MPO Technical Committee

MINUTES FARMINGTON METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING April 13, 2022 Technical Members Present: Beth Escobar, City of Farmington Javier Martinez, NMDOT District 5 Andrew Montoya, Red Apple Transit Nick Porell, San Juan County Steven Saavedra, City of Aztec Dan Flack, Town of Kirtland Jason Thomas, City of Bloomfield Virginia King, City of Farmington Lisa Hale-BlueEyes, San Juan County Technical Members Absent: None Staff Present: Peter Koeppel, MPO Officer Kathryn Leys, MPO Associate Planner Staff Absent: None Others Present: John Neunuebel, Planning Liaison, NMDOT Rosa Kozub, NMDOT Sgt. Jonathan Jenson, Farmington PD Lt. Joshua Laino, Farmington PD 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Porell called the meeting to order at 10:00. 2. APPROVE THE MINUTES FROM THE MARCH 9, 2022 TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING Ms. Escobar moved to approve the minutes from the March 9, 2022 Technical Committee meeting. Mr. Saavedra seconded the motion. The motion to approve the minutes passed unopposed. 3. AMENDMENT #3 TO THE FFY2022-2027 TIP Subject: Amendment #3 to the FFY2022-2027 TIP Prepared by: Peter Koeppel, MPO Officer Date: April 13, 2022 BACKGROUND  ▪ The Public Notice for Amendment #3 to the FFY2022-2027 TIP was published on the MPO’s website and in the Daily Times on April 10, 2022. ▪ The amendment includes the modification of two projects: o Aztec Arterial o US-550 pavement rehabilitation from MP 168.3 to 174.5 ▪ The Technical Committee will consider recommending approval of proposed Amendment #3 and the Self-Certification for Amendment #3 to the Policy Committee on April 13 AMENDED TIP PROJECT(S) ▪ Aztec Arterial o Reflecting additional funding received to complete project o Estimated cost $17.8 million ▪ US-550 pavement rehabilitation from MP 168.3-174.5 in federal fiscal year 2026 o Estimated cost $20 million o New project phase ACTION ITEM ▪ Staff recommends that the Technical Committee consider recommending approval to the Policy Committee of proposed Amendment #3 and the Self- Certification for Amendment #3 to the FFY2022-2027 TIP. APPLICABLE CITATIONS ▪ § 450.328 TIP revisions and relationship to the STIP. ▪ (a) An MPO(s) may revise the TIP at any time under procedures agreed to by the cooperating parties consistent with the procedures established in this part for its development and approval. In nonattainment or maintenance areas for transportation-related pollutants, if a TIP amendment involves non- exempt projects (per 40 CFR part 93), or is replaced with an updated TIP, the MPO(s) and the FHWA and the FTA must make a new conformity determination. In all areas, changes that affect fiscal constraint must take place by amendment of the TIP. The MPO(s) shall use public participation procedures consistent with § 450.316(a) in revising the TIP, except that these procedures are not required for administrative modifications.) After approval by the MPO(s) and the Governor, the State shall include the TIP without change, directly or by reference, in the STIP required under 23 U.S.C. 135. In nonattainment and maintenance areas, the FHWA and the FTA must make a conformity finding on the TIP before it is included in the STIP. A copy of the approved TIP shall be provided to the FHWA and the FTA. ▪ (c) The State shall notify the MPO(s) and Federal land management agencies when it has included a TIP including projects under the jurisdiction of these agencies in the STIP. Mr. Koeppel introduced TIP amendment #3. There are three (3) projects being recommended for amendments. Mr. Koeppel informed the committee the while TIP amendments usually occurs on a quarterly basis, however, due to time constraints, TIP amendment #3 from the FFY2022-2027 TIP is an out-of-cycle amendment. The first project to be amended is the F100091 – East Aztec Arterial Phase II. The amendment will reflect additional funding received from NMDOT. The second project being amended is the Pinon Hills Boulevard Extension. With this amendment, the City of Farmington will break the project into two (2) construction phases (F100101 & F100102) and one (1) design phase (F100100). The counties portion of the project (F100021) will not be amended. The third project being amended is the northern section of NMDOT’s Pavement Rehab project on US550 (F100341). Mr. Koeppel stated that staff recommended the Technical Committee recommend approval of Amendment #3 to the FFY2022-2027 TIP to the Policy Committee. DISCUSSION: There was no discussion by the committee. Chair Porell opened a public hearing on the proposed TIP Amendment #2. There were no public comments. Chair Porell closed the public hearing. ACTION: Ms. Escobar motioned to recommend approval of the proposed TIP Amendment #3 to the 2022-2027 TIP to the Policy Committee. Mr. Martinez seconded the motion. The motion passed with no opposition. 4. FFY2023-2024 DRAFT UNIFIED WORK PLANNING PREOGRAM (UPWP) Subject: FFY2023-2024 Draft Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) Prepared by: Peter Koeppel MPO Officer Date: April 13, 2022 BACKGROUND ▪ The Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) is the MPO’s work plan for two federal fiscal years. The UPWP pairs the MPO’s required work tasks/products with the MPO’s anticipated funding. ▪ The FFY2023-2024 UPWP will cover planning activities and work products to be completed from October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2024. ▪ This month, we are asking both Committees to review the draft of the FFY2023- 2024 Unified Planning Work Program, providing us with input. A copy of the most current draft is attached. ▪ A 30-day public comment period will be noticed and begin on April 24, 2022 ▪ Page 9 of the document outlines the five major work program tasks for the MPO; these tasks are based on a format provided by NMDOT. Subtasks are listed below. You should be aware that the same numbering system is utilized in the MPO’s quarterly invoicing system and in our financial reports, including the Annual Performance & Expenditure Report (APER), which we prepare and submit at the end of every FFY.  CURRENT WORK ▪ Annual activities in the UPWP include administering the MPO’s programs, TIP development and management, development of performance measures, GIS activities, bicycle/pedestrian planning, transit data collection and mapping. ▪ Major activities for the FFY2023-2024 UPWP will include the implementing the policies of the 2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan, an update to the MPO bicycle/pedestrian plan, land-use and transportation planning support activities, transportation performance management, and travel demand modeling updates. ▪ Per NMDOT, staff estimates available FHWA PL funds of $269,488 and FTA 5303 funds of $74,386.25 (both including local matches) for each of the two (2) federal fiscal years. Those numbers are subject to change before the final UPWP is presented. INFORMATION ITEM ▪ It is recommended that the Technical Committee provide staff with input on the proposed. Mr. Koeppel gave a brief presentation on the draft of FMPO’s 2023-2024 UPWP, the bi- annual budget and work program for the MPO. The UPWP identifies planning priorities and activities that will be carried out within the MPO area and includes what work the MPO will complete, who will be doing the work, on what timeframe will the work be completed, anticipated costs, and where our funding will come from. Mr. Koeppel briefly described the five categories in the UPWP and highlighted any significant changes. The UPWP is organized into five main tasks. These tasks have not changed significantly since the 2020-2022 UPWP. The primary changes include cleaning up the language in the document and simplifying a number of the sub-tasks to allow for greater flexibility. These tasks include Program Administration, Transportation Improvement Program, Data Collection & Analysis, Transportation Planning & Implemention of the Long-Range Transportation Plan, and Special Studies and Activities. It is in the last task, Special Studies & Activities, where the MPO has added a new sub-task for coordinating with housing, an new emphasis of the federal transportation bill. Mr. Koeppel displayed the draft budget for the 2023-2024 UPWP. He informed the committee that these number are subject to change as the extra amounts of federal funding the MPO will receive is still unknown. At the time of the meeting, Mr. Koeppel expected PL funding to increase slightly and FTA funding to remain at similar levels as the past two years. Mr. Koeppel asked the committee for comments or questions. He also explained the next step forward, including bringing the draft to the Policy Committee in April. He also stated that once the MPO receives their budget numbers from the federal government, the MPO will send of the final UPWP document, hopefully at the May committee meetings, or the June meeting at the latest. DISCUSSION: Ms. Escobar asked if there were any specifics on the housing coordination components included in the draft UPWP. Mr. Koeppel explained that there are some specifics regarding hosing coordination in the document, however this language is essentially identical the language in the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act (IIJA). Mr. Koeppel the quoted from the draft UPWP the section about the housing coordination component. The MPO “consults with local official responsible for housing as part of the planning process, promoting consistency between transportation improvements and local housing patterns, as well as planned growth a economic development patterns, and providing affordable housing organizations the opportunity to comment on our planning products.” Mr. Koeppel acknowledged that this may sound overly general, but because the IIJA bill is relatively new and there aren’t a lot of specific details available to the MPO. This looseness in the description in the UPWP is to make sure we acknowledge this new component and meet any criteria from FHWA but also will leave the UMPO with enough flexibility to adapt and adjust their work as more details are released. Ms. Escobar thanked Mr. Koeppel for his answer and added the when the City of Farmington’s Public Works department does their Community Development Block Grant budget, they will be asking for funding for a housing plan and she identified an this as an opportunity to coordinate with the MPO. Mr. Koeppel agreed and said he thought this was FHWA’s intent when they including housing coordination as a responsibility of the MPO. Mr. Saavedra asked a question about Task 3.1 – Traffic Counting and Reporting. Because NMDOT conducts the regions traffic counts, Mr. Saavedra wanted to know if the MPO region was missing out traffic counts for collectors and local streets. He also asked about the coordination between the MPO and NMDOT regarding traffic counts and their timeline so the street sweepers or other road users don’t remove the counters or disrupt the count. Mr. Leys displayed the current traffic count maps on the FMPO website to show all the roads the NMDOT collects traffic counts on. She explained that while some local roads may be missed with NMDOT traffic counts, there is a pretty even distribution amount collectors and above. She also explained that NMDOT does have a traffic count collection schedule, and FMPO traffic counts are typically taken in June, July, and August. In the past, FMPO has coordinated with DOT on the exact dates of their traffic counts, to prevent any damage or errors due to construction or street sweeping, however, because of staffing changes at DOT, the MPO is currently unaware of who would be the person to collaborate with at DOT. Chair Porell added that, while he was unsure exactly how DOT conducts their counts, typically ropes are not used for traffic counts any more. Chair Porell noted that all of the counties traffic counters all use RADAR beams to collect this data, therefore sweeping pay not be as big of an insure when it comes to traffic counts as it may have been in the past. Ms. Kozub added historically NMDOT has contracted out their traffic count collections and sometimes there are delays or limits in communications as all communication goes through NMDOT. She also added that the traffic count contact person within NMDOT is Dan Watts. Chair Porell also added that the county owns their own traffic counting equipment, and that is was not very expensive. Chair Porell offered that if there are roads that are not captured by NMDOT, the public works crew within the City of Aztec can reach out to him and work with the County to share traffic counting equipment. Mr. Saavedra went on to comment that Santa Fe collects pedestrian and bike counts. As the region starts to put is focus on trails and other similar types of projects, he wanted to know if the members of FMPO’s Technical Committee had any intertest in pursuing an effort like this. Chair Porell responded by saying there is interest in this. He asked if the Santa Fe MPO had purchased a counter or if they were available from DOT. Ms. Kozub stated that NMDOT does have JAMAR tube bicycle counters available for loan to any MPO or local agency. The reason they are tube counters is to allow for on-road bicycle counts, however, this also means they are unable to count pedestrians but can differentiate between a motor vehicle and a bike. Shannon Glendenning is the appropriate contact and NMDOT for more information. There was no further discussion. 5. LOCAL ROAD SAFETY PLAN UPDATE Subject: Local Road Safety Plan Update Prepared by: MPO Staff Date: April 13, 2022 PRESENTATION Staff will provide a brief update on the Local Road Safety Plan for the Farmington MPO region. DISCUSSION: Mr. Koeppel gave a brief update on the Local Road Safety Plan (LSRP) the MPO is developing in coordination with FHWA and their consultant. Mr. Koeppel also introduce Sgt. Jenson and Lt. Laino from the Farmington Police Department. Sgt. Jenson and Lt. Laino are attending the meeting to provide additional information on traffic incident from the law enforcement perspective of traffic safety. Mr. Koeppel explained to the committee that the LSRP was developed using the Safe Systems Approach, which take a more holistic view of traffic safety. He displayed the following graphic briefly describing the elements of this approach. This approach recognizes that we cannot engineer or arrest our way out of unsafe transportation systems and we cannot eliminate human error, so it relies on redundancy and emphasizes shared responsibility for the safety of our transportation systems and mitigating the worst outcomes, which are death and serious injury. Mr. Koeppel went on to discuss the following Development Process of the LRSP: At the time of the meeting, Step 4 was just completed and the MPO has received the summary report from the second Stakeholder Workshop. Mr. Koeppel explained that first, the consultant collected and analyzed our regional safety data (Step 2), held the first Stakeholder Workshop in December and emphasis areas for the region were decided upon, which are identified below (Step 3). The second Stakeholder Workshop (Step 4) was help the month prior to this meeting. The consultant worked with NMDOT, the MPO, and the entities to identify Safe System Approach strategies improve roadway safety in the region. Mr. Koeppel also briefly described the steps moving forward on the LRSP. Step 5 is that the MPO and the local entities will incorporate the identified strategies into their planning processes. Mr. Koeppel said he would like to use this plan and these identifies strategies to support the MPO and its entities in applying for funding for some of the safety programs in the IIJA. Mr. Koeppel also specifically mentioned the Safe Streets and Roads for All Program, which has a requirement that, in order to apply, there needs to be a safety plan in place. The LRSP should meet that requirement. Mr. Koeppel highlighted a few key topics the consultants have been looking at while creating the LRSP. He started by displaying a map identifying the high injury network with fatal and suspected serious injury crashes. This map showed that the majority of the major roads in the MPO were identified as High Injury Roads. He also displayed a Equity Map of the region, overlaying areas with higher EJ percentiles and serious crashes. Both of these maps are shown below: Mr. Koeppel displayed an example of one of the many strategy pages provided by the consultant. For each strategy to create safer roads these pages provide an action, and responsible lead agency, and partners for that lead agency, the priority level and timeline of the strategy, cost levels of the strategies (Low, medium, high) and potential funding sources, and which previously identified emphasis areas these strategies might help mitigate. Mr. Koeppel stated that because of the diversity in the strategies provided by the consultant, it is help for the MPO to partner with others outside of the planning and engineering world, which is why the Farmington Police Department was at this meeting, he explained. In fact, one of the strongest recommendations made by the consultants was the formation of a regional safety committee. This would be a place to holistically discuss the safety of our roads. This would allow the region to move beyond simple issues like intersection improvements and address larger issues like speed enforcement and DWIs. This group would meet periodically to address safety in our region. Mr. Koeppel asked the committee at large if there was any interest in forming this committee. Chair Porell expressed interest but commented that the MPO would need to ensure the right people are involved, stating that planners and engineers would need to partner with law enforcement, school districts, etc. Chair Porell said he would be interested in seeing what kind of participation groups like these may show. Mr. Koeppel introduced Sgt. Jensen and Lt. Laino from the Farmington Police Department. Sgt. Jensen and Lt. Laino were at the meeting to discuss any insights they may have on traffic safety from the law enforcement perspective. Lt. Laino explained that traffic incident with injuries are up in Farmington, and this is a national trend that has been occurring for the past two years in a row. He explained that this is mostly likely due to law enforcement agencies ramped down the level of contact officers have with citizens, as a result of COVID and the pandemic. This, Lt. Laino believed, caused people to increase speeding and erratic driving behaviors. However, he also stated that this cannot be the only cause for the increase in fatality trends because as the law enforcement agencies return to pre-COVID levels of officer contact, the trend of increasing fatalities has continued. He also noted that traffic incident without injury have remained relatively stable, meaning there isn’t necessarily a correlation between overall accidents and accident with fatalities or serious injury. Sgt. Jensen commented that in Farmington the police have noticed some new trends or anomalies in crash type. For Example, last year (2021) the majority of serious crashes were airborne crashes. This year (2022), the majority of serious crashes have involved pedestrians. Sgt. Jensen believed that the pedestrian was at fault for 90% of these incidents. Mr. Koeppel asked if, as law enforcement officers, are the engineering solutions to these problems? Is there any type of design that could reduce any of the traffic incidents they are observing? Sgt. Jensen responded by saying that the Farmington Police Department does work very closely with the cities engineers and continue to have discussion to identify engineering solutions to some of the issues. Sgt. Jensen does believe that human error is to blame for most of the incident. The police department is looking for way to better control where and how the pedestrians use the transportation system and remove them from the streets, but as Sgt. Jensen suggested that the best solution to reduce pedestrian errors is to make contact with the individual, issue citations, and place them into custody, if necessary. He did suggest to increase the lighting in areas with above average pedestrians use, to increase visibility. Lt. Laino said, from his experience, engineering solution do not always work, for example, when roundabouts were installed on 30th Street, people did not slow down. Lt. Laino also pointed out that a lot of the roadway design features that law enforcement believe will prevent traffic incident do not fit the criteria for roadway design set up by the DOT. Both officers stated that if police want to continue to support safer transportation systems, they need additional funding to increase patrol efforts. Mr. Koeppel thanked the officers for attending the meeting and expressed the MPO desire to keep in contact with their organization and continue the discussion on traffic safety. The MPO does anticipate funding for safety-oriented projects and any information that can be learned from law enforcement will only help make our roads safer. Mr. Saavedra asked the officers if there has been any significant increase in the number of incidents involving the use of cannabis? Sgt. Jensen said at this time there have been no observed uptick in this type of incident, however it is still relatively earlier, it has only been legal in New Mexico for 12 days, and time will tell if this will impact traffic safety. 6. TRANSPORTATION PROJECT FUND DISCUSSION Subject: Transportation Project Fund Discussion Prepared by: MPO Staff Date: April 13, 2022 PRESENTATION Discussion of potential submittals and evaluation process for the 2023 New Mexico Transportation Project Fund. DISCUSSION: Mr. Koeppel informed the committee that TPF application are due to NMDOT May 31, 2022. The MPO will serve as a pass-though for those applications, meaning the entities should submit any applications to the FMPO. The MPO will meet with DOT and the entities to complete the Project Feasibility Form (PFF) signed and the FMPO will submit those to the DOT. At this meeting, Mr. Koeppel wanted to discuss who is planning on submitting an application and how the MPO should go about evaluating them, as DOT has tasked the MPO with evaluate and rank projects before submission. Mr. Koeppel also wanted this discussion to give the committee an idea on how much, in terms of dollars, the region is asking for and how does that compare to what is available. Mr. Martinez informed the committee that the FMPO is expected to be eligible for around $5-9 million in awards. Chair Porell said San Juan County is planning to submit a resurfacing project for CR 6480, similar to the one they submitted the previous year. This project is about 5 miles and would be a self-executed with a purchase of asphalt material and milling service. The current estimate requested is $1.3 million. Chair Porell also added that this application is almost complete, he is waiting on a resolution from the County Commissioners, which he hopes will happen on May 2nd, 2022. He will submit it to the MPO shortly after. Mr. Saavedra said the City of Aztec is looking to apply. Mr. Saavedra estimated that on the high-end the dollar amount to request from the TPF would be $800,000. However, the City of Aztec recently hired Bohannan Huston Inc. (BHI) to provide an actual cost-estimate for a road diet along Main Avenue or US550. He acknowledged this project would have to be in coordination with NMDOT. Mr. Saavedra mentioned that in conversations with Amanda Knight from Mosaics Academy, due to the timing of the grant, the City of Aztec will not be applying on their behalf. Mr. Thomas said the City of Bloomfield applied for a $300,000 project on the design of Bergin Lane. Mr. Thomas also acknowledged that because Bergin Lane touches US64, he will need DOT to sign off on the project. Mr. Thomas said he uploaded his application directly to NMDOT’s site. Chair Porell asked if this was the correct way to submit their applications. Mr. Koeppel said the applications should be submitted to the MPO, not DOT. MPO staff will package the documents in the appropriate format and send them to DOT. Ms. King was experiencing some audio issues at first so Mr. Koeppel explained, to his knowledge, the City of Farmington intended to submit two projects. Ms. King was able to get audio and filled in the detail. The first Project is Wildflower Parkway, from Browning Parkway to Yarrow Trail, and is estimated at $1.658 million. The second project the City of Farmington is submitting is for West Main Street, from Murry Drive to West Lake Street, where West Main turns into Broadway. This project is estimated as $2.342 million. This application is almost complete, they are only waiting on resolutions from the City Council, which Ms. King hopes to get on May 26, 2022. Both of these projects intersect with an NMDOT right-of-way and would require DOT to sign off on the applications. Ms. King said she will be submitting both applications. Chair Porell said, moneywise, there is $2.3 million potentially available for the West Main Street project and the MPO would remain under the $5 million estimate from DOT. This would still allow for the funding of projects from all entities. Chair Porell estimated that with the three projects discussed, not including the City of Farmington’s projects, the total dollar amount requested from the MPO region is about $2.4 million. Assuming Mr. Flack had nothing to add for the Town of Kirtland, this number is right on track for the region to receive the most funding from the TPF. Chari Porell stated he would like to see the region submit at least $5 million in projects. Mr. Koeppel stated with the City of Farmington’s projects, the region will be applying for right around that $5 million-dollar mark. Mr. Koeppel asked the committee if they were okay with MPO staff using the same procedures as last year for project recommendation and submittal based on the criteria outlined in the Call for Projects. Chair Porell and Ms. Escobar said yes and there was not opposition. Mr. Koeppel requested that committee members submit their applications as close to the end of April as possible. This is to ensure enough time to set up meeting with DOT to complete the PFFs. The committee agreed on this. There was no further discussion. 7. STATUS OF ENTITY PROJECTS FARMINGTON METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION Agenda Item #6 Subject: Status of Entity Projects Prepared by: MPO Staff & Technical Committee Members Date: April 13, 2022 BACKGROUND ▪ The STIP Protocols, finalized in early 2014, require that each MPO shall develop a process to monitor the progress and status of each project in the first two years of the TIP. These monthly reviews help correct inconsistencies in the TIP, STIP, the MPO’s MTP, Agreement Request Forms (ARFs), etc. and provide for discussion among the members and NMDOT representatives. ▪ Listed below are current entity projects some of which are part of the FFY2022- 2027 TIP. ▪ The Policy Committee approved the new FFY2022-2027 TIP on May 27, 2021, which became effective on October 1, 2021. INFORMATION ITEM ▪ This is an information item only. Committee members will have an opportunity to provide any needed feedback/updates/details regarding the status of current projects. DISCUSSION: Aztec – Steven Saavedra F100091 – East Aztec Arterial Phase III: The City of Aztec is happy that the TIP amendment was approved and the additional funds from DOT and the New Mexico Secretary of Transportation were incorporated into the East Arterial Bypass project. Current the City is working to obtain a utility certificate from Enterprise Field Services. As of now, the City will have to relocate a gas pipeline. Once this is complete, the project will move forward towards PS&E. Bloomfield – Jason Thomas F100300 – East Blanco Bridge: The City of Bloomfield is still working on the 3 certifications. The utility certification is near completion. Mr. Thomas also noted that the next transportation project from City of Bloomfield will be Bergin Lane. The city has already used their own funds for survey and preliminary engineering work and this work is already underway. Farmington – Virginia King F100099 – Foothills Drive Enhancement Phase II: This project has been in suspension; however, it is planned to resume April 18th, 2022. Ms. King thinks there are 13 contract days left on this project. The project should be completed by the end of April 2022. Chair Porell asked if there was a section that would need to have a second lift of asphalt put down. Ms. King said yes, a section that didn’t turn out as expected. This will have to be milled out and repaved. F100100 – East Pinon Hills Boulevard Extension Phase I: Isaac BlueEyes, from the City of Farmington, is completing some Agreement Request Forms (ARFs) for DOT. Ms. King said this only means the project is moving but she has very little control over the project at this time. F100132 – 20th Street Phase III: TRC was selected as the contractor for this project. They plan to start construction May 2, 2022. F100390 – Foothills Drive Phase III: The right-of-way maps has been revised. There are a few land acquisitions that need to happen, however, the project is moving forward and hopefully the acquisitions will go quickly. Tierra Right-Of- Way is working on the right-of-way acquisitions. Construction is planned for 2024. TF00001 – Red Apple Transit (Andrew Montoya): All 16 new bus shelters have been installed with the final shelter installed in Bloomfield. This was completed about 3 weeks prior to the meeting. Kirtland – Dan Flack Mr. Flack left the meeting early and had no project updates. San Juan County – Nick Porell  F100021 – Eat Pinon Hills Blvd Extension Phase III: This project now has some funding by way of the TIP amendment that the Technical Committee is recommending the Policy Committee approve. The county will be immediately pursuing a right-of-way acquisition and finalizing the deign on the project. Chair Porell expected that is probably 2 years away from actual start of construction, but the project now has some funding. F100290 – CR5500 Bridge Replacement: The County did a substantial completion with the contractor on April 11th, 2022. The county is waiting for the barrier wall to cure before installing an anti0graffitti coating and the bridge is expected to open the week of May 2nd. F100320 – Kirtland School Walk Path Extensions: A pre-construction meeting with the contractor and DOT will be held April 18th, 2022. F100360 & F100370 – CR3000 & CR3500 Bridge Replacements: The County is in the process of awarding a design contract for these two projects. F100380 – CR6100 Pavement Rehab: This is a TPF project. Milling will begin May 9th, 2022. Completion is expected by the end of summer 2022. NMDOT – Javier Martinez F100170 – NM 173: The contractor is on board and ready to start June 1st, 2022. F100350 & F100351– NM371/Navajo 36: Comments from the Navajo Nation on the agreement have been received. DOT is in the process of amending the agreement and once this is signed the project will go out to bid in the next few months. F100341 – US550 Pavement Rehab: The new estimate came in at $18 million. DOT is deciding if they will shorten the project or if they will be able to identify additional funding for it. There may be an additional STIP amendment for this project. DOT is having to amend a lot of their projects because bid pricing are coming in at levels much above estimated. 8. REPORTS FROM NMDOT Planning Bureau – John Neunuebel & Rosa Kozub Mr. Neunuebel introduced himself as the new planning liaison. Ms. Kozub announced to the committee the New Mexico Cabinet Secretary of Transportation, Mike Sandoval, will be retiring as of May 1, 2022. DOT does not know who will replace him at the time or what the outlook is. DOT had no further updates. District 5 – Javier Martinez Mr. Martinez added the Local Government Road Fund (LGRF), including MAP, CAP, SRTS, application have been received and DOT is reviewing those.  Mr. Martinez also stated that NMDOT will have no issue with any TPF project applications that tough NMDOT roads and will be able to sign any letters of support. DISCUSSION: There was no further discussion form the committee. 9. INFORMATION ITEMS Subject: Information Items Prepared by: MPO Staff Date: April 13, 2022 INFORMATION ITEMS a. Update on MPO Quarterly held on March 7th. - b. RTP, TAP, & CMAQ Awards Delayed DISCUSSION: Mr. Koeppel informed the committee that the MPO quarterly was held on March 7, 2022. This was a chance for the five MPO’s in the state, NMDOT, and FHWA Division Offices to collaborate. Issues that were discussed included safety issues, and update on the NMDOT bridge program, updates of the planning process, and the new highway bill. The FMPO is planning to host the next MPO quarterly in person in Farmington in June. Mr. Koeppel also informed the committee that RTP, TAP, and CMAQ funding has been delayed. DOT is waiting to see how much funding is available before awarding those projects. Ms. Kozub added that the funding targets have been received from the STIP unit and Shannon Glendenning and her team are in the process of fitting the already ranked projects into the funding targets. Ms. Kozub hopes by the end of April the awards should be received. There was no further discussion. 10. BUSINESS FROM THE CHAIRMAN, MEMBERS AND STAFF Chair Porell informed the committee that the City of Aztec, the City of Farmington, and the County have collectively prepared an application for the NM Economic Development Department’s Outdoor Recreation Division Trails+ Grant to fund the design for $2.5 million. Last summer the Lower Animas Valley Recreation Trail was added to the TIP. This is a non-motorized multi-use trail from Farmington to Aztec and follow the former Rio Grande-Denver Western rail line. The right-of-way was donated to the county in 1971. The City of Farmington is expected to present this to their city council April 26th, Aztec is expected to go to their commission with this on April 26th, and the county will be presenting it to their commission April 19th. Chair