Public Works / Traffic / Transit Committee

Chris Jenkins, Director Justin Messer, Assistant Director PUBLIC WORKS DIVISION , Cemetery Department Jody Gonzalez, Superintendent Engineering Services Aaron Carroll, Director Public Works Vehicle Maintenance Department Joe Krinke, Superintendent Solid Waste Collections Department Tim Garrett, Director Solid Waste Processing & Disposal Department Lee Stone, Director Streets & Drainage Department Chad Hampton, Director PUBLIC WORKS AND TRANSIT COMMITTEE AND TRAFFIC COMMISSION September 8, 2021 10:00 AM. Sam King Room ‐ 601 Broad Street PRESENT: Commissioner Mark Cochran Commissioner Bill Collins Commissioner Bonny Askew Mr. Chris Jenkins, Public Works Director Mr. Justin Messer, Assistant Public Works Director Mr. Aaron Carroll, Engineering Services Director Ms. Toni Rhinehart, Finance Director Ms. Courtnay Griffin, Assistant Transit Director Mr. Art Newall, Planning Director Ms. Kala Schaaf, Associate Planner GUEST: Ms. Julie Smith, TRED Executive Director CALL TO ORDER Commissioner Cochran called the meeting to order. REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF MINUTES The approval of the minutes was tabled until the next meeting TRANSIT OPERATIONS Transfer Buses from Gainesville Transit System Ms. Shealy reported she that after she has worked on budget revisions to accommodate the approved new bus purchases, GDOT has notified her the Gainesville Transit Service is going out of business and four 2019 Cutaways that have seven years useful life. We 200 Vaughn Road • PO Box 1433 • Rome, Georgia 30162‐1433 Phone: 706/236‐4466 • fax: 706/236‐4532  have been working with them and have visited to look at the buses. Regulations allow for Gainesville to transfer them to Rome at no cost to us. This will have to be done by Resolution in Gainesville and we are currently waiting for that to go through. Commissioner Collins asked why we need these buses. Ms. Shealy replied that we currently do not have any back‐up buses and in order to begin implementing the Transit Development Plan we must have more buses. There is currently a shortage of available vehicles due to the issues with the computer chip that is currently unavailable. Commissioner Collins asked if the City would have to do a Resolution too. Ms. Shealy responded we would. He asked if we could approve it now. Mr. Rich asked if he meant pending the Gainesville Resolution. Commissioner Collins moved to approve a resolution to accept the transfer of buses from Gainesville Transit to Rome Transit pending adoption of Gainesville’s Resolution to transfer the buses to Rome. Commissioner Askew seconded. The motion carried. Possible Free Ridership Ms. Shealy recommended that she would like to offer free bus rides for the last quarter of the year. She will have to first check with DHS contract we have with them, but feels this would increase ridership and be very good for the community. She added that during Georgia Cities week which occurs during the first week of October. We normally offer a free ride day during a designated passenger appreciation day during that week. This year she would like to offer a coupon for a free meal or sandwich in lieu of serving hot dogs as in the past. Commissioner Askew moved that the Transit Department offer free ridership for the last quarter of the year. Commissioner Collins seconded. The motion carried. Financial Report The finance report was distributed for review. Ms. Shealy noted we have finally started to get some federal reimbursements caught up. Everything was pretty much in line with She added that five of the eleven tripper buses have sold. We asked for a minimum of $8,000, She noted that we are selling them in small groups and will have about ten more to sell over the next few weeks. OLD BUSINESS Addington Drive Update Mr. Jenkins updated the Committee on Addington Drive. Mr. Carroll researched the area to see if we had right of way for a guard rail. Mr. Carroll noted the right of way is tight Public Work Committee/Transit Committee/Traffic Commission Minutes September 8, 2021 Page 2 of 5  against the road. He recommended another chevron at the start of the curve as well as to improve the ditch and build a berm up before the fence that will make a natural barrier. He suggested this will address the issue and provide a natural buffer to the property on the other side of the fence. Mr. Jenkins added that although the resident suggested the addition of a Stop sign initially, he is reluctant to put a Stop sign in front of a curve. Mr. Carroll added that if his solution is not adequate, the only other thing he would suggest trying is to “T” the intersection up so a Stop sign could be placed there. Update on Speed Tables Mr. Carroll reported the company that is going to construct the ramps to the speed table has scheduled to start the second week of October. River Art District Commissioner Cochran asked for update for the engineering and landscape architecture design bid for the River Art District. Mr. Carroll said he is finishing up evaluating the plans and will present a recommendation at the next meeting. Painting for Light Poles Mr. Carroll reported that the painting for the light poles on Broad Street is not out for bid yet. He is still working out some issues with the DDA Director about how we will handle some of the directional signs that need rehabilitation. Mr. Carroll added that we are looking at some lighted signage for those. Ms. Smith asked Mr. Carroll about the 2017 SPLOST project for sidewalk from Redmond to GE. He noted that surveying is about 80% complete on that project, but we don’t have adequate right of way in several places such as around the Redmond Park Hospital, and in other places adequate right of way isn’t available and we would have to also construct a retaining wall. We need to have a 7 ft right‐of‐way for the 5‐foot sidewalk and 2‐foot grass strip. Commissioner Collins asked how much is budgeted for that project. Mr. Jenkins replied that that project was presented at $2 million. Paving Commissioner Cochran asked for an update on paving. Mr. Rich said that we have some don’t have that report yet. Mr. Jenkins reported we are paving a total of 15 miles of over 60 roads. This is three times more than we have paved in years past. The ground temperature must be over 50 degrees for paving so we typically pave from April to October. We also have to work with the County’s schedule because they do their own paving as well as ours. They usually give us 12 miles per year, but is giving us 15 this Public Work Committee/Transit Committee/Traffic Commission Minutes September 8, 2021 Page 3 of 5  year. Our funding is set up several different ways. We have approximately $150,000 to $200,000 per year of local capital money for paving, along with about $500,000 funding from the State Local Maintenance Improvement Grant (LMIG), which will pave about 4 to 5 miles per year. This year, 8.97 miles will be covered by the 2017 SPLOST. Commissioner Collins asked why the County does our paving. Mr. Jenkins said it is under House Bill 489. Mr. Rich noted that the County has historically always done our paving and we benefit because we only have to incur the cost of the materials. Mr. Jenkins added they have the paving equipment. Mr. Rich noted that we do not have to use the County and we can bid out paving every year if we wish. Mr. Jenkins reported the DOT District Engineer, Grant Waldrup, who attended last month’s meeting, has followed up on some of the items we discussed. He has asked for a letter from the City in support of the white cap project at Five Points. At yesterday’s TCC meeting, a GDOT representative also reported that project is possibly to be let this year. NEW BUSINESS Lunar Bike Ride at GE Property Ms. Smith, Executive Director of TREDS, reported that in previous years they had a Dog Days Lunar Bike Ride event annually from 10 pm until 1 pm held at the Mount Berry Mall parking lot. The event hasn’t taken place for the last 7 years, so TRED is partnering with Floyd County Police Department to hold the event on Friday October 15th from 6 pm until 9 or 9:30 in the GE parking lot. Children 16 and under will have to wear helmets and an entry fee of $5 will be charged to participate. Mr. Jenkins noted the parking lot was designed for cars and is not designed to handle heavy trucks. We have given permission for GDOT to park trucks and equipment there during paving of Redmond Circle. CW Mathews will be there through next week. He added that the City does not normally maintain this parking lot. There are many trucks out there which have created some damage in the lot. Ms. Smith added there are sinkholes in the side that they want to use that needs to be coned off during the event. Commissioner Collins moved to approve the request. Commissioner Askew seconded. The motion carried. POLICE REPORTS Captain Dehart presented the Accident report. He noted there were 176 accidents in August down from 186 at this time last year. For the year we are up slightly. Total traffic cases were 672 down from 763. He noted that we are noticing distractive driving as an increasing issue, so we will be tracking that going forward. Currently distracting driving makes up about 5% of the total accidents. Following too closely is the highest at 27% and other miscellaneous causes make Public Work Committee/Transit Committee/Traffic Commission Minutes September 8, 2021 Page 4 of 5 up 23%, lane changes made up 53% and DUI is at 3%. There is no real change in days, times and hours that accidents occur. Underage drivers doubled in the last month with 26. Total cases for the month of July was 474 and in Aug was 964. Commissioner Collins asked about the increase in the fatality rate reported in Floyd County. Capt. DeHart said all fatalities the City of Rome has experienced occurred early in the season and we have had no further issues going into the Fall. Commissioner Cochran noted he has discussed with Mr. Rich the possibility of hiring the people that did the land development code to take a look at possible improvements that could be made to all of our corridors and suggested Mr. Rich contact them for a price. MONTHLY REPORTS The monthly departmental reports were distributed for review. ADJOURN There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. Respectfully Submitted, Margaret Hollingsworth Margaret W. Hollingsworth, Secretary Public Work Committee/Transit Committee/Traffic Commission Minutes September 8, 2021 Page 5 of 5