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HomeMy WebLinkAboutGT_Meeting_Minutes_4-3-16MEETING NOTES Main-McVay Transit Study Governance Team April 4, 2016 Conference Room A – Lane Transit District - Eugene, Oregon Attendees: Governance Team Mayor Christine Lundberg, City of Springfield Councilor Marilee Woodrow, City of Springfield Lisa Nell, Oregon Department of Transportation (in place of Frannie Brindle) Angelynn Pierce, Lane Transit District Board of Directors Don Nordin, Lane Transit District Board of Directors Gino Grimaldi, City of Springfield (Ex Officio) Project Management Tom Boyatt, City of Springfield Tom Schwetz, Lane Transit District Sasha Luftig, Lane Transit District Support Ashley Neet, Lane Transit District Guest Pat Hocken, Better Eugene-Springfield Transit Edward McGlone, Lane Transit District Randy Hledik, Wildish Land Company Welcome and Agenda Review Ms. Lundberg called the meeting to order at 3:06 p.m. and reviewed the agenda. Those present introduced themselves. EmX Extension to Nugget Way Tom Schwetz asked the Governance Team to go back to the December meeting notes. At that meeting staff asked the Governance Team to approve revisions to the scope of work for the consultant team. Revisions were around the Governance Team’s desire to see more iterations in the contract with the adjacent business and property owners fronting the corridor. The revised scope also included a new alternative that had been developed at the staff level to look at an EmX extension that would run down to Nugget Way. That was based on a sense of the potential economic development along McVay Highway. It is difficult to predict when the economic development opportunity might be realized. Because the EmX option to Nugget Way would replace the Enhanced Corridor option to Lane Community College, which is the option that the Council and Board formally moved forward, the project team felt that it was prudent to re-evaluate the two options with the Governance Team and confirm which makes sense to evaluate further with the project resources. What the Governance Team is being asked is to confirm which option they would like studied for the McVay Highway segment of the corridor. Mr. Schwetz explained, with the Enhanced Corridor option, should the Governance Team move forward with that, it really sets the corridor up well for an EmX type of investment as the economic development potential becomes more specific. Mayor Lundberg asked if she was understanding Mr. Schwetz correctly by asking him if he is asking the Governance Team to formally adopt BRT? Mr. Schwetz replied no. Mr. Schwetz clarified, that he would like the Governance Team to reconfirm to look at the enhanced bus option running from the downtown Springfield station to LCC as part of McVay in place of just looking at BRT to Nugget Way. The Phase 1 study ended with the recommendation from both the Council and LTD Board to look at a no-build and an enhanced corridor options from McVay Highway out to LCC. As the project team was in scope development for Phase 2 they started brainstorming other ways to look at the McVay section of the corridor. For a little while the team had been thinking about BRT from Springfield Station to Nugget Way which would have been a continuation of Gateway. Based on ridership projections it seem to make more sense to move back to the original Council and Board recommendation to look all the way out to LCC. Mayor Lundberg raised concern about the project and expressed that too many hiccups lead to major problems. She is worried about the joint partnership and how going back and forth will ultimately affect how the community feels about the project. Mr. Schwetz and Mr. Boyatt reassured Mayor Lundberg that they feel positive about the partnership and acknowledged that all staff can communicate better to prevent future hiccups. Limited staff and training has been an obstacle for both the City of Springfield and LTD. Mayor Lundberg agreed that having this conversation now is much more productive than waiting until a later date. She too feels good about the project partnership and feels good about the direction in which this project is headed. Mr. Grimaldi asked the group to think about the long-term vision for Springfield transit. He voiced concern about the current planning process and how this will affect future planning. While McVay Highway is not ready for an EmX option it would be beneficial and cost effective to keep the concept in the picture for future planning. Ms. Pierce agreed with Mr. Grimaldi. In her personal opinion she thought it made more sense to study the enhanced corridor all the way to LCC. MOTION: Ms. Pierce, seconded by Ms. Woodrow, moved that the Main-McVay Governance Team supports the plan to study the McVay Highway segment of the Corridor all the way to Lane Community College as an Enhanced Corridor option. VOTE: The motion was approved as follows: AYES: Lundberg, Woodrow, Nell, Nordin, Pierce (5) NAYS: None The meeting adjourned at 3:38 p.m.