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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-09-04 MinutesCity Council Street Committee Minutes September 4„ 2008 Page I of 5 Member Aldermen Mayor Dan Coody+ le Ward 1 Position l — Brenda Thiel T��TV 1 T yWard 2 Position 2 — Nancy Allen CityAttorney Kit Williams L/Ward 3 Position 2—Robert Ferrell 1Ward 4 Position 2 - Lioneld Jordan City Clerk Sondra Smith ARKANSAS City of Fayetteville Arkansas City Council Street Committee Meeting Minutes September 4, 2008 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Street Committee was held on September 4, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. in Room 219 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; Gary Dumas; Chris Brown Alderman Jordan called the meeting to order. 1. Mount Comfort Road: Continued discussion of the status of the acquisition of right- of-way for Phase 1 of the Mount Comfort Road Widening Project. This item was tabled at the August 18, 2008 meeting. Ron Petrie provided drawings of the options that are before the Committee at this time. He reviewed the options which include: 1) the original plan the Committee approved at the conceptual design level. This does not provide a connection of existing Shiloh Drive to Mt. Comfort Rd.; 2) the preliminary design that the Committee approved which included the connection of existing Shiloh with a right-in/right-out only onto Mt. Comfort, leaving the corridor open; 3) the option discussed at the last meeting with the cul-de-sac coming off Mt. Comfort Road, closing the remainder of the road. Mr. Petrie said this last option was sent to the AHTD for review. We are still waiting on their decision about whether it is an acceptable alternative. He said he doesn't see it as a problem but doesn't want to speak for the AHTD. Alderman Jordan said he believed Mr. Kines did not like the first option and Mr. Nelms did not care for the second option. Don Nelms said he likes either the first or the third option. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes September 4„ 2008 Page 2 of 5 Ken Kines said Farm Credit is open to exploring Option 3 further. He said they are looking for some comfort and understanding in terms of accessibility from their office onto Porter Road. He said there are two traffic light issues to deal with and Mr. Petrie has given them assurance that sequencing these lights is manageable. He said he isn't clear on what would be done with Shiloh Drive between the cul-de-sac and Mr. Nelms' property. The drawing shows half of that drive being closed off and removed and half being left open for a trail/walkway. He asked if that would be accessible for Farm Credit to go north from their offices. Ron Petrie said the way it is shown in this drawing it would not be accessible. It would be closed off. Ken Kines said he thought there was some discussion that this road would be left open but not accessible to through traffic — whereby they (Farm Credit) would be able to go north on Shiloh as it exists today. Alderman Jordan said the second option would make it accessible but the third option would not. With the third option a cul-de-sac would be created to come off Porter Road to get to Farm Credit and then allow traffic to go back to Porter Road, turning either left or right. Or it may be that we have to just go with right turn only. Ken Kines said the option he heard at the last meeting was either left or right turns but he recognizes that the State has to approve that. Ron Petrie said that is what the City is proposing at this point. He said a part of the confusion may be that part of Shiloh is "hatched" in the drawing. He said we don't necessarily have to demolish the entire street but we would prevent anyone from driving through the area. He said it could potentially be used for pedestrians. On our Master Plan this is part of the trail corridor so it could tie into a trail in the future. He said we didn't want to rip it up if there is the potential of using it in the future. But vehicular traffic would not be allowed. Ken Kines said another concern raised with Mr. Petrie is whether the cul-de-sac could be moved to the north end of the Farm Credit property, beyond their property line. Ron Petrie said it wilt either have to be built on Farm Credit property or Mr. Nelms' property if it goes further north. That is something that would have to be worked out. We put it where it is on the drawing because we own that land just to the south of Farm Credit. Ken Kines said assuming we can reach agreement on these issues they would repeat the request that the remaining roadway be named Farm Credit Drive. Alderman Ferrell asked who would determine the naming of this street. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes September 4„ 2008 Page 3 of 5 Ron Petrie said two things would have to happen. The City has a committee which coordinates with 911 to make sure there are no other roads with the same or similar names. They would need to sign off on this request. It is also in the State right-of-way so we would have to get them to sign off on it as well. Alderman Ferrell moved that, pending approval by the AHTD, this Committee approve Option 3 and recommend to the other appropriate committees that it be named Farm Credit Drive. Alderwoman Thiel seconded the motion. Terry Vesh of Farm Credit said their big concern with accepting this is that their customers, upon leaving Farm Credit, be able to turn left and go south. He said they have to have that assurance. Many of their customers come from the south and they must be able to turn left and go back south when they leave. He said they must have the assurance that if there are any future problems that cause Farm Credit any undue problem getting their customers out that the City will alleviate that problem in some manner. Alderman Jordan said he is in agreement with that but it will have to be approved by the AHTD. Alderman Ferrell said it is his understanding that there will be signals on either side of this intersection and that the City will do everything it can to synchronize those lights to ensure the required ingress and egress. He said he doesn't know that we could make a guarantee, tying the hands of future Councils. However we will do our best to get people in and out of this business. Terry Vesh said he wants the record to show that that is one of the basic premises of their agreeing to go forward. Ken Kines said first thing in the morning he will be going to his senior management team with this decision. He will have to get their blessing and he believes he can do that. Don Nelms asked about the multiple street lights. Ron Petrie said the traffic lights will be at the intersection of the on/off ramp and at the new intersection of Shiloh. Don Nelms said he is willing to agree to this as a good neighbor. But he wanted to again reiterate that with the original concept they would have frontage road all the way across their property and would have had access to it from the front. As far as he is concerned, giving that up is fairly significant. He said it isn't his first choice of solutions. Ken Kines said that all the business parties that currently exist on Shiloh Drive would prefer that Shiloh Drive be left open as it is today, regardless of what is done with the proposed Shiloh. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes September 4„ 2008 Page 4 of 5 Ron Petrie said if we want to signalize this we need to move the intersection sufficiently away from the other signal to allow stacking. Leaving Shiloh exactly where it is now truly defeats the purpose of this project. Alderwoman Allen asked if it would be acceptable to move the cul-de-sac to the very north edge of the Farm Credit property. Ken Kines said that is preferable to him. Alderman Ferrell said it is his understanding that is what we are going to do. Ron Petrie said there appears to be sufficient space on Farm Credit's property to allow this. Alderman Ferrell amended his motion to add that staff should work with Mr. Kines and the AHTD in trying to locate the cul-de-sac at thefurthest north point on Farm Creditproperty as possible without getting on Mr. Nelms' property in order to facilitate Farm Credit doing business. Alderwoman Allen seconded the motion. Don Nelms again expressed his preference for option one, outlining his ideas of the benefits to this option. With an amended motion and second on the,Jloor, a vote was taken and it passed unanimously. 2. General Update of the Transportation Bond Program Chris Brown said the construction of Gregg Avenue and North Street is essentially complete. The extra lane is open and the signal is functioning. We are very pleased with how it looks. We have the final construction plans from Garver Engineers for Cato Springs Road. We are now waiting on preparation of appraisals from the AHTD. As soon as we get those appraisals we can start the acquisition process. Because of the acquisition schedule, this project is a little bit behind. We have the final plans on contract two of Mt. Comfort Road. We are waiting on appraisals. This is the remainder of Mt. Comfort from the intersection to Rupple Road. We should have the appraisals next week and offers will be going out for right-of-way. We got approval from the Federal Highway Dept. to begin design work on the Expressway Corridor project. A kickoff meeting is scheduled with the AHTD next week. Zion Road is under construction and is going well. Alderman Ferrell asked if most of the widening on this project has been done. Chris Brown said the initial layer of pavement is now down everywhere. It's in much better shape than it was a month ago. He said there is a public meeting scheduled by the AHTD on the Crossover Road project on September 25 at Vandergriff Elementary. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes September 4„ 2008 Page 5 of 5 Ron Petrie said he and Alderman Ferrell have been discussing traffic calming on Ash Street and Stubblefield Road, the two roads that met the criteria for traffic calming. He said they are considering doing a poll of residents on both of these roads to find out if the property owners there are in favor of the traffic calming. Those results will be reported back to the Street Committee. He asked if the Committee is in agreement with this idea. Alderman Jordan said he doesn't have any problem with that. There being no further business, Alderman Jordan adjourned the meeting. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org