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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-05-12 MinutesCity Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 1 of 16 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 May 12, 2008 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Street Committee was held on May 12, 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 STAFF PRESENT: Ron Petrie, Chris Brown, Leif Olson, Mayor Dan Coolly, Tim Conklin, Gary Dumas 1. Call Meeting to Order Chairman Lioneld Jordan called the Street Committee meeting to order. 2. Approval of Minutes Alderman Ferrell moved that the minutes to the Street Committee meetings held on February 28, 2008 and March 10, 2008 be approved as distributed. Alderman Thiel seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 3. Wedington Drive: Discussion of a reimbursement to the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department in the amount of $30,889.11 for revisions to the project 1p ans. Ron Petrie brought the Committee's attention to a letter to AHTD dated June 19, 2007 regarding the removal of bike lanes and adding the fifth lane to Wedington Dr. The letter makes clear that the City wanted to approve any additional expenses prior to the signing of the formal change order. A response from AHTD written on July 9, 2007 stated the revisions were accepted. On Sept. 24, 2007 we received a change order which showed an under un of a little over $29,000 for the improvements. A few weeks ago we were notified that there will be some additional 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 2 of 16 expenses. The majority of the additional cost ($60,550) is for shaping and compacting of the trail area and for the cost to place the asphalt on the trail. After a credit for the $29,000 underrun we are looking at an additional cost of around $31,000. He said a lot of this work has already been done. He was told the contractor signed the first change order "under protest" (which they say is a typical thing for the highway department but which is very atypical for the City) and means that knowing there will be additional costs the contractor is signing in order to avoid delay that would incur even more cost. AHTD is asking for the payment of $31,000 for the revisions. Alderman Thiel asked what fund the money would come from. Ron Petrie said the money could come from funds remaining on projects that are complete but where money hasn't yet been put into the reserves or it could come from the cost share account. In response to a question from Alderman Thiel, Ron Petrie said there is about $50,000 in that account and this money is usually for street cost shares with private developers. Mayor Dan Coody said he spoke with Frank Vozel with the AHTD and asked that since we have plans to resurface five blocks of College Avenue (a State highway) for a total of $337,000 if they could credit this $31,000 against our contribution to the State Highway system. They said no. During his conversation with Mr. Vozel he found out that even though we are paying for the bike paths for this street, the State is required to put in bike lanes on that highway. They didn't know that at the time they designed it. Mayor Coody asked if the State would cover the cost of the bike lanes since they were required to put them in but the answer again was no. Therefore, he says he doesn't see that we have any option other than to pay the $31,000. Alderman Ferrell said he was told that since the contractor who did this did so under protest, they would really like to be paid more money. So the other side is that we might better take the deal we can. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment. There being none, he returned the floor to the Committee. Alderman Jordan said he doesn't see that we have any choice here but he doesn't like this. Alderman Ferrell moved that this item be approved. Alderman Thiel seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 4. Access Manaeement Ordinance: Discussion of a proposed Access Manauement Ordinance to replace UDO Chapter 166.08, Design Standards for public streets. (This item was tabled at the December 10, 2007 meeting.) Leif Olson presented slides and talked about the goal of Access Management. He said access management is all about reducing conflicts, minimizing the number of conflict points, ensuring 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 3 of 16 that the traffic flow on arterial roadways is sufficient and the turning movements are not creating hazardous conditions for the driver. He showed slides depicting College Avenue and the conflicts created by the numerous curb cuts as contrasted to a slide of the CMN Business Park with controlled access. He said what has happened on College Ave. has happened over many years and the result is a really conflicted roadway. With all the roadway improvements that are going to happen with the Street Bond issue, now is the time to get it right so we are doing planned access with shared access points. He said as the roadways are built and improved, development will follow. We are trying to be proactive. He showed several more slides of intersections within Fayetteville where the access points are closer to the intersection than would be allowed under the new ordinances without a waiver. Alderwoman Allen asked if the ordinance would apply to businesses in areas such as College Avenue if the property is redeveloped with another use. Leif Olson said it wouldn't force compliance because that is already a built environment. It would apply more to situations such as the area of College Avenue we are getting ready to redo. The City will work with property owners to minimize and reduce some of the curb cuts there and create some shared access. In an already built environment we will try to work it out as we can. Alderman Ferrell asked if non -conforming areas would have to come before Planning to be grandfathered in if this ordinance is passed. Leif Olson said developments that occur after the ordinance is passed would not be allowed the same curb cuts that current developments have. The ones that are already built will be grandfathered until something changes. In response to a question from Alderman Jordan, Leif Olson said there would have to be a major modification to a business to make this ordinance kick in for current development. Ron Petrie said the proposed ordinance says "upon expansion or improvements greater than fifty percent of the assessed property value for gross floor area or volume". That's when the ordinance would kick in for current development. Alderman Ferrell asked if there could be any negative economic impact directly on business and indirectly on the City's tax revenue with the implementation of this ordinance. Leif Olson said business will have to have access and we are giving them access, though that access may not be off the principal arterial where they would like it to be. He said controlled access works in the area of Steele Boulevard. He said a lot of it is planning for the developments before they happen along these roadways. Leif then talked about curb cut standards and said we are trying to get the property that fronts onto two public streets to place a higher priority on accessing the street with the lower functional classification. If there is a development at an intersection with an arterial and a collector, we want them to access off the collector because if 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 4 of 16 they access off the arterial they will create a conflict. He reviewed a chart that shows how many curb cuts are allowed determined by the length of street frontage along an arterial. As an example, he displayed a slide depicting Joyce Boulevard between Vantage Drive and Crossover Road. He pointed out there are ten curb cuts along the north side of that 2400 ft. of street frontage. This ordinance would allow only four curb cuts along the same area. Alderman Ferrell said it was mentioned earlier that the neighbors would work with the City on where the commonality would be for these entrances onto arterials. He asked it that would be mandated or if they could work together as long as curb cuts are 500 ft. apart. Leif Olson said they could work together. He said you will always have issues with topography and a lot of it would depend on how the parcels are subdivided along the street. The larger the parcel, the easier it is to share the access. Alderwoman Allen wondered if any of the surrounding cities have this same ordinance. Leif Olson said Bentonville and Rogers have basically the same ordinance in terms of the curb cuts. He continued by reviewing a chart of curb cuts allowed on Collector streets as well as local and residential streets. Mr. Olson said the second part of the ordinance deals with block length, connectivity and intersection spacing. With this section of the ordinance we are trying to create more of a grid infrastructure system so we can achieve our 2025 Plan goal of a livable transportation network. It talks about the spacing of intersections between the arterials and collectors and when you get down to a local and a residential street level, it mandates how close those intersections need to be. This section also talks about limiting or minimizing the number of cul-de-sacs or dead end streets that are allowed, using them only in situations dictated by difficult topography or barriers to accessing adjacent properties. He said planning staff feels a cul-de-sac neighborhoods create a choke point where all the traffic comes out onto one street. You are creating islands of development that are not conducive to any type of transportation network other than automobile. This doesn't promote pedestrian walkability, bicycling or any other transportation option. Alderman Ferrell said he understands the rationale of staff but he lives on a cul-de-sac people walk it and bicycle it every day. He said over the last year he has been getting more calls and emaits than ever before about cars coming through neighborhoods. He said if we are going to establish the connectivity, the next step is the neighborhood requesting a speed barrier. Leif Olson said downtown Fayetteville has a grid system and you have so many different ways to get around the area. When you look at a situation where you have a couple of cul-de-sac neighborhoods accessing an arterial street, the traffic all goes onto that arterial street and through that neighborhood. The more connectivity you have, the more options you have as a driver. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 5 of 16 Alderman Ferrell said all connectivity is not going to be arterial. You're going to have local streets that are connected also. Leif Olson said if you look at some of our subdivisions out west we are repeating that same pattern, creating cul-de-sac neighborhoods with one way in and one way out leading onto a collector or arterial roadway where there will be major clogs at certain spots. Downtown we don't have a lot of good east -west connection at this time so it naturally funnels people onto North St. or Lafayette or Township which are not made to handle the traffic. He isn't sure how to get around that. This ordinance is looking more at locations that have not yet been built. We want to build these neighborhoods to be the best they can be. Alderman Ferrell said he doesn't believe the sentiment of the citizens is going to change. It's okay for a brand new development but if you connect that development to one that is already there and the traffic flows through that neighborhood, the phones are going to start to ring. Alderwoman Thiel said we already have a policy of connectivity. Leif Olson said we have a policy of connectivity but it will not allow planning staff to tell a developer they need to space intersections 800 feet apart. Alderwoman Thiel clarified that we are not denying the developers the cul-de-sacs but encouraging connectivity, which is what we are doing now. Leif Olson said this ordinance says this is how we would like to see the development happen and if the developer wants to do something different, they can ask for a waiver or variance. We're coding for what we want and a waiver should be for something that should be a special case. Kit Williams asked what the standard would be for getting a variance for a dead end street. Leif Olson said you have to show that it is difficult topography and there is a natural barrier you can't bridge over. In hilly terrain you're always going to have situations where dead end streets do make sense. Kit Williams talked about a couple of issues regarding the ordinance. He referred to a memo he sent to the Council regarding the ordinances the City has had for the past 30 to 40 years which allow, and to some extent encourage, dead end streets and cul-de-sacs. He said our current design principles say, "local streets should be designed to minimize through traffic". Although Fayetteville has put some regulation on dead-end streets, they have been one of the options that homeowners have had, regardless of the terrain. He said the thing that concerns him is that we would be making a decision for all the citizens. He also briefly talked about the curb cuts. He said it is clear law that if you own property that adjoins a road, you have an access easement to that road. If you own a corner parcel with frontage along two different roads, you have access 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 6 of 16 easements to both roads. The City doesn't have to grant a curb cut but if we deny one, we have to pay the landowner whatever the value of that curb cut would be In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Kit Williams said several cases have come out of the Supreme Court. He described one where the City of Little Rock sought to close an access and require access only to another street. The Supreme Court said the property owner has an access and if the City doesn't want them to have that access, the City would have to pay for it. Alderwoman Thiel said that access already existed and the Court said they had to allow them access because they were taking it away. That's not the issue here. Kit Williams said from a legal point of view it doesn't make any difference. They always have right to access. If you have land along a road, you have an access easement whether you've exercised it with a curb cut or not. If you have a corner lot you have two access easements. Alderwoman Thiel asked to see the information on the court cases that are Mr. Williams is citing. She also asked if Mr. Williams' comments regarding the first part of the ordinance (dead end streets and cul-de-sacs) were based on legal concerns or his own opinion. Kit Williams said that is a policy issue for the City Council to decide. He said the Council probably has the legal right to ban cul-de-sacs and the language in this ordinance would pretty much be a ban with a few rare exceptions. In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Leif Olson said with this ordinance staff is suggesting that development happens more in a grid pattern. But there will be topography issues. There will be streams or flood plains you can't cross, as well as steep grades and other issues. In these instances, cul-de-sacs would be appropriate and we don't want to deny those. Planning staff just feels that a more connected street pattern in residential development is more desirable. Alderwoman Allen said she agrees with Mr. Olson that the grid pattern is more desirable. That is what we as a City have decided to do and as long as there are ways to make exceptions when they are necessary then she thinks this is a very sound ordinance. Leif Olson said cities all over the country are changing their subdivision standards to create gridded networks. Alderwoman Thiel said she doesn't think this committee is ready to recommend this to the full Council yet. Alderman Jordan opened theJloor to public comment Glenn David Wilson expressed his concern about the grid structure because of the GPS systems that many trucks and cars have now which allow them to use residential streets as throughways. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 7 of 16 Charlie Sloan asked what the requirement would be with a 40 acre grid with three entrances where a fourth is not possible because of an existing subdivision. He also expressed his concern about the costs this ordinance would add to a subdivision due to the street length requirements. He also talked about the safety of cul-de-sacs for children because there is no through traffic. Leif Olson responded that we have changed our cross sections to narrow our streets, which means less pavement for the developer. He said it probably works better to use smaller lots of 8,000 sq. ft. or less. He also said if you are up against a development where there is no way to connect, it would be reasonable to ask for a waiver to allow a cul-de-sac. That is a natural barrier just like a river or a mountain. Kit Williams asked if staff wouldn't try to get the developer to design the subdivision in such a way that would avoid a cul-de-sac if possible. Leif Olson said yes and it would depend on the situation. Alderwoman Thiel said before we look at this again she would like to see an example of a subdivision where every street went through. She would like to be able to visualize the number of curb cuts in the relatively dense, small -lot project which we are also encouraging. Leif Olson said they do have examples that he can supply. 5. 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 February 28, 2008 meeting.) Ron Petrie said this item has been before the Street Committee two or three times and the property owner is here tonight. He showed slides of the alley in question, both the part where a vacation is requested and the other section. He said this request was originally brought forward by Terry Gulley. He said it is a reasonable request, however to be fair to all landowners staff would recommend that we vacate the entire alley (north to south and east to west). In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Ron Petrie said we would need to keep a drainage and utility easement. Alderman Jordan opened the ,Jloor for public comment. Chip Dickensen said he is remodeling a house next to the alley, on Highland. He said the actual request is to abandon the alley from Highland down to the second lot line. In terms of abandoning the entire alley, everyone would have to agree to that and he knows of a couple who would object. He said on the other side, from Park, that alley is used some by the City to get to sewer lines. There are also power lines back there. Last year someone built a pool in their back yard and used the alley. He said he understands Transportation's policy of abandoning an entire 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 8 of 16 alley if part is abandoned, but he isn't sure what the downside is to abandoning only this particular portion of the alley from Highland which is steep and not going to be used Alderwoman Thiel said if the City had the money to clear the alley, it could be used for parking. Chip Dickensen said it is his understanding that City doesn't want to develop or maintain any more alleys. Alderwoman Thiel asked staff if it is possible for private property owners to clean it out so they could use if they want to. Gary Dumas said they could. Chip Dickensen said it would be possible if the three neighbors got together to cut down some trees but it would be very steep. He said he started this because he wanted some parking up near the front of the road in the alley. At this point he is finished with the project and it is for sale and he just wants a buyer know there won't be a road next to his house and this would also allow them to landscape as they please. He has one buyer who is interested in putting a granny unit in back and this would allow him better set backs. He said he submitted this in October and at this point he just needs an answer. If the Committee doesn't want to abandon the alley, he just needs a letter so he can show a buyer that it is not going to be developed any time soon. Ron Gay said he is one of the homeowners on this alley and represents three homeowners along one section of the alley. He said all three owners are in favor of vacating the upper portion of the alley. He talked about where the location of the alley is in reality as opposed to what it looks like and what is being used. He said the actual alley would be impossible to develop because of its location. He said the three homeowners he represents are in favor of vacating the whole alley. Alderwoman Thiel moved that the Committee recommend this vacation to the full Council (maintaining the drainage and utility easement). Tim Conklin said that the City Attorney has offered his opinion that if someone wants the alley left open, we should not vacate it. Alderwoman Thiel amended her motion to state that this Committee recommends this vacation if all homeowners agree to it. Alderman Ferrell seconded that motion and it passed unanimously. 6. Steele Boulevard Median Cut: Presentation of a proposed median cut on Steele Boulevard located north of Van Asche Boulevard and south of Mud Creek. Ron Petrie said this is a request from the owner of the majority of the property in this area. Employees in an office building on the west side of Steele Blvd., north of Van Asche are 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 9 of 16 concerned that their only means of access is on the north side of the median. Representatives of owner are here to speak In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Ron Petrie said the proposed curb cut would allow access to the offices off Steele Blvd. Alderwoman Thiel said it makes sense to have a curb cut at this location. Ron Petrie said it has some logic. He said we are very protective of this median because obviously we spent a lot of money to get it in place. We want to make sure any cut is justified. The original proposal was to go ahead and put in areas for left turn bays on both sides but it got so small. He was very concerned that we don't know yet what more is going to be built in this area. For the time being staff is recommending to just do this one median cut. Alderman Ferrell said he is in favor of this and thinks it is logical. You still have controlled access there. Alderman Ferrell moved that this request be forwarded on to the City Council with recommendation for approval. Alderwoman Thiel seconded the motion. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment There being none he returned the discussion to the Committee. With a motion and second on the floor, a vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously. 7. Presentation of the proposed Scull Creek Trail crossine of North Street Ron Petrie said the Sidewalks & Trails Committee recommended that this proposal be brought before the Street Committee. He showed a slide and explained that they are proposing to put in a raised median with curb and gutter. He said there are various items to help with safety, including rumble strips on both sides and flashing lights to detect anyone in the trail. The big thing is the addition of an island on North Street. He said they are not proposing to narrow the street but will actually widen it a little to make sure there are 11 ft. lanes on all sides. Alderman Ferrell asked if there is enough right-of-way currently to do that. Ron Petrie said there is. In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Ron Petrie confirmed that this would come out of the trail part of the bond money. Alderwoman Allen said it looks really good. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 10 of 16 Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment There was none. Alderwoman Allen moved that the proposal be approver. Alderwoman Thiel seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 8. Ron Petrie said this item was approved by the City Council back in 2003. He said this is the widening of Razorback Road through the campus to the north of 6th St. all the way to Maple, including Maple over to Garland. In 2003 the Council agreed to a cost share with the University to do all the preliminary plans for this project. At that time we did not set aside any money to do the project, which is a concern of the staff. The estimate back in 2003 to do the entire project was $6 to $8 million. He said we have $1 million in State funds to do the project. It is an 80/20 match so we would have to come up with $200,000. Staff has asked the AHTD if we can do the same thing they did on Hwy 265 — making this $1.2 million. AHTD's proposal is now to draw up the whole plan and once we get that we can break the project into phases and use the $1 million. The staff is asking the Committee if it is their desire to move forward with the design and pay the AHTD $17,500, which is half of the $35,000 necessary to move forward. Alderwoman Thiel asked where we would get the funding for this project. Ron Petrie said it would probably have to be a bond issue. Alderwoman Thiel said it would be in conflict with the next round of projects set for the bond issue, including Huntsville Road. Ron Petrie said it could be but what we are talking about is the $200,000. We're not talking about the $8 million. Once the study is done we have to find $200,000 if we want to move forward with a portion of this project. Alderman Ferrell asked if it was correct that if we move forward with the study that would give us the options and tell us the way we need to go. No matter what happens that money would still be spent getting us headed in the right way to do this job. Ron Petrie said that is correct. He said when the study is done we can say we're not interested in moving forward. We've done that before. Alderman Ferrell moved that we go forward with this. Alderwoman Allen seconded the motion. 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 May 12, 2008 Page 11 of 16 There being a motion and second on the floor, a vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously. TRANSPORTATION BOND PROGRAM ITEMS 9. Garland Avenue (North of Fulbright Expressway): Continued discussion of a proposal from the owner of the Park West Development property to relocate Garland Avenue between the Fulbright Expresswav and Howard Nickell Road Ron Petrie said at the last Street Committee meeting Mr. Hoskins gave a presentation and asked if the committee was interested in him pursuing this any further. The recommendation at the time was to develop some costs and then continue the discussion. Mr. Hoskins now has some information to present. Tracy Hoskins said this is a project that has been discussed since late last year. He has been working with staff to try to get some idea of costs. He presented some information to the Committee showing the original cost estimates of the first and second leg of Hwy 112 when the bond issue came about. Using construction escalation factors provided by the University of Arkansas, these amounts were translated into today's dollars and then into future dollars. Alderwoman Thiel said the question was the difference between Mr. Hoskins' proposal and the original plan. Tracy Hoskins said he was providing that also. He said the first leg is from Sam's Wholesale up to Van Asche. The second leg is from Van Asche over to and through Howard Nickell. Alderman Thiel said it looks like the difference is about $3 million. Tracy Hoskins said the difference is about $14 million. He said the original estimate from Garland to Shiloh was $3.6 million. From Van Asche to Howard Nickell Road which is in the second bond issue is $6.5 million. This proposal negates the need for both of those sections. Ron Petrie said right now we have $3.6 million to do the first portion. The other section is for a future bond issue (beyond 2014). He said Mr. Hoskins added those two numbers together using today's dollars and came up with $10.2 million. Tracy Hoskins said in 2004 dollars it is $10.16 million. If you add the escalation factor between 2004 and 2008, it translates to $13.28 million. Alderman Jordan said if we wait until 2012 and 2018 (next bond issue) it will cost $24 million. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 12 of 16 Tracy Hoskins agreed and said the difference is about $14 million and ten years of time getting the project complete when we could be getting the economic benefit from it now Gary Dumas said that is $14 million less. Alderwoman Thiel asked what the difference is between those two, doing it one way or the other. Ron Petrie said the new route would cost $10.86 million in today's dollars. In today's dollars the other route is $13.28 million. Alderwoman Thiel said the difference is $3 million. She asked if the project would get built faster by doing it Mr. Hoskins' way. Tracy Hoskins said it would. He said he is proposing that he will build the road with the participation of the City. He will pay for part of it and the City will pay for part of it. Part of it is already taken care of in the bond issue. Ron Petrie said he doesn't think we have a proposal here tonight. The proposal is something that would be forthcoming if the Committee chooses to pursue this further. This is just a presentation of the facts that Mr. Hoskins has put together for us so far. Gary Dumas said what the Committee asked for last time was the cost. Now we have the cost to see if it is a possibility that we want to continue the project. If the Committee likes the concept (understanding these costs are estimates) then we can move forward to develop a funding mechanism where the developer contributes some funding and the City contributes some funding. All the City has available right now is the $3.66 million. Alderwoman Thiel said the Committee had asked for two things. They wanted the difference between both routes and the approximate cost. We now have that. She asked what staff would like this Committee to do now. Gary Dumas said if the Committee is still in agreement, we will move forward with more discussions with the developer to come up with a funding mechanism. Alderman Ferrell asked if there is any estimate of how long construction would take. Ron Petrie said the best case would probably be three years. Alderman Jordan asked Mr. Hoskins to come to his Ward 4 meeting on May 19. Gary Dumas said the Committee is making no commitment yet. They are asking staff to continue studying and coming up with a funding mechanism. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 13 of 16 Alderman Jordan said he could do that as long as we don't have a firm commitment until he has cleared it with some folks. Glenn David Wilson asked how the proposed changes would affect the traffic on Garland Ave. and the businesses on Garland. Tracy Hoskins said Garland Avenue will remain just like it is today, except it will be tied in to the divided four -lane (new Hwy 112). Glenn David Wilson asked if it would be easier or more difficult to get onto Garland Ave and if traffic would flow more easily from Hwy 540 or if it would be more difficult. Tracy Hoskins said this is north of Sam's and Fulbright Expressway. Bob Costrell asked about the other piece of the project reported in the paper which connects Salem to Howard Nickell Rd. Ron Petrie said the discussion now is the potential new Hwy 112. The other section is only as much of the discussion as the Committee wants it to be. The focus on the financing part has been on the new Hwy 112. Tim Conklin asked if the re-route of Howard Nickell to Salem Rd. is included in the cost the developer will be sharing. Tracy Hoskins said he is pretty sure it is. He'll have to get with his engineer to find out for sure. Alderwoman Thiel said if it is not part of it, it changes the $3 million difference. Alderman Jordan suggested discussions continue on this item. He asked Mr. Hoskins to bring something forward that includes more detail of the west Salem portion. He would like to talk about the entire area instead of just Hwy 112. He also asked that Mr. Petrie bring more information about how many houses are along west Salem and what the layout is there. 10. Favetteville ERpresswav Economic Development Corridor Proiect: Discussions of Amendment No. 1 to the Engineering Contract with Carter & Burgess in the amount of $700,215.31 for the design of the Flyover Project and the improvements to the Fulbright access ramps at North Hills Boulevard including the Environmental Assessment service, Geotechnical services, surveying, bridge design, and bidding services. Chris Brown said this is a contract amendment for the Fayetteville Expressway Economic Development Corridor. It is a single amendment but this is two separate projects. The Flyover 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 14 of 16 will come off North College, access onto the Expressway and then access off just south of the Olive Garden to get to the Business Park. For this project the total fee is approximately $480,000. This includes design services and it also includes a break in access because we have to get approval from the Federal Highway Administration to add the ramp onto their controlled access facility. There are also some environmental clearances we have to get because it is a Federal project. This as well as the design of two bridges is included in the fee. The other project is the round -about. To design this and get all the environmental clearances and all the permits we need the fee is approximately $220,000. The actual design time for the flyover portion is estimated to be about 380 days not including review times. Staff expects six months worth of reviews. Right now, assuming all the reviews come in expeditiously, we are looking at the end of 2009 to be able to start construction on the project. On the roundabout we are looking at the fall of 2009 to begin construction. Alderman Ferrell asked if this budget is about the same as it has been. Chris Brown said we didn't have detailed budgets for all these projects because we didn't know what projects we would be doing. He said the total design and construction budget do fall within the Federal funding for the projects. This contract will be funded 80% with Federal funds. Alderman Ferrell moved that we forward this on to the Council for their information Alderwoman Thiel seconded the motion. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment. There being none he returned the discussion to the Committee. With a motion and second on the floor, a vote was taken and the motion passed unanimously. 11. Garland Avenue (North Street to Melmar): Presentation of preliminary plans and cost estimates provided by the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department. Ron Petrie said this is one of the Transportation Bond projects. The project runs north from Wedington just past Melmar and is being designed completely by the AHTD. The AHTD will bid it and they will be in charge of construction. He reviewed the preliminary plans. The proposal is very similar to our conceptual plans — a straight five -lane with 11 ft. lanes, 12 ft. center turn lane. He said there are some very tight areas along the entire corridor but the good news is that we don't have to remove any structures for the project. The preliminary costs for the project include $2 million for property acquisition, $46,000 for the potential relocation of a couple of businesses, $1 million for utility reimbursement and $391,000 non -reimbursable. Everything (excluding construction costs) comes to just under $3.5 million. The construction cost has been estimated to be $3 million. The City has a cap of $1.5 million for construction. On this particular project we are responsible for the $3.5 million in other costs so our total cost on this is about $5 million. Through the bond program we had budgeted $5.2 million so we are right where we thought we would be at this point. The AHTD is asking us to look at these preliminary 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 15 of 16 plans and give them some comments before they hold their public meeting in one to two months. If anything needs to be changed before that meeting, now is the time to provide those comments Alderman Jordan said his only problem is whether we can stay on budget if it takes awhile to get this started. Even though we're on budget right now we've seen it happen before that if it takes a year or two to get on track, the building costs go up. Alderwoman Thiel said she thinks we should just keep moving right along. She said she believes the Street Committee should review the plans as requested by the AHTD and that the entire Council should be made aware of the time of those reviews. Ron Petrie said this doesn't require Council action but staff could show it at an agenda session. Alderman Ferrell said he likes this plan. Glenn David Wilson spoke of his concern about the traffic being funneled from businesses onto Garland and he also expressed concern about the road running through property he owns. Ron Petrie showed the plan again and said that although a portion of his property is involved, it's not nearly as much as the original plan. Alderman Jordan said we will discuss this more fully when we have some more detailed plans. Nothing will be done until everyone looks at the detail. 12. General Update of the Transportation Bond Program Chris Brown displayed and reviewed the schedule of Transportation Bond Program projects, updating the Committee on the status of each project. He mentioned that the right-of-way acquisition portion of the Cato Springs project is going to take longer than anticipated. We have had to make some adjustments to the right-of-way per AHTD comments. Because this is a Federally funded project, there are some additional hoops we have to jump through. He said staff still feels we can get the project construction completed on schedule. In response to a question from Alderwoman Thiel, Chris Brown explained that the way the City acquires right-of-way is a little different from the way the State acquires it so we had to change all of our plans to acquire additional right-of-way. He said there is no change to the footprint as far as width of street, sidewalk, etc. However there will be some additional right-of- way we will have to purchase. Chris Brown continued his review of the status of the projects on the Transportation Bond Program. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes May 12, 2008 Page 16 of 16 Ron Petrie said we do expect to have our permits from the AHTD on the College Avenue project by the end of this week so we anticipate starting construction in two to three weeks Alderwoman Allen spoke of how important she thinks it is to have these updates on the bond program projects. She mentioned a call from an attorney on the Square who said his basement is flooding because of the work on the Square. She said she feels we as a City need to take the lead as far as what we want developers to do be quick to take care of the problems we might create. She also mentioned the need for a stoplight at the entrance of Butterfield Trail Village. She wasn't sure if this had been discussed in the past. Alderman Ferrell said he thought something had been mentioned in the past about a study or something being done in this area. Ron Petrie said he believes Mr. Perry Franklin in Transportation has a long history with this. Mr. Petrie isn't familiar with the details. Alderwoman Allen said she believed it is something worth looking into. 13. Scheduling of the next Street Committee Meeting A meeting of the Street Committee will be scheduled at a later date. 14. Adiourn There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org