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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES Transportation Advisory Board 01-17-18 Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado, January 17, 2018 Minutes of a regular meeting of the Transportation Advisory Board of the Town of Estes Park, Larimer County, Colorado. Meeting held in the Room 203 of Town Hall on the 17th day of January, 2018. Present: Kimberly Campbell Gordon Slack Ann Finley Tom Street Belle Morris Stan Black Amy Hamrick Claudine Perrault Also Present: Bob Holcomb, Town Board Liaison Greg Muhonen, Public Works Director Megan Van Hoozer, Public Works Administrative Assistant Lochen Wood, RMNP Absent: David Hook, Engineering Manager Chair Campbell called the meeting to order at 12:06 p.m. PUBLIC COMMENT: No public comment. A motion was made and seconded (Slack/Black) to approve the December minutes with minor edits and all were in favor. SHUTTLE UPDATE No Shuttle Committee representation was in attendance. PROJECT UPDATES, Greg Muhonen, Public Works Director US36 / Community Drive Turn Lane: Public Works has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the design of a turn lane on US-36 and Community Drive. At the time of creating the design, the consultant will also look at intersection control to determine if an elevated level of control is needed. Downtown Estes Loop: There is a meeting scheduled this month to discuss progress on right of way (ROW ) acquisitions. Trustee Holcomb asked if we will we be able to request project funding be provided prior to 2021. Director Muhonen confirmed that we will not be able to make a case for this until after acquisitions take place. Parking Garage: Two double-electric vehicle charging stations are currently being installed at the parking garage. Stormwater Master Plan: At the Town Board Study Session on February 13, a presentation will take place providing an update on the proposed user fee schedule that will help fund the $79M proposal. If it is determined by the Town Board to continue, additional public meetings will be scheduled. Transportation Advisory Board – January 17, 2017 – Page 2 Highway 7 Resurfacing: Member Morris asked if any bike lanes or sharrows would be included in the Hwy 7 resurfacing work. Director Muhonen indicated that he didn’t recall there being any defined in the plans. Chair Campbell stated that there is no one standing behind the TAB to get this accomplished – neither in the Downtown Estes Loop project nor the Hwy 7 resurfacing project. Muhonen indicated that the Town needs a complete streets policy to help communicate the local needs and desires for this type of work. Muhonen went on to state that this type of policy is a town objective and Trustee Liaison Holcomb agreed. Although there is currently no adopted transportation master plan, there is a definite need. The first step in this process would be to request the Town Board adopt a resolution wherein the areas with the most need for sharrows or other multi-modal solutions would be specified. Muhonen suggested the TAB write a memo to the Town Board in late April requesting the Town Board allow the TAB to write a letter to CDOT. Member Perrault expressed her strong support. This would put the responsibility back with CDOT to maintain the established standards for their main arterial roads within town. Region 4 of CDOT recently sent an email to Director Muhonen requesting a list of the top needs for bicycles in our area. Muhonen sent them 8 projects for $25M to the Region 4 which were taken from the Estes Valley Trails Master Plan. Brodie Avenue Improvements: Drexel, Barrell & Co., the design Consultant, will present the 30% design plans on January 25 at a public meeting being held at the Estes Park High School. Public Works has yet to receive a determination on the recently submitted Safe Routes to School grant application. Moraine Avenue Improvements: Due to delays by CenturyLink and Excel Energy, 21 days of production has been lost. Project management is currently trying to determine how much the delay will cost and what it will take to get the project back on track. Public Works and project manager, Mike Todd are going door to door inviting business owners to meetings related to the April closure of Elkhorn Avenue. Elkhorn Avenue will have no additional pedestrian traffic ability during the closure, however collaboration is occurring with some of the business owners to plan attractions and/or special functions to attract visitors. The Director of Community Services has been made aware and is willing to help. Member Perrault suggested titling the event(s) ‘Bread & Circuses’. OFFICER ELECTIONS: Chair Campbell initiated the annual officer elections, stating she will no longer be the TAB Chairperson. Member Anne Finley suggested the next Chair be someone new to the TAB offering new perspective(s) and that have the ability to run a meeting. Campbell stated that any existing member of the TAB would be a successful chairperson. She explained that the position is more of a facilitator role. The role will receive guidance and technical expertise from Public W orks. The chairperson will n eed to collaboratively define what’s important for the group. Transportation Advisory Board – January 17, 2017 – Page 3 Member Black stated that it’s worth emphasizing that current Chair Campbell took a majority of the work on herself. Moving forward, it is important to delegate to other board members. Member Perrault stated that competence is critical and feels that whomever has been a member of the TAB for a solid amount of time should be the next chairperson. This will enable them to explain the objectives to the group when needed. Director Muhonen read the established roles for both the Chairperson and Vice- Chairperson from the PAB By-laws. Member and current Co-Chair, Belle Morris self-nominated for the Chairperson role. The motion was made and seconded to nominate Morris (Zornes/Perrault) and all were in favor. All members stated their commitment to helping and supporting Morris in this role. For the position of Co-Chair, Member Perrault self-nominated. The motion was made and seconded to nominate Perrault (Finley/Slack) and all were in favor. DOWNTOWN PARKING MANAGEMENT PLAN: A motion was made and seconded (Finley/Morris) to approve the distribution of the memo from the TAB to the Town Board Trustees supporting the adoption of the Downtown Parking Management Plan. All were in favor. Director Muhonen and Kimley-Horn consultant Vanessa Solesby presented the draft plan to the Town Board Trustees and the plan was taken favorably. The suggestion was made to move forward for formal approval with planned implementation in 2018. Muhonen stated the Mayor requested individual Trustee feedback and all wanted it to come back for formal adoption on January 23. The Trustees also supported amending the 2018 budget to allow savings from the parking garage be transferred to support the first phase of the plan. Suggestions were provided to hire a consultant rather than a new employee due to significant recruiting difficulty. Chair Campbell suggested the Town use the consultants to also begin compiling traffic data. Muhonen stated that if the Town Trustees determine a Downtown Parking Division is needed, it would most likely reside within the Public Works Department. It will be critically important that this position have heavy interaction with the TAB. OTHER BUSINESS With the newly elected officers, getting on the same page and defining a plan for next year is critical. Director Muhonen and Belle Morris will prepare a 2018 Work Plan to be discussed at the February TAB meeting. With no other business to discuss, Chair Campbell adjourned the meeting at 1:30 p.m.