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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Transportation Advisory Board 2015-02-25Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, February 25th, 2015 Minutes of a Regular meeting of the Transportation Advisory Board of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held in the Rooms 202 & 203 of Town Hall, in said Town of Estes Park on the 25th day of February, 2015. Present: Kimberly Campbell Ann Finley Stan Black Cory LaBianca Gregg Rounds Thom Widawski Belle Morris Amy Hamrick Also Present: Greg Muhonen, Director of Public Works Kevin Ash, Public Works Civil Engineer Jen Imber, Public Works Administrative Assistant Sandy Osterman, Shuttle Committee Representative John Ericson, Town Board Liaison Absent: Bryon Holmes Chair Campbell called the meeting to order at 12:02 p.m. GENERAL DISCUSSION The public in attendance declined to comment. Chair Campbell updated on a new meeting process she and Director Muhonen discussed. Moving forward, the board will tackle one major topic per meeting. An hour to an hour and a half will be devoted to the main topic, with the intention of other agenda items being informative and not lingering on these smaller items. The main focus for the March TAB meeting will be on parking. Chair Campbell asked members to prepare by reading the Estes Park Transit & Parking Study from December 2013 and also to research how other communities have creatively dealt with parking issues. Approval of January minutes was postponed to allow for additional review time. Cory LaBianca, Gregg Rounds and Kimberly Campbell have expiring terms on March 31st, 2015. All three members reapplied for their positions. Trustee Ericson reported since these were the only three applications received, no intervie ws will be held and reappointment of the incumbents would occur at the March 10th Town Board meeting. Sandy Osterman gave a brief update on Shuttle Committee items. Full shuttle service for 2015 commences on June 27th and ends September 13th. Additional shuttles will run on weekends outside of the regular schedule when special events occur in town. STAFF UPDATES ON TOWN PROJECTS Director Muhonen reported the Downtown Estes Loop TAC will present results of the screening process and evaluation of options to the Trustees at the March 18th Study Session. A public meeting will be held on March 25th on same topic and Town Board will vote to proceed on one option at the April 14th Town Board meeting. TAB members were encouraged to attend both the Study Session and participate in the public meeting. A special TAB meeting will also be held on March 31st to formulate a Transportation Advisory Board – February 25th, 2015 – Page 2 Downtown Estes Loop route selection recommendation to the Trustees, to be presented at the April 14th Town Board meeting. Utility repair on Fish Creek is under construction and scheduled to be done by June 2015, at which time temporary culverts will be installed at Brody and Fish Creek to open intersections for school buses. Permanent construction won’t begin until 2016. Kevin Ash updated on the Dry Gulch project. The consultant has done survey work and drilled existing pavement to understand recent failures. The project is currently facing challenges with right of way acquisition for the detached trail through Sombrero Ranch property, so the everything must be constructed within the Town’s current right of way. Design alternatives will be presented to TAB for evaluation and comment, bid docs will go out the beginning of May. NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION Cory LaBianca and Amy Hamrick researched effective ways of introducing new members to TAB and catching them up on processes and information. Upon approval of a new board member, they suggested the following orientation process: 1. Assign a current member Mentor to the new board member. The Mentor would be the new board member’s go-to person for questions, concerns, and a greater understanding of how the board works. The Mentor would also participate in the new member Orientation. 2. New Member Orientation- A 1 hour meeting with the new member, the Mentor, and the President to give the new member a general layout and understanding of the current and future goals and projects of the board. a. Provide hard copy of the following documents: Current By-Laws; List of Members; Meeting Schedule; and Working Document of our Goals and Projects. b. Share an outline of the Transportation Visioning Report (while a little outdated, it provides a good background of the board’s development and initial purpose) and provide access to the digital link or file. c. Address and questions or concerns of the new member. 3. First Meeting- a quick introduction from each board member and from the new board member (name, business or resident in town, and what brought you to the TAB.) Members will review this process and vote for adoption at the March meeting. RMNP/CDOT SIGNAGE UPDATES Director Muhonen is working with CDOT to update a number of highway signs around town. Current signs and CDOT suggestions for change were presented to TAB for comment. TAB was in agreement that CDOT is currently using signs for dual purposes, to identify highways as well as giving directions to RMNP and that the signs are trying to communicate too much. It was expressed that consistency with signs and messages is very important. White on green should be used to identify highways and the downtown area, while white on brown be used for all signage identifying the national park. TAB advocated identifying the downtown area on the signage, but changing the language from “business district” to “downtown Estes Park”. Transportation Advisory Board – February 25th, 2015 – Page 3 Improved signage for the Visitor Center/ RMNP info center was identified as a future agenda item. RECOMMENDATION TO TRUSTEES REGARDING TRANSIT HUB PARKING STRUCTURE Director Muhonen provided a matrix three north-side options and one south-side option for the parking structure. The matrix highlighted the pros and cons of each option. The board immediately ruled out two the first two north -side options due to budgetary and design concerns. The third north-side option was favorable, with Options 3B and 3C in the matrix preferable, but the overall favorite of the board was the smaller So uth Site option. Members asked how Town would accomplish a “second phase” of the project if a smaller structure was built with additional levels to be added in the future. Director Muhonen stated that additional funds would be needed and another grant request would be submitted to add one or two more levels onto the structure built in Phase 1. Trustees expressed a desire for an option that can be built now using existing grant money. Consensus was to walk away from the money if the project can’t be done in the most effective way possible, with the structure built on the South Site. Director Muhonen reminded the board that 500 spots are needed and even a less-favorable version of this project would provide a portion of those needed spaces. A vote was taken by the board, with five (5) members voting in favor of returning the grant money if the South Site option was not selected and three (3) members voting in favor of continuing the project and spending the grant money on a smaller structure on either the north or the south side of the river. With no other business to discuss, Chair Campbell adjourned the meeting at 2:10 p.m.