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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Transportation Visioning Committee 2011-10-05RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, October 5, 201 1 Minutes of a Regular meeting of the TRANSPORTATION VISIONING COMMITTEE of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held in the Municipal Building in said Town of Estes Park on the 5t' day of October, 2011. Members: Attending: Stan Black, Kimberly Campbell, Peggy Campbell, Charley Dickey, John Ericson, Larry Gamble, Wayne Groome, Jacquie Halburnt, John Hannon, Cory La Bianca, Fred Mares, Jerry Miller, Rex Poggenpohl, Greg Rosener, Frank Theis, Annika Van der Werf, Gary Van Horn Stan Black, Kimberly Campbell, Charley Dickey, John Ericson, Wayne Groome, John Hannon, Cory La Bianca, Fred Mares, Jerry Miller, Greg Rosener, and Frank Theis Also Attending: Lowell Richardson, Deputy Town Clerk Deats Absent: Peggy Campbell, Larry Gamble, Jacquie Halburnt, Rex Poggenpohl, Annika Van der Werf, Gary Van Horn Co -Chair Ericson called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. MINUTES. The minutes of the regular meeting held September 7, 2011, were approved. PUBLIC INPUT SESSION DISCUSSION. Co -Chair Ericson requested that Committee members share their observations on the format and outcome of the public input sessions. Stan Black said a lot of the ideas that came up in the public session were ideas that the Committee had already discussed, but overall he thought the sessions went well and said that the participants favored increased use of shuttles and more public transportation. Fred Mares commended the work of the facilitators and the format that was utilized for the sessions which successfully extracted ideas from the participants and kept the ideas flowing. He said he found the topic prioritization interesting, as well as the answers to the facilitators' question about community values and why residents chose to live in Estes Park, which was largely the natural environment and beauty of the area. He, too, said many of the ideas brought out in the sessions had already been discussed, indicating that the Committee is on the right track. Kimberly Campell was unable to attend any of the sessions but said she heard positive feedback from participants that validated the Committee's work. She also noted that visitors to her business are happy to ride the shuttle downtown on busy weekends to avoid congestion and parking problems and questioned whether the shuttle schedule should be extended to include busy fall weekends. Cory La Bianca said the session participants were residents of the community and questioned whether visitors would have provided different input. She said it is important to keep up with other Colorado communities; however, Estes Park does not need to become Denver or Aspen, noting that we need to remember who we are. RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Transportation Visioning Committee — October 5, 2011 — Page 2 Co -Chair Miller said the Local Marketing District (LMD) survey can be used to provide a visitor's perspective. Charley Dickey attended all of the sessions and was pleased with how the Committee represented itself. He said he was disappointed that businesses were not better represented at the meetings, but said residents of different demographics were present at the meetings. He was pleased that the conversation focused on the perception of problems rather than on solutions, and noted the participants' emphasis on public transportation and shuttles. Greg Rosener said the participation level was higher than he had expected and said participants were appreciative of the opportunity to share their ideas. He said Ms. Kubin and Ms. Miller did an excellent job and commended Deputy Town Administrator Richardson for suggesting them as facilitators. Wayne Groome said the sessions went well and said he would have liked to have seen a higher number of participants. Co -Chair Ericson commented on the number of community members who participated in more than one session and also at the amount of support for shuttles and transit opportunities to the valley. He said the facilitators did a great job keeping things on a "vision" level as much as possible, and said he was pleased with attendance by the Committee members who fulfilled their goal of listening to the input of the community. Co -Chair Miller said the turnout was good and said he was impressed with the range of age groups in attendance, and with their ideas to incentivize the shuttle to encourage its use. John Hannon said that the shuttle program in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) has been in existence for 10 years and said the ridership has increased over time. Co -Chairs Ericson and Miller reported that the results of the community survey conducted by the Town have been posted on the Town's website and encouraged the Committee to review the report as there were some questions specific to transportation contained in the survey. Letters of appreciation will be prepared and sent to the Rocky Mountain Park Inn, who donated the facility and the refreshments; and the facilitators, Ms. Kubin and Ms. Miller, staff of the Larimer County Extension Office, who moderated the meeting at no charge. FINAL REPORT FORMAT DISCUSSION. Co -Chair Miller said the entire Committee needs to be involved in the process of producing the final report and suggested a small number of members write the report with the entire group reviewing and reacting to the document in order to keep the process moving forward. The Committee discussed the report and reviewed draft documents Fred Mares prepared with input from TVC members. Points of discussion included: need to decide on a basic report format, section and subsection topics; include public transportation as a separate section; focus on "vision" not solutions; approach the report in terms of time or issues; utilize work group titles as report headings; and topics that don't fit into a particular group can be included as a special consideration. Discussion continued: evolution of transportation has eliminated horses as transportation mode, and should be considered from a recreational perspective only; consider comments related to cultural impact and cultural influences under each heading; keep the report consistent throughout; include prose paragraph explaining the long term vision; illustrate a logical path to reach the final objective which is vision 20 to RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Transportation Visioning Committee — October 5, 2011 — Page 3 30 years in the future; the report should be an analysis, something for the Town to look at when planning 15-20 years in the future; the report will be read by the Trustees, Town staff, and the public, and may be utilized for future planning and grant applications; incorporate public comment into the report; write the executive summary after the report is compiled; methodology section of the report can cite studies, surveys, etc., used and reviewed for basis of discussion; and include the facilitators' report in the appendix. It was determined that each work group moderator will put together a preliminary outline, based on discussions that occurred during work group meetings, to be reviewed at the next TVC meeting on October 19, 2011. The outlines will categorize items into Tong -term, interim, or immediate considerations. Cory La Bianca will begin work on writing the Vision section of the report, and Charley Dickey will work on writing the Purpose section. Fred Mares volunteered to compile the information and provide a working document for the meeting on the 19th. As the report develops, Frank Theis will make suggestions related to what types of graphics should be included in the report. The Committee agreed on having the report finalized no later than the end of the year, and preferably by mid -November. There being no further business, Chair Ericson adjourned the regular meeting at 4:45 P.m. Cynt is eats, Deputy Town Clerk