will still be the Garland route. The issue is going to be how this is all funded. There will have to be some partnership between the State, the City and the developer. Alderman Thiel asked if there is a funding advantage with this proposal. Gary Dumas said the current plan is a lot cheaper. We probably have the money to build that now. But that $3 million is substantially less than what would be needed for this proposal. Alderman Jordan asked about the environmentally sensitive areas. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes Febmary 28, 2008 Page 11 of 14 Gary Dumas said this area of Clabber Creek is already defined in the existing Park West as a wetland preservation area Tracy Hoskins said the identified wetlands are all concentrated to the southeast corner on the map displayed. Alderwoman Thiel said those might be the identified wetlands but she travels this area and the area along Garland has not been dry in months. Tracy Hoskins said that is due to construction traffic. He said they have a study from the Corps of Engineers and a 404 permit. He said the area along the highway that is wet now was not wet a year and a half ago. The City's contractor has been working on the transfer line and there has been heavy traffic back and forth in that area. He said as far as environmental issues, they have letters from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, ADEQ, EPA, the Corps of Engineers. He said their proposed design is a more environmentally friendly design than the Park West design. With this design they are only crossing one environmental area - a man-made drainage ditch. Alderman Ferrell wanted to confirm that Mr. Dumas agrees that this makes sense from an operational standpoint. Gary Dumas said even the AHTD says it does. Alderman Ferrell asked where we would be in comparing the cost to the City for both plans. Gary Dumas said we don't know that yet. Staff is trying to see if there is interest from the Committee to pursue the proposal. Alderman Ferrell said we sometimes need to look for reasons why we can do something as opposed to why we can't. He says we should take a look at it. Alderman Jordan said he doesn't mind continuing the discussions but he doesn't want to send something to the full Council until there's been more discussion and more study. Alderwoman Thiel said she thinks we need to have some kind of idea of the cost difference. Gary Dumas said before staff and Mr. Hoskins spend more time on this they wanted to know if the Committee likes the concept. He said coming up with cost estimates is another significant level of effort. Alderwoman Thiel said she doesn't see where this has any more impact on the environmentally sensitive areas than the original plan and it does flow better. It boils down to cost. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes Febmary 28, 2008 Page 12 of 14 Gary Dumas said there are long term issues also in that it enhances the prospects of more commercial development in this area Alderman Jordan asked if the Street Committee would like to continue discussions on this proposal. It was agreed that the proposal was worth more discussion 8. VAN ASCHE BOULEVARD: Discussion of the status of the plan to extend Van Asche Boulevard from Garland Avenue to Gregg Street. Ron Petrie said this is on the agenda because nothing has happened. He reminded the Committee that the Federal Highway Department would not allow this project to be included in the use of federal funds, primarily because of the language in the Act and the interpretation. Staff has been in contact with Congressman Boozman's and Senator Pryor's offices numerous times. We also have Van Scoyoc (our lobbyist firm) working to get language changed. However, this is an Act of Congress. Gary Dumas said this is also one of the things the mayor was working on during his recent trip to Washington D.C. Ron Petrie said there is no guarantee that anything will happen with this in the near future. There's not a lot of movement and he wanted to make sure the Committee if fully aware of where we are with this project. If we want to look at other options, we can certainly do that. Gary Dumas said part of the reason for this discussion is to determine if the Committee wants to move other funds available in the Street Bond program to this extension of Van Asche. Alderman Ferrell asked if the mayor got any feedback from his visits (in Washington). Gary Dumas said they're trying to work it through the system but the President did say that earmarks were not going to be continued. The expectation of success in the next appropriation is probably not high. Alderman Jordan asked if we are saying if we do this it will probably be on our dime. Gary Dumas agreed. He said we can use the $9 million in other areas out here; we're not losing it. He said in order to do Van Asche, we are going to have to use Street Bond funds instead of the $9 million federal money. In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Gary Dumas said we have money only if it is moved from an existing Street Bond project. He said this is the area that feeds the economic 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes Febmary 28, 2008 Page 13 of 14 engine of the City and that engine feeds the sales tax. He said we are looking for $4 million for the project Alderman Jordan suggested that the Committee members take some time to look over the Street Bond project list and discuss the issue at a meeting in a month or so. Alderwoman Thiel talked about the need to complete the improvements from the new intersection on Huntsville Road to Hwy 265. However, it might be an option to transfer the money intended for the improvements on 15th Street. She thinks Van Asche is very important and might be a more valuable improvement at this time. She would like to hear from people in her ward about it before making a decision. 9. General Update of the Transportation Bond Program Chris Brown said we are mostly on schedule on all the projects. Since December we have gotten two projects under construction — Zion Road and Gregg Avenue (part of the Washington/Willow improvements). He said very soon we will be closing portions of Gregg south of North Street to do some street repairs and get ready to construct the median. He said we are working on the design for Cato Springs Road. The preliminary plans are now at the AHTD for their review. We are also preparing right-of-way documents and the highway department will do the appraisals for us. He said both of the Mt. Comfort Road projects are moving forward. We should have final plans for the intersection on Mt. Comfort Road within the next month. The highway department is reviewing those plans for permitting. We have five or six parcels of right- of-way to acquire and we will be ready to go to construction by mid -year. We have preliminary plans for the Mt. Comfort project west to Rupple Rd. and are reviewing those plans. We have a lot of right-of-way to acquire for this project. He said we have the proposed design contract for the two projects approved by the highway department for the Expressway Corridor. Carter & Burgess is working on the contract based on comments received back from the highway department. We may have a contract for Committee review at the next meeting. Plans for the College Avenue project are being prepared to send to the highway department for permitting. Alderman Jordan said staff has done a great job on this. Alderwoman Allen said she thinks it looks great and she appreciates that it leaves no surprises to the Committee or to the citizens. 10. MOUNT COMFORT ROAD WIDENING PROJECT: a. Discussion and recommendation to the City Council to assume future maintenance responsibilities of Shiloh Drive between Mount Comfort Road and Garland Avenue as proposed by the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes Febmary 28, 2008 Page 14 of 14 Ron Petrie reminded the Committee of discussions with Farm Credit Services and the recommendation for a "right-in/right-out". That proposal was sent to the State and it was approved. In that letter of approval, the State also brought up a proposal (mentioned many times in the past) that the City take over maintenance of Shiloh Drive from Mt. Comfort to Porter Road. Mr. Petrie explained the situation and asked for a recommendation from the Committee. Alderman Ferrell moved that this be forwarded the City Council for discussion. Alderwoman Allen seconded the motion. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment There being none, the discussion was returned to the Committee. With a motion and a second on the floor, a vote was taken and the motion was approved. b. Presentation and recommendation to the City Council of a Utility Construction/Relocation Agreement with Arkansas Western Gas in the amount of $397,000 for the gas line relocations associated with the Mount Comfort Road widening project. Chris Brown said sometimes the City pays for utility relocations and sometimes we don't. In this case Arkansas Western Gas has an existing easement so they have the right to ask for reimbursement for relocation of their lines. This will pay for relocation of those high pressure gas lines for about 7,000 feet. The agreement is for them to do the relocation and for the City to reimburse them for their costs. In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Chris Brown said if a utility is in the right- of-way, they don't have the right to ask for reimbursement. However in this case they are asking for reimbursement because they have a private easement and we are forcing them out of that easement. Ron Petrie said we expect that the City will have to spend very little other than this for the cost of utility relocation. There will be some, but it looks fairly limited beyond this. Alderwoman Ferrell moved that this agreement be forwarded to the City Council. Alderwoman Thiel seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 11. Scheduling of the next Street Committee meeting. No meeting was scheduled. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org