MPO Executive Board

Bristol Urban Area Metropolitan Planning Organization June 4, 2020 NOTICE: THE JUNE 4, 2020 BRISTOL MPO EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING WAS CONDUCTED ELECTRONICALLY (NO PHYSICAL LOCATION). THE MEETING WAS BROADCAST LIVE ON YOUTUBE AND BTN-TV AND PUBLIC COMMENT WAS AVAILABLE BY THE USE OF VIDEO CONFERENCING. Board Members Present: Bill Sorah - Bristol, Tennessee Ambre Torbett - Sullivan County, Tennessee Supervisor Phillip McCall - Washington County, Virginia Ronda Sawyer - Tennessee Department of Transportation Blake Ailor - Virginia Department of Transportation Members Absent: Bristol, Virginia Abingdon, Virginia Others Present: Rex Montgomery Tim Beavers David Metzger Mike Russell Sean Santalla Pam Kordenbrock Troy Ebbert Item 1 - Call to Order / Roll Call: Chairman Ambre Torbett conducted roll call. A Quorum being available, the meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m., June 4, 2020. Item 2 – Discussion of Necessity for Conducting Electronic Meeting Rex Montgomery read the following statement: Tennessee Executive Order No. 16 (which has been extended by Executive Order No. 34) and Virginia House Bill 29 suspended State Law in reference to open meetings to the extent necessary to allow governing bodies to conduct their essential business by electronic means, rather than being required to gather a quorum of members physically in the same location. The Governing body should make a determination that meeting electronically is necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare for all concerned in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. At this time it would be appropriate for the members to discuss whether they believe that meeting electronically is necessary, and vote accordingly. If the members do not agree that meeting electronically is appropriate at this time, then this meeting should be adjourned until such time as the members can meet in person. A roll call vote was conducted with YES indicating concurrence that an electronic meeting was necessary. Ms. Sawyer, YES Mr. Ailor, YES Mr. Sorah, YES Supervisor McCall, YES Chairman Torbett, YES. Item 3 - Approval of Minutes: Mr. Sorah moved to adopt the minutes of March 12, 2020 as submitted; seconded by Ms. Sawyer. Chairman Torbett called the roll. Ms. Sawyer, YES Mr. Ailor, YES Mr. Sorah, YES Supervisor McCall, YES Chairman Torbett, YES. Motion carried unanimously Item 4 - Comments from the Public: None. Item 5 – Amendment #1 to the FY 2020-2021 Unified Planning Work Program: Presenter: Rex Montgomery. The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) identifies the MPO’s annual transportation planning activities and programmed grant funding to accomplish those tasks. The Executive Board adopted a 2- year UPWP for fiscal years 2020 and 2021 on August 8, 2019; however, estimated funding allocations were utilized for FY 2021 UPWP planning activities. For VDOT grant funding, Virginia requires the UPWP to be approved prior to the July 1 [State] fiscal year. As a result, Amendment #1 pertains to the Virginia portion of the UPWP only and incorporates the final funding allocations from VDOT for FY 2021. There being no discussion, Mr. Sorah moved to adopt Resolution 20-06, approving Amendment #1 to the FY 2020-2021 Unified Planning Work Program; seconded by Mr. Ailor. There being no discussion, Chairman Torbett called the roll. Ms. Sawyer, YES Mr. Ailor, YES Mr. Sorah, YES Supervisor McCall, YES Chairman Torbett, YES. Motion carried unanimously. Item 6 – Virginia Smart Scale Application Endorsements Presenter: Rex Montgomery. SMART SCALE is the Commonwealth Transportation Board’s prioritization process for selecting and funding transportation projects. SMART SCALE is an application process and is available to regional agencies (MPO), counties, cities, and towns to submit project proposals for funding. Applications for the SMART SCALE Round 4 funding are due August 3. As part of the application process, the eligibility for various jurisdictions to submit for Smart Scale funding requires support from the MPO. Bristol, Virginia and Washington County have both requested MPO endorsement for Smart Scale funded projects. Each project application was discussed with the Board. Funding is available under two grant programs; district-wide funding and state-wide funding. It was noted the MPO will be submitting several projects for state-wide funding on behalf of Bristol, Virginia and Washington County. Blake Ailor provided and overview and timeframe for the final application process. There being no further discussion, Supervisor McCall moved to adopt Resolution 20-07, approving MPO endorsement for Round 4 SMART SCALE applications; seconded by Mr. Sorah. There being no debate, Chairman Torbett called the roll. Ms. Sawyer, YES Mr. Ailor, YES Mr. Sorah, YES Supervisor McCall, YES Chairman Torbett, YES. Motion carried unanimously. Item 7 – Other Matters  Supervisor McCall asked about the timeframe for the Exit 17 and Exit 19 improvements. Blake Ailor indicated the both projects have been delayed due to COVID-19.  Pam Kordenbrock, with the Tennessee Division of the Federal Highway Administration, introduced herself and thanked the Executive Board for the opportunity to participation in the Bristol MPO meeting. She indicated the challenge for MPOs to conduct business during the COVID-19 pandemic has been a national concern, particularly with public hearings. This is an issue that has not been formally resolved at the Federal level.  Ronda Sawyer, with the Tennessee Department of Transportation, provided an update on the I-26 Corridor. The final draft is available. In the near future, TDOT will be contacting jurisdictions that have resurfacing projects in an effort to reduce conflicts with utility projects or other local activities. Item 8 - Adjournment: There being no further business to discuss, Ms. Sawyer moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Supervisor McCall. Chairman Torbett called the roll. Ms. Sawyer, YES Mr. Ailor, YES Supervisor McCall, YES Chairman Torbett, YES. The meeting was adjourned.