MPO Technical Committee

TECHNICAL COMMITTEE AGENDA Farmington Metropolitan Planning Organization July 24, 2014 10:00 a.m. Executive Conference Room Farmington City Hall 800 Municipal Drive Farmington, New Mexico  AGENDA FARMINGTON METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING July 24, 2014 10:00 AM This meeting will be held in the Executive Conference Room at Farmington City Hall, 800 Municipal Drive, Farmington, New Mexico. ITEM PAGE 1. Call meeting to order 2. Approve the minutes from the June 26, 2014 Technical Committee meeting. 6 3. Amendment #6 to the FFY2014-2019 Transportation Improvement Program. 1 a. Review the project(s) in Amendment #6. b. Hold a public hearing on Amendment #6. c. Make recommendation on Amendment #6. 4. Receive a report from NMDOT a. District 5 (David Quintana) b. Planning Division (Brian Degani) 5. Information Items: 5 a. 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) Update b. Complete Streets Advisory Group Update c. Red Apple Transit d. Statewide Long-Range Plan (SLRP) Working Group e. August Technical Committee Meeting f. Other 6. Business from Chairman, Members, and Staff 7. Business from the Floor 8. Adjournment ATTENTION PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES: If you are an individual with a disability who is in need of a reader, amplifier, qualified sign language interpreter, or any other form of auxiliary aid or service to attend or participate in the hearing or meeting, please contact the MPO Administrative Aide at the Downtown Center, 100 W Broadway, Farmington, New Mexico or at 505-599-1466 at least one week prior to the meeting or as soon as possible. Public documents, including the agenda and minutes, can be provided in various accessible formats. Please contact the MPO Administrative Aide if a summary or other type of accessible format is needed.  FARMINGTON METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION Agenda Item #3 Subject: FFY2014-2019 TIP Amendment #6 Prepared by: Duane Wakan, MPO Associate Planner Date: July 17, 2014 BACKGROUND  On July 20, 2014 the Farmington MPO advertised Amendment #6 to the FFY2014-2019 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP).  The amendment adds four project(s) to the TIP as described below and removes one project as shown in the attached notice. CURRENT WORK  Items added or amended include US 64 from MP 54 to 56 and from MP 58 to 60; East Pinon Hills Boulevard; and the East Arterial project. The project removed is Legion Road, as described below.  The previous TIP amendment added Legion Rd to the TIP to be the logical terminus for the East Arterial Phase 1B.  NMDOT has now programmed $3.5 million toward construction of the East Arterial Phase 1B.  Upon completion of this phase, the middle section will be the remaining phase of this project.  A public hearing on Amendment #6 will be held on July 24, 2014 during the Technical Committee meeting. ANTICIPATED WORK  Seek approval of the amendment at the August 21, 2014 Policy Committee meeting.  Include the project revisions in the STIP. ATTACHMENTS  Public Notice describing the projects in Amendment #6. ACTION ITEM  It is recommended that the Technical Committee review the project(s) in Amendment #6, hold a public hearing, and make a recommendation on Amendment #6 to the FFY2014-2019 TIP. 1  PUBLIC NOTICE The Farmington Metropolitan Planning Organization (FMPO) is the transportation planning forum for the cities of Farmington, Aztec and Bloomfield and the surrounding county area. The FMPO develops a Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), which is a program of projects reasonably expected to be funded within the next six years. This public comment period meets all of the applicable requirements of the federal transportation bill MAP-21 and the federal transit requirements of Section 5307(c) (1-7). The Farmington MPO is advertising Amendment #6 to the FFY2014-2019 Transportation Improvement Program which adds/amends four projects and removes one project as follows: Added/Amended Projects Project Name: US 64 Phase IV Control Number: F100110 Project Description: Widen to 6 Lanes Project Termini: MP 58 to MP 60 Lead Agency: NMDOT Functional Urban Principal Arterial- Other Classification: Funding Source STPS Small Urban - NHPP Funding Amount: FY2014 $250,000 NHPP- no change FY 2015$9,790,034- increase NHPP funds by $6,195273 & move $350,000 from Construction to Right of Way (ROW) FY 2016 $5,559,966- decrease STPS funds by $2,655,239 and NHPP funds by $4,440,034 Fiscal Year FFY2014, FFY2015,FFY 2016 Total Project Cost: $15,600,000 Project Name: East Piñon Hills Blvd Control Number: F100100 Project Description: Full rebuild of the Intersection of Piñon Hills and NM 516; Extension of Piñon Hills Blvd to include earthwork, asphalt, street lighting, drainage improvements and signalization upgrades Project Termini: NM 516 (E. Main) to Hubbard Lead Agency: City of Farmington Functional Urban Principal Arterial- Other Classification: Funding Source TCSP – STP Small Urban – Local Funding Amount: FY2015 $3,300,000- adds $300,000 in local funding FY 2016 $400,000- adds $400,000 in STP Small urban funds Fiscal Year FFY2015, FFY2016 Total Project Cost: $3,700,000 2  Project Name: US 64 Phase VI Control Number: F100113 Project Description: Widen to 6 Lanes Project Termini: From MP 54 to MP 56 Lead Agency: NMDOT Functional Urban Principal Arterial- Other Classification: Funding Source NHPP – STP Small Urban Funding Amount: FY2015 $1,000,000- adds $1,000,000 in final design and ROW FY2019 $9,000,000- no change Fiscal Year FFY2015 & FFY2019 Total Project Cost: $10,000,000 Project Name: East Arterial Project (Phase II) Control Number: F100191 Project Description: Construct new road Project Termini: From Legion Rd to NM173 Lead Agency: City of Aztec Functional Urban Principal Arterial- Other Classification: Funding Source State Severance Tax – STP Small Urban Funding Amount: FY2016 $3,800,000 State Severance Tax FY2017 $3,500,000 STP Small Urban Fiscal Year FFY2016 & FFY 2017 Total Project Cost: $7,300,000 Project Removed Project Name: Legion Road Control Number: F100091 Project Description: Construct new road (logical termini) in preparation for future East Arterial route Project Termini: Current end of Legion Rd to East Arterial Lead Agency: City of Aztec Functional Urban Major Collector Classification: Funding Source Local Other Funding Amount: Remove from FFY2014-2019 TIP Fiscal Year FFY2014 Total Project Cost: $510,000 As required by federal law and the Farmington MPO Public Participation Plan, the FMPO is holding a 30-day Public Comment period and Public Hearing on Amendment #6. The 30-day comment period is from July 20, 2014 to August 18, 2014. The public may also make comments on the proposed amendment at the following meeting: 3 Public Hearing: During the Farmington MPO Technical Committee meeting at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 24, 2014 in the Executive Conference Room at Farmington City Hall, 800 Municipal Drive, Farmington, New Mexico. Written comments may be sent to the Farmington MPO at: Fax: (505) 599-1299 Mail: Farmington MPO, 800 Municipal Drive, Farmington, New Mexico, 87401 Email: dwakan@fmtn.org The public may view this amendment at www.farmingtonmpo.org. For more information contact Duane Wakan, MPO Associate Planner, at (505) 599-1449. 4  FARMINGTON METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION Agenda Item #5 Subject: Information Items Prepared by: Duane Wakan, MPO Associate Planner Date: July 16, 2014 INFORMATION ITEMS a. 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) Update. – The draft survey and online comment mapping tool are in development. Planning for the public meetings and outreach has begun. b. Complete Streets Advisory Group Update. The Complete Streets Advisory Group met on July 16 and progress was made on the design guidelines. c. Red Apple Transit. Ridership counts and surveys by the interns are ongoing. d. Statewide Long-Range Plan (SLRP) Working Group. Staff attended a SLRP working group meeting in Albuquerque on July 17, 2014. e. August Technical Committee Meeting. The August Technical Committee meeting will be joint meeting with NMDOT on Tuesday, August 26 at 10:00 at the City of Aztec. Please provide agenda items to the MPO by Thursday, August 14, 2014. f. Other. 5  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 MINUTES FARMINGTON METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING JUNE 26, 2014 Technical Members Present: Teresa Brevik, City of Bloomfield Cynthia Lopez, City of Farmington Nica J. Westerling, City of Farmington Dave Keck, San Juan County Technical Members Absent: Bill Watson, City of Aztec Staff Present: Mary Holton, MPO Officer Fran Fillerup, Acting MPO Planner Duane Wakan, MPO Associate Planner June Markle, MPO Administrative Aide Staff Absent: None Also Present: Brian Degani, NMDOT (by telephone) Larry Hathaway, San Juan County Mr. Brian Degani was contacted by telephone to participate in the meeting. 1. CALL TO ORDER Ms. Lopez called the meeting to order at 10:04 a.m. 2. APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE MAY 22, 2014 TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING Mr. Keck moved to approve the minutes from the May 22, 2014 Technical Committee Meeting. Ms. Brevik seconded the motion. The motion was passed unanimously. Agenda Item # 3 – Receive a Report on the Status of TIP Projects - was moved to later in the meeting to allow time for Ms. Nica Westerling to arrive. 4. RECEIVE A REPORT FROM NMDOT Planning Division Report Mr. Brian Degani reported that Bicycle, Pedestrian & Equestrian (BPE) Technical Committee will be meeting on July 2 where they will be developing a bicycle guideline map incorporating GIS services. They will also be providing NMDOT staff with a database of BPE facilities. 6  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 The next freight group meeting will be in Artesia, New Mexico on June 30 which Mr. Degani planned to attend. During the week of July 21, there will be a breakout session of the economic development group forum of the freight group. Agendas for these meetings will be available on the SLRP website. Mr. Degani said there were no new updates on statewide functional classification review, but it was moving forward. The recreational trails program will require a few more months before the NMDOT planner will be ready to distribute new guidance information and issue a call for projects. The MPOs will be notified once this process is ready to go. Mr. Degani said that work on the SLRP was moving forward and that many meetings had occurred during the month of June. Mr. Degani reported that he and Mr. Claude Morelli were working with Staff on the public participation elements of the MPO’s Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) and also to coordinate the MAP-21 requirements. For those entities that received FFY21014 TAP design funds, Mr. Degani stated that they need to ensure they have received an executed cooperative agreement. For any questions or concerns, he or Ms. Rosa Kozub could be contacted. For the entities that received TAP construction funds, the plan specification and evaluation (estimates?) (PS&E) package must be submitted prior to the July 15 deadline. Mr. Degani reported that the draft agreements should be making their way through the local government processes concurrent with preparing the PS&E packages. The TAP process for FFY2015- 2016 will still be reviewed and updated throughout the month of July. Once completed, MPO Staff will be updated. The group discussed the package requirements for the TAP projects and the timeframes for all. Ms. Brevik said the City of Bloomfield had all the needed clearances and documents accept for the final design for Phase II of the Verada del Rio San Juan River Trail project. Mr. Degani said he would get more information on the FMPO projects from Mr. David Quintana and Ms. Kozub when she returned to the office next week. District 5 Project Update No representatives from District 5 Engineering were present at the meeting. 5. RECEIVE A REPORT ON COMPLETE STREETS Subject: Complete Streets Prepared by: Duane Wakan, MPO Associate Planner Date: June 18, 2014 7  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 BACKGROUND or PREVIOUS WORK  Complete Streets is a means of designing a roadway so that it accommodates all modes of travel, including driving, walking, biking, and transit.  Staff has worked with the Advisory Group on development of land use context areas (LUCAs) and road typology (RTs) overlays.  The Land Use Context Areas and Road Typologies drive the design guidelines.  The Advisory Group held its latest meeting on June 18. CURRENT WORK  The design guidelines and Road Typologies were scaled back from a possible 72 combinations to 25 (5 RTs and 5 LUCAs).These 25 combinations set the stage for the cross-section diagrams visualized as part of the design guidelines.  MPO Staff will create the descriptions and intended application of each RT and LUCA  The Advisory Group advised staff to create the cross-section drawings based on the LUCAs and RTs to gain a reaction from the group. INFORMATION ITEM  This is an informational presentation only. DISCUSSION: Mr. Wakan reported that the Complete Streets Advisory Group had met on June 18 and they consolidated the road typologies and land use context areas from a total combination of 72 down to 25 combinations (see final titles shown below). Mr. Wakan said the nomenclature for the road typologies was revised to provide better understanding for the lay citizen. ROAD TYPOLOGIES (RTs) LAND USE CONTEXT AREAS (LUCAs) Lane Rural Street Neighborhood Avenue Downtown/Urban Area Boulevard Commercial Parkway Industrial From this new 5x5 matrix, the Advisory Group will begin development of the design guidelines. The design guidelines will take each combination of road typology and land use context area and provide multiple preferred options (A, B, and C) for that combination (see next page). 8  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 Down Town Preferred Rural Neighborhood /Urban Commercial Industrial Options A, Area B, or C Lane Street Avenue Boulevard Parkway Mr. Wakan explained that a single road typology and land use context area could have Options A, B, and C (see above). He noted that the Advisory Group and Staff will now look at the potential combinations to decide which they would not want to promote and those that would not be encouraged (i.e.: a Parkway through a Neighborhood would be discouraged). Staff is doing some preliminary work on this that they will then present to the Advisory Group for discussion and review at their next meeting in July. Mr. Wakan said the Advisory Group had asked Staff to create a draft of the design guidelines and then present that to them for their review and further development. Mr. Wakan showed some of the draft visual road typology and land use combinations that Staff had worked on. These are just the beginning of the process. The design guideline visuals Mr. Wakan presented used a similar design to those from the City of Charlotte. They outline each of the roadway zones – pedestrian, buffer, bicycle, and travel. Mr. Wakan said that the local example of Pinon Hills Boulevard was used to demonstrate how a Boulevard in a Neighborhood setting might be defined. Other options for this corridor might include creating buffered sidewalks, bike lanes, and a median, while another option might show on-street parking with tall trees along the sides of the corridor. Mr. Wakan said that different options needed to be considered for a more rural setting. In the visual he presented, the roadway showed widened shoulders and a detached trail. Mr. Brevik said the City of Durango, Colorado was doing this type of work now at the intersection of US 550 and CO 160. The group discussed the need to consider tree sight distances along a roadway, bike lanes now being colored green as a standard, and the use of sharrows (shared bike and travel lane). Mr. Wakan said the use of green paint defines the lane as a bike lane and prioritizes bicycles as a legitimate mode of transportation. Mr. Wakan reported that during the Walkable & Livable Communities Institute meeting with the Advisory Group, they suggested using an open source document developed by LA County as the beginning for the MPO design guidelines. The Advisory Group asked that Staff take on this project and use the LA County document to begin developing the FMPO Complete Streets design guidelines. By using an open source document, the Advisory Group can take all their ideas, verbiage, cross-section drawings, road typologies and land use titles and insert them into the open source document. The only requirement to using an open source document is to acknowledge who developed the original document. If the open source document works for the Advisory Group’s document, developing the design guidelines would be expedited significantly. If the 9  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 open source document did not work for the Advisory Group, they could then begin to develop their own unique document. ACTION: The report was received. 6. 2040 MTP PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Subject: 2040 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) Prepared by: Fran Fillerup, Acting MPO Planner Date: June 19, 2014 BACKGROUND OR PREVIOUS WORK  The Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) is the long range planning document that addresses transportation needs for the next twenty-five years.  The MPO’s MTP is updated every five years and the 2035 MTP was adopted in 2010.  Development of the 2040 MTP began in November 2013 and is expected to be adopted in April 2015.  Overview presentations have been given to the Technical and Policy Committees, entity Councils and Commissions, and other organizations.  The Stakeholder Workshop was held on February 5.  The Technical Committee reviewed the goals and objectives on March 27 and the Policy Committee did so on April 17. CURRENT WORK  Sites Southwest has been selected through RFQ process to assist MPO Staff with the public participation portion of the MTP. This will include public meetings, an online tool to map comments and complete a survey, as well as paper survey administration. INFORMATION ITEM  This item is for information only; no action is requested. DISCUSSION: Mr. Fillerup reported that Sites Southwest had been award the public participation portion of the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP). Mr. Fillerup explained that Sites Southwest would be establishing an online survey to provide public outreach and to gather public comments and suggestions. Mr. Fillerup demonstrated how the online survey was expected to be designed. 10  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 The software was developed by a Finnish group, but will be customized for the MPO and its MTP. The survey taker will be able to identify a particular spot in the MPO where they would recommend changes be implemented. They will be able to provide suggested ideas for improvement or offer completely new ideas. They will be prompted with some recommendations related to safety, roads, or multimodal transportation. There would also be a section to respond to survey questions and the survey taker will not be limited to the number of responses they can provide. Also, the survey taker can also respond to other comments already provided by others. In addition, Sites Southwest will prepare and distribute paper surveys. Mr. Wakan asked about overlaying the TAZ structure onto the survey map. Ms. Holton thought this might be too confusing as part of the survey. She suggested this as more of an internal tool and that perhaps this could be done once the public survey process had been completed. Ms. Holton said gathering public input was critical before the MTP document was updated. Mr. Fillerup said that Sites Southwest will be assisting in getting the public outreach completed and to hold six public meetings throughout the entire MPO planning area. Ms. Holton said that the lead consultant for Sites Southwest is a transportation planner in Durango. Ms. Brevik asked that Staff let her know when the public meetings are scheduled and she would help in notifying the community of the meetings. ACTION: The report was received. The Technical Committee returned to Agenda Item #3. Ms. Westerling arrived after the Technical Committee had begun discussion of the individual TIP projects. Those City of Farmington projects that Ms. Westerling initially missed commenting on were reviewed again once she had arrived. 3. RECEIVE A REPORT ON THE STATUS OF TIP PROJECTS Subject: Status of TIP Projects Prepared by: Duane Wakan, MPO Associate Planner Date: June 19, 2014 BACKGROUND  The STIP Protocols, finalized in early 2014, indicate that each MPO shall develop a process to monitor the progress and status of each project in the first two years of the TIP.  Although NMDOT STIP procedures require a review of projects during the last two quarters of the Federal Fiscal year, MPO Staff recommends a monthly review of all FMPO TIP projects with the Technical Committee. 11  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014  Reviewing the status of projects is an opportunity to review project details, programmed amounts, and any potential situations that may cause funding not to be obligated by September 30th. CURRENT WORK  Staff has prepared the list of current TIP/STIP projects that are receiving federal funding for FY2014 through FY2019.  Staff has also prepared a list of the amendments and administrative modifications that occurred during FY2014. INFORMATION ITEM  Review the status of federally funded projects in the FY2014-2019 TIP. DISCUSSION: Mr. Wakan stated that the STIP protocol required the MPOs to have a process to monitor the TIP and to review the first two years of the TIP with the committees and entities. The protocol also required that the entire TIP be reviewed during the second to last quarter of the current federal fiscal year. The review provides the opportunity for the local entity representatives with the project knowledge to discuss any anticipated problems. Mr. Wakan stated that Staff had been asked to take a more active role with NMDOT planning and in keeping them informed and updated on local project status. Ms. Holton added that NMDOT wanted to ensure that communication reached all agencies and for the MPOs to ensure that everyone was on the same page and collaborating together. Mr. Wakan reported that during the MPO Quarterly, he learned that some of the MPOs review their TIP on a monthly basis with their technical committees. He asked if the FMPO Technical Committee would like to do that, especially now with ensuring that the TAP projects were on track. Mr. Keck said that the MPO had met annually with the entities to discuss their TIP projects. Ms. Holton stated that things were changing more rapidly now and it was becoming necessary for Staff to be more in the loop and keep the TIP up-to-date. Ms. Holton said that Staff will have a TIP project update on every meeting agenda so that project changes can be discussed. Mr. Keck agreed that it was important to manage the TIP and STIP because there will now be cooperative agreements for every phase of a project from design, to right-of-way, and then to construction. Each phase will require a separate cooperative agreement and each phase will need to be entered into the STIP accordingly. Ms. Holton summarized that all agencies involved must now stay better organized and on top of ongoing or pending projects. Mr. Wakan reported that there was a new TIP database that had been produced by MRCOG and that was now being used by NMDOT and all the other MPOs in the state. The TIP project list provided to the Technical Committee came from this database. Mr. Wakan added the entity’s logo so that the lead agency on a project was easily identifiable. 12  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 Mr. Wakan began reviewing the current TIP project list: Page 1 – San Juan County – there was a TIP Modification for this project to move the funding to FFY 2014 to FFY2015; Page 2 – City of Aztec - Tip Amendment in March of 2014; added the East Arterial back into the TIP. This project had been removed due to the lack of a logical terminus. Mr. Keck asked if the construction on this project was going to be completed in FFY2014. Mr. Wakan said that NMDOT had given the go-ahead for construction on this project. Mr. Wakan did not know how close they were to the construction phase. Page 3 – City of Aztec - Legion Road – this is the logical terminus for the East Arterial project to be added back into the TIP; Page 4 – City of Farmington – East Pinon Hills Boulevard – City is working on some right- of-way issues regarding construction; Ms. Holton said she thought the environmental clearance was completed. Ms. Westerling reported that Ms. Jennifer Breakell, Deputy City Attorney for the City of Farmington is working on the rights-of-way and hoped to have them completed by October. There was a public meeting tonight to discuss primarily Phase I of the project which is the extension of Pinon Hills Boulevard with connections to Hubbard and Rancho de Animas. Ms. Westerling said that Councilor Darnell has said that neither neighborhood wanted to be connected. Ms. Westerling added that environment justice required that the connection be made to both neighborhoods. Mr. Keck said NMDOT was now concerned with STIP projects on an “inactive list”. He said that San Juan County had a project and funding for a designated fiscal year on the STIP, however due to some local constraints and because project reimbursement was not requested in the designated timeframe, the project was being designated as “inactive”. FHWA has threatened to take the money away from San Juan County. Mr. Keck commented that it was critical to seek reimbursement for monies in the federal fiscal year in which it was obligated otherwise that money could be withdrawn. Ms. Holton commented on FHWA’s requirement for timeliness in the disbursement of funds since they must answer to Congress and demonstrate their accomplishments. To ensure the can meet their requirements FHWA is pressuring the state DOTs to make sure the funding is spent. Ms. Holton added that the decision makers think that is funding is not spent in a timely manner than it is not needed. Pages 5-7 were NMDOT projects for phases of US 64. Page 8 – City of Farmington - 20th Street sidewalk project. TAP funding for FFY2014 plus a smaller dollar amount for FFY2015 for Phase I of the project. Ms. Westerling commented that no public meeting was held, but that mailings were sent to all the adjoining property owners as well as site visits to all owners. Public Works is trying to develop a Complete Streets concept in the timeframe available. The project will be completed within the given right-of-way and trying to work around all the poles. Ms. Westerling said the best thing would be to remove the poles especially since the Parks & Rec Department has said that they cannot install trees with the poles there. Public Works is planning to do some bumpouts and set the sidewalks back. 13  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 Mr. Wakan said the TAP Coordinator had asked that since there were construction funds being used in FFY2014, were all the certifications completed. Ms. Westerling said nothing had been completed because NMDOT first required that the plan design be 100% complete. She hoped that NMDOT would provide the environmental document in the next week so she could then obtain the rest of the needed certifications. Because of the short timeframe, Ms. Westerling had asked NMDOT if the funding could be moved to FFY2015 and had not been able to get a response. Mr. Degani said he would ask the question of Rosa Kozub and Yolanda Roybal to see if moving this funding would be allowed. Page 9 – City of Farmington – 20th Street sidewalk project. This showed the remaining TAP funding for Phase 2 of the project. Page 10 – NMDOT - NM 173 safety project on lines of sight; Page 11 – City of Farmington – HSIP funding for the intersection of San Juan Boulevard and Scott Avenue. Ms. Westerling said a revised schedule for this project was sent to NMDOT to get the contract for the engineering. Page 12 – San Juan County – Safety project at intersection of CR 350 and CR 390. Mr. Keck reported that NMDOT required that the project be laid out in three year. The cooperative agreement has been received and San Juan County is in the process of issuing an RFP, but NMDOT must first approve the RFP. Mr. Keck explained that funding in FFY2014 was for design work; rights-of-way would be completed in FFY2015; construction would be completed in FFY2016. Once the right-of-way phase was completed, all of the environmental documents and certifications would be finished so the project could proceed to PS&E. Mr. Wakan noted the NMDOT coding listed by each of the funding amounts and said he would get the legend to the codes and provide it to the Technical Committee. Page 13 – City of Farmington – Southside River Road River Trail project. Mr. Wakan said there was a public meeting held on June 25 for this TAP-funded project. Mr. Wakan reminded the Technical Committee members stated that public meetings are required for all TAP projects. Page 14 – City of Bloomfield – Phase II of the Verada de Rio San Juan River Trail project. Mr. Wakan reported that Phase I of the project was done in 2005-2006. Ms. Brevik explained that the City of Bloomfield had received YCC funding for the pavers to cover the City’s in-kind match. NMDOT did not approve this, but they took two months to decide the design what they would approve and the City of Bloomfield had to re-design everything they already had in place. The re-design was not economically feasible for the City of Bloomfield to fund. The City of Bloomfield decided to let the TAP money revert back to NMDOT. Ms. Brevik asked if these FFY2014 funds could be moved to FFY2015 design funds. Mr. Wakan restated Ms. Brevik’s question and asked Mr. Degani if the category 28 funding could be moved to FFY2015 design funds. The funds are currently FFY2014 construction funds, because the City of Bloomfield thought the project design was 14  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 sufficient based upon their preliminary application. However, NMDOT did not approve the design and now the timeframe cannot be met. Mr. Degani said this might be possible but that there would need to be a TIP modification completed. Ms. Brevik asked if the July 15 deadline would affect this. Mr. Wakan said that a TIP Modification could be done in-house at any time provided the City of Bloomfield puts in a request for the modification to the MPO. Mr. Degani agreed that a Ms. Brevik needed to submit a letter requesting the funding be changed to preliminary engineering so that the MPO can then proceed with a TIP modification. Ms. Brevik said that design was all that was left to do for this phase of the project and that all other project requirements have been completed. Ms. Brevik asked if July 15 was the deadline for FFY2014 funds, can these funds be moved to FFY2015. Mr. Degani said he thought they could be. Ms. Brevik asked how the process of selecting the engineer was handled. Ms. Holton said that the process required the use of the state procurement code. Mr. Keck recommended using the 2014 local government handbook to find answers to what is required. Ms. Brevik said getting this done in FFY2014 could be tight, but the City of Bloomfield does have the funding to finish construction of the project from another source. If the design funding was moved to FFY2015, would that affect the Phase III TAP funding? Mr. Wakan said the MPO would submit the TIP modification and wait for NMDOT’s response. Page 15 – City of Bloomfield - Phase III of the Verada de Rio San Juan River Trail. Page 16 – City of Aztec – Animas River Trail project; The City received FTA Transit in the Parks funding for this project; the bridge crossing has been installed. Page 17 – City of Aztec – Animas River Trail – construct bicycle/pedestrian trail from Aztec Ruins to pedestrian bridge to Martinez Lane. Page 18 – City of Farmington – Red Apple Transit – annual operating costs. Mr. Wakan said that this had been a good review process and the Technical Committee agreed that a project update every month would be beneficial. The review will address any new project changes or revisions. Mr. Wakan reminded the Technical Committee that the update today was required by STIP protocol. Mr. Fillerup added that the August Technical Committee meeting was when NMDOT representatives would be invited back to participate. Mr. Wakan said that the last amendment cycle for TIP amendments begins on July 1. Technical Committee recommended approval would be sought at the July meeting and would then be taken to the Policy Committee in August. Mr. Wakan asked that the entities let Staff know as soon as possible about any anticipated amendments to be included. NMDOT will also be submitting their changes to Staff for this amendment cycle. The Technical Committee discussed the timeframes and the difficulty in meeting all the TAP requirements in the time allotted. Ms. Westerling commented that the City of Farmington is spending money to design projects with no guarantee of receiving the 15  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 money. Mr. Wakan asked Mr. Degani if exceptions to the July 15 deadline might be made. Mr. Degani said he was not sure of this and recommended that the MPO submit the request and see if the July 15 deadline could be extended. Mr. Wakan suggested setting up a conference call next week to discuss some of these issues and to get clarity on NMDOT’s expectations and requirements. Mr. Keck asked if one entity had issued an on-call RFP for engineering services that was approved by NMDOT, could another entity piggy-back off of that RFP. Ms. Brevik added the City of Bloomfield had not been able to do this with the cities of Aztec and Farmington on fiber. The consensus was that this was not allowed by NMDOT. Ms. Brevik said the City of Bloomfield has three on-call engineers certified by NMDOT, so would an RFP process be required for the river trail project. It was recommended that the questions be posed to their city’s procurement officer for clarification. The Technical Committee discussed phasing and consolidating the design funding from three phases into just two phases. It was thought that the bidding for the two phases could be done at one time as long as the phases were identified separately. Mr. Keck said he had received a link from NMDOT to a FTP site that showed each entities contracts, agreements, and related documents with a separate folder for each project. He said he had to apply to gain access to the link and would forward the e- mail with the link to the Technical Committee members. ACTION: The report was received. 7. INFORMATION ITEMS Subject: Information Items Prepared by: Fran Fillerup, Acting MPO Planner Date: June 17, 2014 INFORMATION ITEMS a. Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP). Status update on HSIP applications. New applications need to be submitted to the MPO by July 18. b. MPO Quarterly Meeting. Duane Wakan attended the MPO Quarterly on June 10 in Albuquerque. c. Cradle to Grave Training. Duane Wakan attended the Cradle to Grave training held May 28 & 29 in Albuquerque. d. TIP Amendments. Amendments to the TIP will be solicited beginning July 1. e. Other. 16  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 DISCUSSION: Mr. Wakan reported on the HSIP review committee process. The next review process is coming up so any HSIP applications for this review process need to be submitted to the MPO by July 18. HSIP applications can be submitted at any time and would be considered at the next quarterly review process. Mr. Wakan said that the applications need to be data-driven and that any and all projects be submitted as there was no cost limit on the projects. He said that if an entity had designed a countermeasure for the project, even a roundabout, to apply for HSIP funding. Mr. Wakan said that both Albuquerque and Santa Fe received $1,500,000 for roundabouts during the last review process. Ms. Brevik asked if a HSIP request could be submitted for a bridge design package. The bridge inspections are done by NMDOT so any safety concerns would be documented by that inspection. Mr. Keck said that a bridge is typically rated based on the safety features of the pedestrian facilities and the guard railing. Mr. Wakan attended the MPO Quarterly on June 10 held in Albuquerque. The MPOs led the agenda with NMDOT spending a few hours speaking about the TAP projects and the need for MPO staff to be “cradle to grave” planners. Staff asked the entities to keep the MPO informed of their project benchmarks in order to satisfy NMDOT. Mr. Wakan reported he attended the Cradle to Grave training held in Albuquerque recently. Many of the entities sent their engineers to the training. Mr. Wakan said much of the training was new for him, but it was good background information on what is required by public works and the city engineers. There is another training session planned for Farmington in October and Mr. Wakan recommended that everyone consider attending. Mr. Wakan again reminded the Technical Committee members of the July 1 date for TIP Amendments. Mr. Fillerup said Staff had been contacted by the ITS Bureau of NMDOT to undertake an update the MPO’s ITS architecture that would be paid for by NMDOT. The ITS Bureau is working with the Mesilla Valley MPO and planned to come to Farmington in July. 8. BUSINESS FROM THE CHAIRMAN, MEMBERS AND STAFF Mr. Keck recommended that all Technical Committee members review the new 2014 Local Government Handbook (TLAP). He said it was laid out in the “cradle to grave” format and provided good checklists and information that should be reviewed during the different phases of projects. Ms. Westerling reported that the City of Farmington had made an offer to Mr. Charlie Trask to be the new traffic engineer replacing Steve Krest. Mr. Trask is a Professional Traffic Operations Engineer (PTOE) and has worked with and mentored much of NMDOT staff. Ms. Westerling hoped that Mr. Trask would begin work in the next 30 days. There was no additional business from the Chairman, Members and Staff. 17  TC Draft Meeting Minutes June 26, 2014 9. BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR There was no business from the Floor. 10. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Lopez adjourned the meeting at 11:30 a.m. __________________________ ________________________________ Cynthia Lopez, Chair June Markle, MPO Administrative Aide 18