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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOUTBoard minutes 0216171 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 Approved 3/1/17 MINUTES ORANGE COUNTY OUTBOARD FEBRUARY16,2017 REGULAR MEETING MEMBERS PRESENT: Heidi Perry (Chair), At -Large Representative; David Laudicina, Cheeks Township Representative; Alex Castro (Vice- Chair), Bingham Township Representative; Donna Musson, Eno Township Representative; Alyson West, At- Large; Jenn Sykes, At- Large; MEMBERS ABSENT: Ed Vaughn, Cedar Grove Township Representative; Art Menius, At -Large Representative; Jeff Charles, At -Large Representative; Brantley Wells, Hillsborough Township Representative; Erle Smith, Chapel Hill Township Representative; Gary Saunders, At -Large Representative; Ted Triebel, Little River Township Representative; Justin Miller, At- Large; STAFF PRESENT: Abigaile Pittman, Transportation /Land Use Planner; Max Bushell, Transportation Planner; Peter Murphy, Transportation Administrator; Theo Letman, Transportation Director; Meredith Kern, Administrative Assistant. OTHERS PRESENT FOR TRANSIT ADVISORY SERVICES: Janice Tyler, Aging Director; Janet Sparks, Child Support Director; Lisa Berley, Office Assistant II; Serena McPherson, Administrative Assistant III; AGENDA ITEM 1: CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Heidi Perry called the meeting to order. AGENDA ITEM 2: INTRODUCTION OF NEW OUTBOARD MEMBERS Abigaile Pittman introduced new member Jenn Sykes and introduced Theo Letman. AGENDA ITEM 3: APPROVAL OF MINUTES JANUARY 18, 2016 MEETING No quorum so board could not vote. AGENDA ITEM 4: CONSIDERATION OF ADDITIONS TO AGENDA No additions. AGENDA ITEM 5: TRANSIT SERVICES /ORANGE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION (OPT) AGENDA ITEM 5A. OPT QUARTERLY OPERATIONAL UPDATES — (PETER MURPHY) Peter Murphy Presented Abigaile Pittman inquired about the ridership coming out of Cedar Grove. Peter Murphy answered that there aren't a lot but there are a few regulars that really need the service who are using it. Alex Castro mentioned a new community center in Cedar Grove that is under utilized and that they are trying to organize more activities there, which may help to increase ridership. Lisa Berley added that she's leading a bus trip in March from that bus stop to the Hillsborough Hospital that is the first of more outings, which might also help to increase ridership in that area. Heidi Perry inquired about having a bus available for second shift employees at the hospital so it would be available Approved 3/1/17 53 to them when they got off work as a way to expand the services. Peter Murphy agreed that it was something they 54 could look into and ask some questions about. 55 56 Peter Murphy continued presentation. 57 58 Lisa Berley asked if funding was lost in the first pie if it could be made up with the transit tax. Peter Murphy 59 answered that with the way it's written right now that it could not be done that way because the transit tax was to 60 put new services out there, not to pay for old services. He also added that the County is in negotiations right now 61 because the bus and rail plan is 5 -years old and it's subject to the next step in negotiations and there's a lot of 62 discussion on that. Lisa replied that she thinks that it should be looked at because of the demands on services and 63 if there's another funding source for transportation it would be very good for aging services. She added that she'd 64 like the OUTBoard group to look at other funding for this and mentioned that if they didn't have to spend the 65 $60,000 from the Block Grant on transportation that it could redirected to other services if there was another 66 funding source for getting the seniors to the senior center. Heidi Perry said that that would require a lot of 67 discussion because that would involve taking it from some other part of the pie. Peter Murphy confirmed that would 68 be the case and added that they still expect to see the funds from the block grant next year. He also explained that 69 over the past several years they've vetted what Grove plans they want to do and voted on the services they'd like to 70 put out there. And based on the amount of funding available they had a list of priority order of what they're putting 71 out there, so if the lost funding was used for old services they'd have to take away from new services. 72 73 Peter Murphy continued presentation. 74 75 Alex Castro asked Peter if they were going to be able to handle the additional vehicles coming in March with 76 regards to drivers. Peter replied that it was something they're working on and has been a national struggle. Heidi 77 Perry asked which routes the new buses would be serving. Peter Murphy said there are restrictions with where they 78 can put them because they got them through urban funding so they'd have to be used in urban areas. He added 79 that one bus was an expansion and the other two are replacements and they'll be able to be used for the Hill -to -Hill 80 Shuttle and the Hillsborough Circulator. Heidi Perry also inquired about why this was late happening and Peter 81 replied that it was due to driver shortages. He added that with Theo's help they're looking into alternative options to 82 get people licensed instead of fighting for the few that are already licensed. Alex Castro then inquired if they were 83 going to have additional staff to be able to handle the expansions. Peter answered that that's something that he, 84 Malcum, and Theo have been discussing a lot and would like to add that into an item when there's a quorum. 85 86 Lisa Berley inquired about the steps being so steep and challenging. Malcum Massenburg acknowledged that it's a 87 known problem and it's likely that the new buses that are coming are going to be similar. He added that they offer the 88 lift to anyone that may have difficulty with it and that some people use it and some people don't. 89 90 Heidi Perry inquired about the expansion for the senior center. Peter Murphy confirmed that that had been done and 91 now there's an out at 3:30 instead of only at 1 o' clock. Lisa Berley spoke about it and said that there were some that 92 used it and really enjoyed it but the majority still leave at 1 o' clock. 93 94 Peter Murphy concluded that he expects that they'll be seeing more and more ridership with all the new housing 95 developments that are popping up and with all the calls that they've been getting. 96 97 98 AGENDA ITEM 513. NON- EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION (NEMT) - (PETER MURPHY) 99 100 Peter Murphy Presented 101 102 Alex Castro asked Peter if they were taking into account the general and administrative expenses for dispatch and 103 scheduling, and the costs if somebody is a no show and how they'd compensate for that. Peter Murphy answered 104 that they don't get paid if someone is a no show, unless the person pays for it themselves. He added that that kind 0a Approved 3/1/17 105 of thing is an actual expense associated with the whole thing and that NCDOT has been helping with calculating out 106 the proper price. Janet Sparks asked if there could be this kind of calculation for other departments and services 107 with indirect costs such as Human Resources, the parking deck, county attorney's, etcetera. Peter Murphy 108 answered that they'll be putting that in there so it will capture all costs so there's no hidden costs. 109 110 Jenn Sykes suggested allocating extra time for errors and delays. 111 112 Heidi Perry voiced concerns regarding how much it would cost to pay someone to track down the $22 113 reimbursement. 114 115 The Board had a unanimous general consensus of support for the recommendation for a half time FTE position to 116 assist with Medicaid filling and other transit sources. 117 118 Peter Murphy spoke about consideration to help support Class Fridays event and have some transportation running 119 in the evening in west Hillsborough and Fairview neighborhoods, which happens through the spring and summer 120 months. Heidi Perry requested getting more information regarding costs and available drivers before supporting that. 121 Donna Musson added that it could be a good opportunity to advertise the service. Heidi Perry then asked how they 122 were doing with advertising more with the routes they have available to Hillsborough. Peter Murphy answered that 123 with having the new director they're going to be able to focus on that effort a lot more. He also added that now that 124 they've added the Go Pass UNC will start advertising for them and the County will be making additional contact with 125 them. 126 127 There was discussion with regards to having a special event to make people more aware of the services and the 128 Expo was brought up. Abigaile Pittman had said that with the Expo being in an urban mall in Chapel Hill a lot of 129 people from the County aren't there. Heidi Perry suggested have two or finding a better venue. Heidi also mentioned 130 the transportation fair at UNC. Alex Castro added to that by suggesting to have a vehicle there that people can see 131 and giving them the opportunity to circulate around Hillsborough. 132 133 134 5C. TRANSIT ADVISORY SERVICES (TAS) COMM ENTSIQUESTIONS - (PETER MURPHY) 135 136 137 AGENDA ITEM 6: REGULAR OUTBOARD AGENDA (ACTION ITEMS) 138 139 140 6A. SAFE ROUTES TO SCHOOL - (ABIGAILE PITTMAN) 141 142 Item deferred to March OUTBoard meeting due to lack of quorum. 143 144 6A. DURHAM CHAPEL HILL CARRBORO METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION (DCHC MPO) COMPREHENSIVE 145 TRANSPORTATION PLAN (CTP) COMMENTS AND ENDORSEMENT - (MAX BUSHELL) 146 147 Max presented item 148 149 There was a discussion about a route that Art Menius had proposed with regard to the last discussion. There was a 150 concern about tractor - trailers being able to navigate this route. 151 152 Max continued presentation 153 154 Heidi Perry had a concern that having four lanes on Churton Street will only make the problem worse. Alex Castro 155 seconded this concern. Max Bushell replied that with the four lanes and the Orange Grove Road extension would at 156 least relieve some traffic that would turn right onto US -70 A but reiterated that there's not perfect solution. He also 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 Approved 3/1/17 added that he included some basic history of the congestion on Churton Street, along with numerous proposals for bypasses that were shot down in the Board's packets to give a better idea of what has been tried and why they were unsuccessful. Alex Castro had concerns with all the new developments that are only going to make traffic worse. Heidi Perry stated that she thinks the Orange Grove Road extension will help but doesn't think the added lanes are needed. Max Bushell also informed the Board that the intersection improvement and the extension will happen first and that the widening of Churton Street has fallen off the process and will not be funded. He added that that's a decision that will come back before the Board again if they want to add that to the DCHC MPO projects. Jenn Sykes also had concerns in regard to doing work on both ends and nothing in between. Alex Castro added the concern of the road not being compatible with BRT operation with the way it is. Alex Castro also spoke about the lack of incentive for people to carpool, and thinks there should be more local incentive and have it advertised appropriately so that people are away of those incentives. Max Bushell informed the Board that Duke, UNC, and Go Triangle offer similar incentives, but it's just now commonly known. Heidi Perry suggested having a separated bike path instead of widening the road for a bike path because it's not an ideal road for a bike path due to it being narrow and winding. She also added that with the school, and parks along that area a separated bike path would be a great economic development tool for tourism. Her second suggestion was that adding capacity with the four lanes is only going to make the congestion worse. She decided to send a private letter to the BOCC in regard to that concern. Max Bushell stated that he would add it as well. Alex Castro asked if they had calculated the anticipated traffic density as a change, if they took into account all the new developments that were coming, and if they were accurate. Max Bushell answer that yes; they go through a very vigorous and detailed process to get those calculations and he believes they are more accurate that ones that were done in the past as they are using newer tools starting in 2012. Heidi Perry asked if they looked at the decrease in the number of the amount of car ownership among millennials. Max Bushell confirmed that they do try to include some element of that in the scenario planning. Jenn Sykes asked about minimizing traffic through the middle of downtown by going to the south and around; getting off 40 and going down Oakdale, hitting Orange Grove and using that to get to other parts of downtown. She added that that's the area to look into building out and looking for paths through those residential areas. Max Bushell replied that he thinks there was a western bypass considered in that region that was shot down because of the critical watershed and possibly neighborhood opposition. Jenn also added that the neighborhoods dead end but they could build a connector through someone's property. Max Bushell concluded his presentation with a few more information items, and asked everybody to send him their comments and feedback. He also informed everybody about the public open house at the Orange Public Library on February 16 from 5:30 -7:30. AGENDA ITEM 7: BOARD COMMENTS There was discussion about moving the meeting date in March. No date was set. AGENDA ITEM 8: ADJOURNMENT OUTBoard meeting was adjourned by consensus. Heidi Perry, Chair