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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTBMinutes_2009_02_17Transportation Board Brookings, South Dakota February 17, 2009 OFFICIAL MINUTES The Brookings Transportation Board was called to order by Chairperson Jeff Weldon on Tuesday, February 17, 2009 at 2:00 PM in the City Hall meeting room. Members present were Art Conners, Terrell Spence, Nancy Hartenhoff-Crooks, Dean Kattelmann, Teresa McKnight, Deanna Santema, and Weldon. City Engineer Jackie Lanning was also present. Jerry Raabe Roger DeGroot, Rob Jones, Robb Rasmussen, Michael Forgy, Tyler Luckhurst, and City Clerk Shari Thornes were absent. Item #2 – (Conners/Spence) Motion to approve the minutes from the November 18, 2008, meeting. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED . Item #3 – (Hartenhoff-Crooks/Kattelmann) Motion to approve the amended agenda adding #9 - YP Network committee forum. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED . Chairman Jeff Weldon welcomed Deanna Santema to the Board. She replaced Dennis Falken as the Brookings County Commission delegate to the Board. Item #4 – Weldon opened the floor to nominations for chairman for 2009. (Kattelmann/McKnight) Motion to nominated Jeff Weldon. Weldon declined saying he felt the chairmanship should move yearly. (Connors/Spence) Motion to nominate Robb Rasmussen for 2009 chair. Nominations were closed. A unanimous ballot was cast for Robb Rasmussen. All present voted aye. MOTIOM CARRIED . Weldon opened the floor to nominations for vice-chairman for 2009. (Spence/Kattelmann) Motion to nominate Nancy Hartenhoff-Crooks for 2009 vice-chair. Nominations were closed. A unanimous ballot was cast for Nancy Hartenhoff-Crooks. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED . Item #5 – Update on the bike lane designation project – City Engineer Jackie Lanning reported on the project. She said she had been working with Chris Daugaard and Eric Hanson from the SDSU Student Senate. She said the group has created a loop from 20th Avenue north of 6th Street connecting with 8th Street, 13th Avenue to the SDSU Campus, and 8th Street to 3rd Avenue. It hasn’t been decided if they will use sharrows or designate a parking/bike lane. She added that awareness is very important. Weldon asked if parking changes would need to be made. Lanning said yes, and that will take council action, but at this point, the interest level is not known. There needs to be a discussion to see what options are wanted. Lanning said ideally, there would be a lane for parking, a lane for bikes, and a lane for driving. But Brookings city streets are not wide enough so sharing must take place. Kattelmann said bike lanes would need to be striped and stenciled if parking is omitted. Lanning said this project will be presented to the City Council at their March 10 meeting. Weldon said the striping would need to be done this spring. Item #6 – Update on Safe Routes to School trail project – Lanning reported that they are beginning to work on preparing the bidding for the project. It will be implemented during the summer of 2009. Phase I is the bid letting. Lanning added that a hearing will be needed at the City Council level to remove parking from designated areas. The project will be aimed at the new elementary school, and there will be two (2) years to spend the funds from the grant. The grant specified that there must be school involvement also. The goal is to link everything together. April 8 is the deadline for the second grant. Lanning said the subcommittee isn’t sure they will apply for the second phase. They want to implement the items from the first phase and let the citizens become familiar with the new innovations. Kattelmann asked where the committee was in connecting the areas to SDSU. Lanning said that is a separate project, and it is being delayed because of environmental paperwork. Item #7 – Discussion on a new facility for BATA – Weldon explained that Brookings Area Transit Authority (BATA) is in need of a new facility. They have outgrown their present facility, and Brookings County will take their current building back and use it. They are looking at locations in east Brookings adjacent to the R&T Center and in the Wiese Industrial Park. Weldon said the City Council didn’t like those locations and are now looking at the area north of the Larson Ice Center. Entrance to the 1.7 acre parcel would be from 34th Avenue. There are utilities stubbed in. Weldon said the timing is very important as this project is ripe for transit funds allocated in the new stimulus package. Hartenhoff-Crooks said she felt the facility needed to be large enough to house all buses inside. Maintenance would also be done in-house. She added that the South Dakota Department of Transportation has singled out Brookings for funding because of the large growth in this area. Kattelmann asked if the area north of Highway 14 had been considered. Item #8 – Implementation plan from the final report –The services provided by BATA were discussed. McKnight said that when doing planning, they need to plan for the future. She wasn’t sure the City Council understood that vision from the last report Brenda Schweitzer presented to them. McKnight felt a Power Point presentation might get ideas across better. Conners agreed that BATA must have room for expansion. Kattelmann said that area north of Highway 14 would tie in well with SDSU and Jefferson Bus Lines. Having a larger parking area would also help with the Park and Ride concept. Weldon said the Swiftel Center south parking lot could be used for Park and Ride also. He felt more time was needed to work out the details, and the timing would be very crucial. Hartenhoff-Crooks agreed that a Power Point program would work well to help Schweitzer get her ideas across. (Conners/McKnight) Motion to write a resolution in support of the BATA request for a new facility including support for volume and future expansion on a new site. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED . Kattelmann said there was a need to look at fixed routes for the community and the campus. McKnight wondered whose responsibility it was to fund the bus shelters. Lanning said Safe Ride paid for the present ones with a grant. McKnight said there are grants available for shelters. Weldon felt a Transportation Board subcommittee was needed to work with Schweitzer, and the members should represent disabled students and seniors also. Kattelmann asked about busing for people coming to work in Brookings from Watertown and Sioux Falls where they could park their cars mid-way and get on bus thus eliminating driving and parking in Brookings. McKnight felt that was an excellent idea with so many people now coming from those areas to work in Brookings. Weldon asked Conners, Kattelmann and Hartenhoff-Crooks to serve on the subcommittee that would aide Schweitzer in presenting her case to the City Council. Weldon also asked for a report from this subcommittee at the next meeting. Item #9 – Chamber forum for Young Professionals Network - The Chamber is asking for a volunteer from each city board to attend a forum on March 3, 2009 from 5:30 – 7:00 at the Swiftel Center. This forum will be used to familiarize young professionals in the community about the city boards in hopes that they will be wiling to serve on one of the boards in the future. Weldon asked for a volunteer to attend this forum and represent the Transportation Board. Weldon said that he would contact Robb Rasmussen as the new chair to see if he is available. Hartenhoff-Crooks said she would be interested if Rasmussen were unavailable. Item #10 – Next Meeting – The next meeting of the Transportation Board will be held on Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 2:00 in the City Hall meeting room. The meeting was adjourned. ____________________________ ____________________________ Diane M. Spencer, Secretary Jeffrey Weldon, Chairperson