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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-04-17 MinutesMayor Dan Coody City Attomey Kit Williams City Clerk Sondra Smith aye evi le AR KA N SA 5 City of Fayetteville Arkansas City Council Street Committee Meeting Minutes April 17, 2006 City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 1 of 15 Member Aldermen Ward 1 Position 1 - Robert Reynolds Ward 2 Position 2— Don Man Ward 3 Position 2 — Robert Ferrell Ward 4 Position 2 - Lioneld Jordan A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Street Committee was held on April 17, 2006 at 5:30 p.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Alderman Lioneld Jordan, Chair; Alderman Robert Reynolds; Alderman Don Marr: and Alderman Robert Ferrell Staff Present: Tim Conklin, Ron Petrie, Chris Brown, Paul Libertini, Terry Gulley, , Gary Dumas, Dan Coody, Perry Franklin, Kit Williams 1. Call to order The meeting was called to order by Chairman Lioneld Jordan. 2. Approval of the minutes of the March 16, 2006 Street committee meeting. Alderman Robert Ferrell moved that the minutes to the Street Committee meeting held on March 16, 2006 be approved as distributed. Alderman Marr seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 3. Discussion of Street Lighting along Palmer Avenue within the University Heights Neighborhood and the Woodland Drive Area. Perry Franklin said he was contacted last fall about this situation. He asked SWEPCO to put together an estimate for street lighting in these areas. The problem with both areas is that there is no power where neighbors want lights. Staff has done everything possible to get street lights everywhere there is electricity and poles in both neighborhoods. The estimate from SWEPCO to get power to the corners around Woodland Jr. High is pretty high, with one light estimated at over $6000. On this corner there is a huge tree that no one wants to lose. The entire intersection is covered by big trees and the only way SWEPCO can get there is with a directional bore of 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 2 of 15 about 200 feet underground to avoid the tree. He said he had given all the figures to Nancy Allen who represents the neighborhood. The total for four different locations would be about $10,000 to $11,000. Alderman Marr said he believed the neighborhood association's concern is their financial ability to pay for an $11,000 project. They would like the Street Committee to discuss the possibility of funding options that are not totally dependent on the neighborhood since this is near a public school. Perry Franklin said in the past when a neighborhood has wanted a street light, they have paid the cost of the installation. The City's commitment is to pay the utility bill forever after that. In a new subdivision the developer pays for installation of the street lights. It is a requirement in new subdivisions that there is a street light every 300 feet, in cul-de-sacs and at intersections. Mr. Franklin said he did find one empty pole in the Palmer neighborhood on the north end where he could put a street light. He said at Hotz Park there is an old mercury vapor light that can be changed to one of the new HPS's which will provide more light. But south of there to the end of Palmer, there is no power other than one or two places at an intersection. This is a beautiful neighborhood with lots of large, beautiful, mature trees. SWEPCO has looked at this before and getting power to install lights here is going to mean a lot of cutting on the trees. Alderman Marr said he would like the Council to consider a policy for street lights that is similar to our sidewalk policy. We have a policy that neighborhoods can contribute to put their own sidewalk in if a development is not coming to that area, but we have also been building sidewalks around the City in older areas where no new development will be coming to pay for the sidewalks. He would like to consider developing a plan to put in street lights in the older areas over time when the neighborhood makes the request. This particular request for street lights seemed to make sense to him because it was close to a junior high school. He questioned if anyone had approached the school district or if this was strictly the neighborhood. Perry Franklin said one of the lights he has discussed is close to Woodland. The light that would be so expensive to install is three or four blocks from the school. He also explained that SWEPCO has changed their policy over the years so that they ask to reimbursed for every dollar they spend to put in a street light. He also explained that there are lights around Woodland Jr. High. But there are areas along the streets without power. Alderman Jordan said he understands that in the Palmer area there has been a lot of illegal activity, such as break-ins, stolen mail, etc. and neighbors are a little spooked. Perry Franklin said the Palmer area is a much tougher area than the one near Woodland. All of the power in that area is behind houses. The tradeoff is they have beautiful trees up and down the street and no overhead power lines. There would be a price to pay to get power in there. Alderman Jordan opened up the floor for public comment on this issue. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 3 of 15 A member of the audience said she was here to represent the neighborhood. She said the neighborhood association is concerned about the issue and asked that the Committee consider those concerns. Alderman Marr said he believes this is primarily a money issue. Alderman Jordan asked Perry Franklin if he could get the Committee some quotes on street lights for the Palmer area. Mayor Coody asked Perry Franklin if there is any way the cost could be split between the neighborhood association, the City and SWEPCO. Perry Franklin said he could approach SWEPCO with the idea. He said at one time they didn't charge for a 20 ft. pole but now we have to pay for everything. Nancy Allen, representing the neighborhood said they have a number of concerns in the area that primarily can be solved by lighting. She and Perry Franklin toured the neighborhood and he had sent her an e-mail explaining what could be done to solve the problems in the general area of Woodland (Woodland to Gregg to Sycamore to Poplar). She said the $11,000 to install the four lights is not something the neighborhood is able to do. She said it would take $6,920.30 for a light on the corner of Miller & Yates; $1,150.78 for one on the corner of Woolsey & Miller; $1,275.64 for the corner of Poplar & Green Valley and $1,275.64 for the corner of Poplar & Woodland. She is asking for help from the City. She said they consider the lighting to be a safety issue. She also said that Poplar Street would be helped by some kind of speed bump or reflectors. Perry Franklin said they have rumble strips ordered for this street. He asked Ms. Allen if the neighborhood has considered, as an interim solution, installing lights in the three areas that are least expensive. The cost for those three lights would be less than $4000. Nancy Allen said the neighborhood would have no way of raising that much money. When asked about the Mayor's suggestion of trying to work out a way to split the cost three ways, she said she is not optimistic about being able to raise the money in her neighborhood. In response to a question from Perry Franklin, Kit Williams said the neighborhood property owners can set up a property assessment district to tax themselves. It takes 51% of the property owners in the neighborhood to set this up. Alderman Marr asked Mr. Williams if there is a legal reason why the City could not develop a policy to begin to install lighting in older neighborhoods that weren't required to have lighting when they were built. Kit Williams said there is no legal reason not to do that. It is all a matter of policy. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 4 of 15 Nancy Allen said they aren't asking for a free ride, but there are a lot of safety concerns. Several streets have no lights at all. Geary Lowery agreed that safety is a concern of the neighborhood. He also said security is another item because it is so dark in the area. As regards policy, the Council and mayor can decide whatever they want to do and he agrees with Alderman Marr that there can be a policy to install lights just as it is done with sidewalks. Perry Franklin said it is his understanding that the intent of the City of Fayetteville street lighting policy is to light the street and sidewalk for pedestrians. We are not in the security lighting business for personal property. Mayor Coody said he would call the utility company to see what agreement we can reach regarding the cost of installation and possible cost sharing. Alderman Marr said he will bring a policy change for street lights to the Council for discussion. In response to a question from Alderman Marr, Terry Gulley said the City does build sidewalks in neighborhoods without cost sharing with homeowners. Cost shares (50/50) are used primarily when a homeowner or neighborhood wants a sidewalk installed or fixed but doesn't want to wait the year or two for the City's sidewalk program to get to them. 4. Discussion of Street Impact Fee Study with Jim Duncan of Duncan & Associates. Tim Conklin said Jim Duncan of Duncan & Associates updated the City's road impact fee based on the Street Bond program that is under discussion. The purpose of the update is to look at how the City of Fayetteville can use impact fees to recover costs with regards to the capacity enhancements with the proposed street bond program. Several meetings ago there was a discussion with regard to the arterial and collector street system and what developers should or should not get credit for. It was decided that Mr. Duncan could help with those policy discussions. Another issue was with regard to right-of-way costs being included or excluded in the impact fee. He said Mr. Jim Duncan is here tonight to answer any questions with regard to these issues. Jim Duncan said Tim had mentioned that one of the questions the Council had was whether or not impact fees could be spent on the bond program. The answer is yes. You would need to spend the fees on roads that are capacity enhancing, not replacement or rehab improvements and on roads that are actually listed for improvement. Tim also said the question of the developer getting credit for building local streets was mentioned. Mr. Duncan said he does not know of any instances where that is done with a road impact fee. One reason is that local residential streets are traditionally a part of the subdivision process and are provided by the development community. However, the main reason you would not give credit for those on an impact fee 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 5 of 15 study is that the calculation of the fee did not include those. The calculation of the fee includes an inventory of all the arterials and collector streets. The study is predicated on those improvements and does not include local type streets. If the City decides to include local streets, they would have to be added into the calculations which would raise the fee substantially. He does not recommend this. The right-of-way question that was discussed at an earlier meeting is strictly a policy issue. The study is designed to show numbers both with and without right-of- way. Some communities have adopted their fees with right-of-way costs included and some without. Generally the policy option on that issue is determined by how comfortable you are with your current right-of-way exaction program. Tim Conklin said there had been a discussion also about creating areas within Fayetteville where infill is encouraged and where capacity enhancements to our transportation system are not planned that would be excluded from impact fees. Staff had a discussion today with regard to methods the City could use to accomplish this as a City. He asked Mr. Duncan to talk about what other cities have done with regard to identifying specific areas. Alderman Marr asked first to go back to the local street item to make sure he understood something. He said much of the discussion had been specifically about Rupple Road. He said he understands that a developer would build all their roads within their development. His question regards the frontage of the land where the arterial is running past and the developer is building the local street part of the arterial. He asked if the calculation of the impact fee only included the expansion from a local to arterial street or if it would include the entire arterial cost. His feeling is if they are building any part of that arterial street, they should get credit for what they build. Alderman Jordan agreed that one of the biggest concerns with the development community with regard to the impact fees is the question of the developer who has to build half of a boulevard the length of their property paying the same impact fee as someone who is hooking on to the back of that property and using that road. Jim Duncan explained the principle involved. A local street, whether it is an arterial or not, will have to be built. Half of what a local access street (14 feet) would cost would be the developer's responsibility. Alderman Marr restated his understanding that every arterial/collector street is treated as a conversion from a local street to that street standard. Jim Duncan agreed that that is correct. Tim Conklin said there had been a discussion about timing at today's meeting. If the developer wants to wait until the City builds a boulevard into the undeveloped area, the developer is not responsible for building that street — it will already be built. But if they want to develop today before the boulevard is built, they will pay for their share. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 6 of 15 There was further discussion between staff, Mr. Duncan and Committee members about the issue of impact fees, development in currently undeveloped areas and developer's concerns regarding what they would pay in impact fees. Gary Dumas said if the decision is made to include the local street (14 feet) in the calculations, staff can come up with a number that will do that. However, he encouraged everyone to consider the fact that a local street behind another subdivision will typically have driveways and access to that local street. If you want to allow the local street portion of the arterial or collector to be funded by impact fees, then you would restrict driveway access off of that arterial or collector and just have intersection street access. Kit Williams said he thinks the City has the right to control that kind of access through the development process and regulatory powers, not through the impact fees. He would have grave legal concerns if we tried to include local streets in an impact fee statute. He believes the impact fee statute and the ordinances are made for streets that are used by the community, not local streets. Collector streets are used by the community at large where local residential streets are not necessarily used by everyone. Don Marr said he understands and agrees with that argument. He is trying to understand about when we are building a street larger than a local street, a collector or arterial, where we are building the whole thing, something the City hasn't done that much. We have been reactionary. This bond issue is more proactive, particularly in west Fayetteville. Since we see the development coming, we are going to create the east/west, north/south access. In that case we are building the whole thing earlier. That is where it concerns him that we don't get the local street, 14 foot item first. Jim Duncan said he is trying to show the fair and equitable issues but what Alderman Marr is getting at is the more practical issue of how you put the road in. We certainly don't want to just put two lanes down the middle and let development build around it. We want to do it right the first time. That obligation is above and beyond the payment of impact fees. That's the local access obligation. That would probably require a special assessment. For instance, the City puts in the entire four -lane road and is responsible for the middle two lanes. As development comes in they are responsible to pay the impact fees plus the cost of their frontage times 14 feet. This all goes back into payment of the bonds. Alderman Ferrell had a question about the commercial retail charges for impact fees. He said most of these businesses are not bringing the traffic — they are going where the traffic and the people are already. He thinks the rates we are preparing to charge retail commercial entities are counterproductive to retail and business development. Jim Duncan said on any type of road fee, the retail is a red flag. Road fees are basically calculated on three factors — the number of trips that are generated, the trip length and a pass -by factor. That pass -by factor was added to accommodate the retail red flags. He said Alderman 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 7 of 15 Ferrell is right that retail is going to go where the traffic is. But when they locate there, the traffic will increase and compound the problem. Alderman Ferrell asked how Fayetteville's rate for retail compares to other cities for which Mr. Duncan has developed fees. Jim Duncan said that on the average it is right in the ballpark. He wanted to make sure the group understands that Duncan & Associates is not recommending the fee, but is just saying that this is the maximum allowable fee you can charge legally. You can charge any percent less than that, as long as you keep the percent proportional across the board. Alderman Marr asked how the sales tax collected that goes towards capital roads is accounted for in this pricing. Jim Duncan said it is in the credits section of the study. He explained the process used in this calculation. In response to a question from Kit Williams, Jim Duncan said that the study would be adjusted if the citizens pass the bond issue for roads. He said it would not have to be done immediately but generally the studies are updated every three to five years. In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Jim Duncan said it is conceivable to think that an impact fee can go down if prices go down for raw materials to build roads. He also said that an impact fee can be lowered or suspended by the City if circumstances warrant. It is all related to growth. Alderman Marr asked Mr. Duncan if he has an opinion for the Committee regarding the discussion of whether or not to include right-of-way in the impact fee. Jim Duncan said bis inclination is not to include it. Mayor Coody asked Mr. Duncan to talk a little about what is going on in neighboring communities. Jim Duncan said his company is under contract with Rogers right now for an impact fee study. Bentonville is now adding to their fees and Siloam Springs has a contract going. Alderman Jordan opened the floor to the public for comment. Geary Lowery commented that road assessment districts or street improvement districts, as touched on by Kit Williams earlier, is another venue that is used in a lot of cities throughout the United States. He said the city needs to improve street quality and the mobility of the community by widening streets. He mentioned problems with the width of Township and 6th Streets. He also 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 8 of 15 suggested that the dedicated right-of-way required of the developers be increased to a minimum of 60 feet on both sides of the roadways. He believes a street improvement district is the answer, ensuring that the property owner pays the cost. Alderman Ferrell responded that the citizens who live along Township do not want that street widened. Geary Lowery said he doesn't care what the citizens want. It only matters what benefits the community, not for the few who live on Township. In response to a comment from another audience member, Jim Duncan agreed that as much as people are anti -tax, they are not necessarily anti -fee. Most people aren't necessarily against development, they just want there to be a program where growth pays its own way. There was discussion of the list of bond issue projects, the changes that have been made over the past six months and whether the costs used in the study are still the same. Tim Conklin said that the figures have been updated. Ron Petrie said the information provided to the consultant was the length, cost, number of existing lanes, and number of new lanes. Alderman Marr asked that the new engineering costs be added to the spreadsheet to ensure that the figures are all updated. Kit Williams asked what would happen if the bond issue doesn't pass and we have the impact fee based upon the roads to be built. Jim Duncan said that would not invalidate the study because the figures being used are an engineer's best estimate of what it would cost to build the road. The figures are still valid whether you build the road or not. Alderman Ferrell asked which City has the most impact fees. Jim Duncan said he isn't sure which city but he knows it is in California. Alderman Marr moved that, assuming that the spread sheet is updated with the numbers Ron Petrie gave the Committee, the methodology for the impact fees be approved and sent to the Council. Alderman Reynolds seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 5. Amendment to the Master Street Plan to realign Deane Solomon Road (Collector Street) to the east and to reclassify the existing street as a Local Street near the intersection with Highway 112. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 9 of 15 6. Amendment to the Master Street Plan to realign east -west Collector Street across the Park West PZD property to the south as was indicated with the approved Master Development Plan for the Park West PZD. Ron Petrie said he would like to discuss both Item 5 and Item 6 together, though the Committee can vote on them separately. He said both items pertain to the Park West Development. The Committee members have seen this information before when the PZD was approved. Council action will be required to realign the Master Street Plan. Alderman Jordan asked for input from the Committee members. There being none, he asked if there was any public comment. There was none. Alderman Ferrell moved that both Item 5 and Item 6 be approved and forwarded to the Council Alderman Marr seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 7. Presentation of the concept plan for the Township Street Widening project between Gregg and College Avenues. Ron Petrie introduced the project by telling the Committee that around three years ago the City had an agreement with Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department to widen Gregg Avenue. As a part of that agreement both Gregg and Township would be declassified out of the State system and become City streets. Another part of the agreement was to widen Township. We have been slowly accumulating money to do the project for the last three years. Staff has a concept to present to the Committee and he asked Paul Libertini, one of our in-house designing engineers to present that concept. Paul Libertini presented the plan to the Committee. He explained where AHTD intends to build Gregg Ave. and where Township will be tied in to that. Township will be widened to three lanes with curb and gutter. There will be 6 ft. sidewalks on both sides of the street with a 10 ft. green space. We will have to match up with the highway department on the Gregg Ave. end and with the existing intersection on College Ave. at the other end. There is no new signalization on this project. AHTD will take care of that at Gregg Ave. and there are already existing signals on College Ave. It is not felt that there is enough traffic in the area of Green Acres Rd. to warrant a signal at this time. Staff is trying to maximize the use of the existing right-of-way. Mr. Libertini has talked to property owners in the area and will tie in to and use existing sidewalks where possible. He said that Township will stay at about the same grade it is presently, with maybe a little higher grade over the bridge. He is also working to keep as many existing trees as possible and trying to keep the curb away from the trees so we won't disturb the root system during construction. He said the length of the project is 2100 feet, a little under 1/2 mile and the estimated cost is $2.5 million. That is a planning figure with contingencies included and it does include right-of-way. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 10 of 15 In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Paul Libertini said we are looking at seven properties on the north side of the road and nine on the south side. The estimate for the north side is about $100,000 and $132,000 for the south side. In response to a question from Alderman Reynolds, Mr. Libertini said we are not closing any access to businesses. However on the north side from the creek on west there are a couple of driveways that will be more defined and parking will be rearranged. Mayor Coody asked where the Arkansas State Highway & Transportation Department is now on Gregg Avenue project. Ron Petrie said they have opened bids twice on the project and rejected the bids both times. He is not sure when it will be re -let but hopes it will be within the next few weeks. He also said that there may be some difficulty obtaining the necessary right-of-way in some areas along Township. In response to a suggestion from Mayor Coody, Paul Libertini said that staff can look at the possibility of going from three 12 ft. lanes to two 11 ft. lanes and a 12 ft. turn lane to save a couple of feet of right-of-way. Alderman Jordan opened the floor to public comment or questions. Geary Lowery said that under an SID (street improvement district), the only cost to the city would have been the purchase of right-of-way. There being no further comments from the public, Alderman Jordan brought the discussion back to the Street Committee. Paul Libertini pointed out that staff is designing for a 10 ft. green space and 6 ft. sidewalks, which makes a little more problem tying in with driveways and getting rights-of-way. They intend to stay with that design unless the Street Committee tells them otherwise. Alderman Ferrell said he would reserve his comments until he sees what happens when negotiating for rights-of-way. Alderman Marr said he would encourage that there not be a compromise until we are actually into negotiations that would necessitate something different. He said this design makes it easily walkable from the hospital now that Gregg Ave. will have sidewalks on each side. Ron Petrie said staff will continue with design on this project, begin contacting property owners and get the project ready to bid. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 11 of 15 7. Discussion of the Proposed Citywide Transportation Improvement Project Ron Petrie said a couple of items were discussed at the last meeting which prompted staff to spend some time looking at the phasing of the Transportation Improvement project. Chris Brown, a staff engineer has prepared a very realistic schedule for each project. Summary sheets, as well as more detailed information sheets were distributed to the Committee showing exactly how long each project will take. Phasing of the projects is a big concern and this information will help a great deal in phasing discussions. Staff also set beginning dates for each phase and using the cash loaded amount from the schedules it is evident that we are nowhere near meeting the maximum dollar amount from the bond issue. Staff also developed one scenario with several possibilities within it. This accelerated schedule would involve moving the 15th St. project up to the beginning, dividing Zion Rd. up into two phases, moving the first portion into Phase One, and backing up all the engineering to be completed earlier, so that construction will start at the beginning of the phase instead of the engineering. In response to a question from Alderman Reynolds, Ron Petrie explained that the College Ave. project is spread out over all phases of the program. He said staff is still working on real concepts for the project and the cost of relocating the electricity is not included in the figure on this schedule. Staff is anticipating getting some money from the State to go with the bond money. How much money we receive from the State will dictate whether we will put everything underground or relocate utilities. Alderman Reynolds wants it to be clear that the $12 million for this project does not include utility relocation. Ron Petrie said that this schedule indicates that the City will have $12 million to spend on the project and no more. Money from the State will be in addition and we can do more with it. At this point it will be the decision of the Committee what we will spend the $12 million on. Mayor Coody said from 6th to North St. there is very little electrical relocation to be done. Everything is pretty much off the streets already. Going north of North Street is a bigger job but all the lines do not have to be buried. It would be less expensive to move them back behind the businesses. This does not lock us into burying anything except where it is feasible and affordable. Alderman Reynolds said he has talked to many people who are willing to have a boulevard from 6th to North St. but from there north, they do not want a boulevard because they feel it would block their businesses. Mayor Coody said he doesn't know if a boulevard is the answer and is not proposing one all the way down College Ave. Peters and Associates recently updated all of the traffic counts with turning movements. Rick Hall from Florida is looking at some different concepts of what might be done in Phase One (6th to North). 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 12 of 15 In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Mayor Coody said that State Highway Commissioner Jonathon Barnett has said if we come up with a good plan that AHTD can support, they will pay for 50% of the improvements to College Ave. They are looking for a resolution from the City to show good faith that we are willing to provide the other 50%. Alderman Jordan asked what would happen if the City does pass a resolution and then the State decides they won't pay the 50%. Mayor Coody said the City would have the choice of spending the money we want to spend on the project or doing nothing. Alderman Reynolds said he has been asked why AHTD wants to put money into reinventing College Avenue when they did not want to put money into Hwy. 540/62 and correct the congestion there. Gary Dumas said he talked to AHTD today and they are preparing their state improvement program for the next year. Last September or October we contacted them with the Street Bond program list which had the I-540/Hwy 62 intersection and the I-540/Hwy 16 intersection on it. The Committee took those projects off the list due to the cost. The list AHTD has includes Hwy 16 from Falcon to College and Garland from North St. to I540. They want the numbers from us and want to know how serious the City is about the projects. They want to spend their money where they can get the most out of it, which means local cost share. He did mention to them that the City would be spending money on Rupple Road and the State said they consider that a local road except perhaps for the Hwy 112 section. Alderman Jordan said he doesn't understand that thinking when Rupple Rd. would take much of the traffic from the I-540/Hwy 62 intersection and the I-540/Hwy 16 intersection. It could create a complete loop around the City. Gary Dumas said if we can get the highway department to cost share Garland and Hwy 16 it could potentially save us half the cost of those projects (somewhere around $10 million) and the money saved could help reduce the overall cost of the entire program. Alderman Marr brought up for discussion the failure of the school board election and the library millage. He wants to make sure the Committee is still committed to the entire plan of $162 million. He asked if we should consider looking at a five or seven year plan that hits our greatest needs, show we can do it on time and on budget and then go back to the next five to seven year budget. If we are committed to the entire plan, he would like to hear how we are going to present better to get people to vote for it. Alderman Jordan agreed on the possibility of reducing the scope, going with the first one or two phases first. He thinks the Committee must make that decision. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 13 of 15 Alderman Ferrell said he completely agrees with both Alderman Marr and Alderman Jordan. We have to look at the past two elections, the problems with the WSIP and the confidence level of the citizens. He said he thinks as the WSIP goes along, it will be more positive. He thinks biting off a smaller chunk is worth discussing. Alderman Marr said when you start talking about ten or twelve years out, it is difficult to predict the cost of these projects. He feels that was an issue with the WSIP because so many things happened with the hurricanes, increases in fuel costs, etc. that affected the original estimates. However, when we look that far into the future, it's hard to plan. He said if the Committee decides to go with the entire program, he'll support it and campaign for it. He just wants to be sure it's the best strategy in this environment. Alderman Reynolds said he thinks we should go with five years - $50 million and show the people we can get it done. Mayor Coody said he thinks it would be easy to do the four phases in four elections and prove ourselves with phase one so that the next phase comes easily. This makes it easier for the taxpayer to understand and easier for the staff to control. Alderman Jordan asked for staff input. Ron Petrie said it is obviously a policy decision, but he wanted to point out the one thing that makes a five year plan inefficient. When you are stuck on one specific project and there are delays in that project due to condemnations, etc. you don't have something else you can work on instead to spend the money you have available. This would be setting it up so you have to start the engineering after the election and you won't see anything happening for a year or more while all the plans and right of way acquisition, etc. is happening. You would hit the same situation at every election. It is not a very efficient way to get things built. Alderman Jordan said he agrees with the committee members but he is an "all or nothing" sort of person, though he realizes you can't always have it that way. Alderman Marr suggested having a five-year build plan and building in a land acquisition plan into one phase for the next phase so we don't have the issue of land acquisition and condemnation in every phase of the project. This would also enable the City to get the land at an earlier price than it will be when we get to those phases. Alderman Jordan suggested that the Committee might agree on an amount of money and discuss what would need to be in that first phase at another Committee meeting. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 14 of 15 In response to a question from Alderman Marr, Gary Dumas said the bond number given by Dennis Hunt at the last meeting was $36 million for phase one and agreed that we are pretty much limited to that number. Alderman Marr proposed that we develop a Phase 1 plan at the $36 million. He would also like to include land purchase for future phases as part of our initial plan. Alderman Ferrell moved that the Street Bond issue be reduced from $162 million to approximately $36 million. Alderman Reynolds seconded the motion. Ron Petrie reminded the Committee that if you go up to Phase 2 it will be $71 million. The construction period on that would go to about 2012 or about a 6 year plan. After some discussion it was decided to amend the motion to include a range of from $36 million to $71 million and as the discussion moves forward, more research will be done to help make the decision on the exact amount. Alderman Jordan opened the floor to public comment. Geary Lowery said the City had lost some of the trust of the citizens when the sewer plant came in over budget. He believes that the idea of dividing up the bond issue into smaller portions is more acceptable to citizens. Mike Johnson encouraged the Committee to not to be stampeded. He feels we are already way behind in our streets. Everyone drives — not everybody has kids in school or goes to the library. He feels the over 55 years old group are the ones who voted down the library and school millage and these are the ones who are out there driving and who feel the number one issue in the city is transportation. He thinks we should look at some other methods and tools to accelerate the delivery and he likes Ron Petrie's idea about moving back the engineering so that construction starts at the beginning of each phase. There being no further public comment, the item was brought back to the Committee for discussion. Alderman Marr moved that the Street Bond issue be reduced to no less than $36 million and no greater than $71 million. Alderman Ferrell seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Alderman Jordan recognized Geary Lowery who wished to speak to the Street Committee. Geary Lowery talked about some problems with some streets around the new library and the downtown area. He feels the City is not enforcing its ordinances. He gave an example of the requirement of having a designated parking area on local streets because of the hazard and/or 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes April 17, 2006 Page 15 of 15 obstruction to the normal movement of traffic when someone parks on the street. He said the lane widths of our residential neighborhoods are not sufficient to allow for parking along the sides of the street and still allow cars to navigate safely. He believes that by law every subdivision where the streets are not wide enough to allow parking along the street should be posted "no parking". He cited State law ACA 2751-1300 to 1307. He talked about Rock St. at School Ave. and vehicles parked along the street for long periods of time. He said our police depailment should start writing tickets and towing cars. 9. Scheduling of the Next Street Committee Meeting The next Street Committee meeting was scheduled for Monday, May 1, 2006 at 5:00 p.m. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org