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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-09-14 MinutesCity Council Street Committee Minutes Sept. 14, 2006 Page I of 6 Member Aldermen Mayor Dan Coody Ward 1 Position 1 - Robert Reynolds V10 Ward 2 Position 2— Kyle Cook 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 September 14, 2006 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Street Committee was held on September 14, 2006 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; Alderman Kyle Cook, Alderman Robert Ferrell; Alderman Robert Reynolds Other Alderman Present: Alderman Kyle Cook Staff Present: Ron Petrie, Tim Conklin, Gary Dumas 1. Call to order The meeting was called to order by Chairman Lioneld Jordan. 2. Approval of minutes from the August 8 and August 22, 2006 Street Committee meetings Alderman Reynolds moved that the minutes of the August 8, 2006 and August 22, 2006 Street Committee meetings be accepted as distributed. Alderman Ferrell seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Alderman Jordan said he wished to thank the citizens of Fayetteville who voted on the bond issue. He believes they voted for the future of the City. He said the City will now address the overrun on the WWTP, the roads and trails. He believes this is a bold vision for this City and he looks forward to the challenge. He believes this City will go further and better than it's ever gone before. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes Sept. 14, 2006 Page 2 of 6 3. Discussion of a settlement with Crafton, Tull & Associates for the construction of Rupple Road in conjunction with the Mountain Ranch Subdivision and the new Fayetteville Owl Creek School. Ron Petrie made a correction on the material handed out at the last meeting. The hand rails and box culverts have been installed so that line item amount can be eliminated from the total, which is now $51,211.73. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment There being none, he brought the discussion back to the Committee. In response to a question from Alderman Reynolds, Alderman Jordan said the Ward 4 residents have seen and accepted the negotiated settlement amount. He said the bike lane was discussed at length. The residents were a little concerned about the bike lane cutting across the traffic at the intersection. The consensus of the majority of those present at the Ward meeting was to take the cash settlement. The desire of the residents and of Alderman Jordan is that the money stay in the Ward, possibly improving the intersection to make sure it is safe for bike riders. In response to a question from Alderman Reynolds, Ron Petrie said the street was designed with a wider outside lane that would serve as a bike lane. Those lanes were designed to go through the intersection. It was also designed with 6 ft. sidewalks on both sides and will eventually have push button signals for pedestrian traffic. The intersection currently has a four- way stop sign and it will remain signed in this fashion until Rupple is extended to Hwy. 62 or that portion of Rupple Rd. to Wellington is widened. It will then be scheduled or signalization. In response to a question from Alderman Jordan, Ron Petrie said he thinks it is possible to put this money toward signalization, which he estimates will cost around $150,000. Alderman Reynolds moved that the Committee accept a settlement from Crafton, Tull, and Associates in the amount of $60,000.00 and that the money be put toward future signalization for this intersection. Alderman Ferrell seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. 4. Discussion of the scheduling of the approved transportation bond issue street projects. Ron Petrie said Dennis Hunt had given staff new numbers for estimates for money that will be available over the first three years. The new number is $23.7 million instead of the $17.1 initially estimated. The amount available for streets and trails is $23 million. If you take out the trails dollars and add in existing CIP dollars, the amount available is $23.7 million. In response to a question for Alderman Cook, Ron Petrie said he understands that we will take out the percentage for trails use from the total collected. For the first three years 37% of $2 million will be set aside for trails exclusively (around $750,000). 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes Sept. 14, 2006 Page 3 of 6 Ron Petrie said he had been given a mandate by Mayor Coody, and he is sure that mandate is seconded by the Street Committee, that the projects on the transportation plan be completed on time and under budget. They have tried to set the schedule with realistic expectations. Many things can happen to affect the schedule, such as Corps of Engineers permitting time on a couple of the projects which can take anywhere from three months to a year. Approvals from the Arkansas State Highway Department and issues with condemnation, tree removal, etc. can also affect the schedule. The projects will be affecting a lot of people and there will be many controversial items to be discussed and decided. He said it is important that we all work together to avoid any unnecessary delays. Alderman Ferrell said he feels it is important to get the word out as much as possible to the citizens about the projects so people aren't surprised when they begin. The more we can do to prepare the citizens, the better. Alderman Jordan said he believes that we have a mandate from the people to keep the plan on track. He believes the Committee will do everything they can to make it happen. Ron Petrie said there are four projects in the plan that the State is designing (and we are cost- sharing with them). We have no control over their schedule. We have requested that the State let us do the design so we can move forward but they have declined that request. Therefore we are in the position that the timing on these projects will be determined by the State. Design on almost every other project can start almost immediately. The Mt. Comfort contract will be coming before the Council at the September 19, 2006 meeting and the Council has already approved the Economic Corridor contracts so those two projects have already begun. Alderman Reynolds asked why the Rock to Maple project is on the front burner when some other projects that have been discussed longer have been moved back. Ron Petrie said the Rock to Maple project is on the same time frame as eight other projects. The 151h Street project mentioned by Alderman Reynolds is scheduled to be done in 2010 because that is the time the State can do it. If the Committee chooses not to accept the State's portion of the cost share on this, the City can do the design now and pay for it ourselves. In response to a question from Alderman Reynolds, Gary Dumas said the money collected for these projects will be there for these projects. He said the staff has done what they can do to influence the AHTD. Any influence aldermen might exert now is welcomed. There is only so much the City can get the Highway Dept. to do. They move at their own speed. Ron Petrie said this entire program has never been a three year program. It has always been known that it will take eight to ten years to build everything. He said that it is estimated that we will have $23.7 million to spend on the plan for the first three years. From estimated cost of the projects on the schedule for these three years is around $25 million. So staff took the projects 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes Sept. 14, 2006 Page 4 of 6 that are controlled by the State and put them into the schedule on the year they get their funding. Everything else was pushed up to start immediately, with the exception of 6"' and Persimmon. The schedule distributed to the Committee shows the projects in the year construction can begin, after design, right-of-way acquisition, utility relocation. In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Ron Petrie said half of the design work has been done on Zion Rd. Some preliminary design work had also been on Mt. Comfort before discussions of the bond issue began. He said the schedule staff is presenting is very aggressive. Kyle Cook we know how long it takes to get design work done and acquire right-of-way. He wants to be sure that the schedule is such that when we say we're going to start construction, we are able to do that. He feels confident of the construction schedule but is a little concerned about the "blue section". Gary Dumas said the "blue section" is the time frame in which delays can occur. Those are the ones over which the Committee and the Council have control. Some hard decisions will have to be made. We will try to get out to the public with as much advance information as is possible to help smooth the way. In response to a question from Alderman Cook, Ron Petrie said right-of-way acquisition begins when a design is approximately 50% complete. Tim Conklin said staff will continue the team approach taken with communication and updates on the WSIP project with these transportation projects. Every two weeks information will be provided to the media. There is also an on-line newsletter that can be used for communication. Alderman Jordan would like for the Street Committee to meet at least every month and know exactly where we are on the project from month to month. Ron Petrie said with the approval of the Committee staff will continue with this immediate action plan. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment. Mike Johnson with the University of Arkansas asked if the design phase of the projects includes utility relocation. Ron Petrie said utility relocation is included in the construction phase. Mike Johnson suggested including the Federal and State matching funds as a separate item so people understand there is more money involved that just the City's portion. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes Sept. 14, 2006 Page 5 of 6 In response to a question from Alderman Reynolds, Ron Petrie said the $25 million in Federal funds is earmarked for Hwy. 265 ($7.5 or $8 million), Cato Springs ($2.7 million), 15th St. ($3.3 million), the south portion of Garland Ave. ($1.5 million), Huntsville from Happy Hollow to Stonebridge ($1.7 million), the Economic Corridor ($7.6 million) and Crossover ($7.5 million). Mike Johnson said the timing of the construction is tied to those funds as well and he thinks the additional $25 million should be shown. He commented that because the bond issue was approved by the voters, the CIP funds are also made available for future projects. He thinks that sort of information should be made clear to the public. Alderman Cook asked what the probability is that the same thing will happen as happened on Gregg Street, where the City does their part and then the State can't get a low enough bid and comes back needing more money. Ron Petrie said there is always that possibility. He feels that Crossover has the greatest potential for something like that since the estimates were done two or three years ago. 5. Discussion of the process to revise certain portions of the City's Minimum Street Standards Ron Petrie said we have a lot of new ordinances that are affecting the City's street standards. This document needs to be looked at again. At this point the Minimum Street Standards document is not contained in the UDO and is only referenced by ordinance. So there is no mechanism to have any type of waiver or variance unless either the Planning Commission or City Council amends it. He just wants the Committee to consider allowing Mr. Petrie to bring forward an ordinance that allows the Street Committee to amend the document so the technical issues can be dealt with at this level, as opposed to involving the entire City Council. In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Ron Petrie said it would be an ongoing process. He said with everything else going on, staff will never have time to revise the entire document at one time. He would like to take it in small, bite size pieces and get it approved as it gets revised. Alderman Ferrell said the Street Committee has spent a lot of time getting this transportation plan started. He would be in favor of doing what is necessary to allow staff to complete these revisions. In response to a request for clarification from Alderman Cook, Ron Petrie explained some of the problems with our street standards. He said some of the standards need to be revisited and possibly revised. Alderman Jordan said if such an ordinance is approved, and an item is brought before the Street Committee that they feel needs to go on to the Council, it would still be possible to send it 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes Sept. 14, 2006 Page 6 of 6 on. But if it wasn't necessary to go before the entire Council, allowing Street Committee approval would expedite the process. Ron Petrie said the streets standards are old and need to be updated. Alderman Reynolds said he believes the City needs to update the street standards and as Mr. Petrie finds the portions that need to be revised, bringing them before this Committee could make the process go faster. Alderman Cook said he doesn't have an issue with this as long as the Committee reserves the right to forward any issue on to the Council if they feel it is necessary. Ron Petrie said this discussion would have to happen before the full Council in order to give the Committee the approval authority. Alderman Jordan asked that Mr. Petrie bring a draft ordinance to the Committee for review. Alderman Jordan, on behalf of himself and the entire Street Committee said he wanted to thank the staff for all their work through this process. 6. Scheduling of the next Street Committee Meeting The next meeting of the Street Committee was scheduled for October 5, 2006 at 4:30 p.m. 7. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org