Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/06/2009 Work Session ( , . City of Springfield Work Session Meeting MINUTES OF THE WORK SESSION MEETING OF THE SPRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL HELD MONDAY, JULY 6, 2009 The City of Springfield Council met in a work session in the Jesse Maine Meeting Room, 225 Fifth Street, Springfield, Oregon, on Monday, July 6, 2009 at 6:30 p.m., with Mayor Leiken presiding. ATTENDANCE Present were Mayor Leiken and Councilors Lundberg, Leezer, Ralston, and Pishioneri. Also present were City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Jeff Towery, City Attorney Joe Leahy, Clerk III Trudy Borrevik and members of the staff. Councilor Wylie was. absent (excused). 1. TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) Grant Request. . City Planner Dave Reesor presented the staff report on this item. He said that he and Tom Boyatt, Transportation Manager, would be available for questions following his presentation. The federal economic stimulus legislation, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) provides $1.5 billion in discretionary TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grants for surface transportation projects across all transportation modes. The grants can range from $20 million up to $300 million to support high impact transportation projects. Primary selection criteria include contributing to the medium to long term economic competitiveness ofthe nation, improving the condition of existing transportation facilities and systems, improving the quality ofliving and working environments through livable communities, improving energy efficiency and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the safety of U.S. transportation facilities. Grant funding priority will be given to projects which can be completed by February 17th, 2012 and those projects that are expected to quickly create and preserve jobs and stimulate rapid increases in economic activity, especially projects that will benefit economically distressed areas. The deadline for the grant application is September 15th, 2009. Grant awards will be awarded no later than February 17th, 2010. The attached fact sheet provides more details regarding grant requirements. Springfield staff have reviewed and compared grant criteria with potential projects in Springfield and have a list of three potential projects, with priority ranked in the following order: . l. Franklin Boulevard - construction of a multi-way boulevard. 2. Main Street improvements - overlay of Main Street to Mill Street; reconstruction and realignment on 21 st Street; ADA upgrades; pedestrian crossings; intersection controls; and new street lighting. 3. McVay Highway Trestle improvements - widen the existing trestle to include 2 tracks; widen McVay Highway to include a five-lane cross-section; realign intersection of 19th and McVay. City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 6, 2009 Page 2 . Mr. Reesor said the criterion for the grant was listed in Attachment 5 of the agenda packet. The purpose of the grant was to create jobs quickly. He discussed the three potenti.al projects, how each fit with the criterion, and how Franklin Boulevard seemed to come out as the best option. Construction of the multi-way boulevard would service the backbone for redevelopment in Glenwood. The urban renewal district was passed in Glenwood in 2004, and was a priority for the Council and Springfield citizens. The Riverfront Plan in Glenwood was then adopted in 2005, and the Franklin Boulevard study was brought to Council in 2008. That had involved a lot of public input as well as stakeholder input. Another key component ofthe Franklin project was that Lane Transit District (LTD) and the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) were both willing to be partners on the application. ODOT was only looking at up to 5 applications statewide that they would collaborate with regarding the applications, and the Franklin project was one of their potentialS. Congressman DeFazio had included $30M for the project in his high priority projects list in an upcoming transportation bill. Mayor Leiken asked if the $30M was for the entire Franklin corridor, including the Eugene section. Mr. Boyatt said it did include Eugene; however the understanding was that it would progress from east to west, with some distribution to the Eugene side for something like design. . Mayor Leiken said he would like the City to solicit the University of Oregon (VoID) to partner on this grant, at least with a letter. That would be very important and helpful. He agreed the Franklin Boulevard would be a great opportunity. Mr. Reesor said they would try to get that letter. He noted that one of the criteria was that the project be innovative. Including the bus rapid transit (ErnX) in this multi-way boulevard was unique and would be a strong part of our application. Mr. Reesor said the City was going through the Glenwood Refmement update, which was on a longer timeline than this, but they felt this was a unique opportunity at this time. Staff felt they had a good solid project for this grant. He said it would be nice to apply for multiple projects, but the application was very extensive and staff wanted to narrow it down to one project. Mr. Boyatt said the $1.5B could have no more than $300M going to anyone state, five states could each get $300M projects. Staff felt this was going to be a very competitive application, and putting forth one project offered Springfield a better chance. When reviewing the minutes from the March 8, 2008 work session regarding the Franklin Boulevard study, he found that council supported the project but had concerns about where we could fmd the funds. This was that opportunity. Mayor Leiken said he had heard that applying for stimulus funds was very significant and complex compared to other grant applications. He asked if that was the case with this application. . Mr. Boyatt said it was very complex. There was no application form, but rather 20 pages in the Federal register that described what should be covered if applying for this grant. The application was limited to 25 pages. The review and decision process was not known, but staff was going by the guidance from the Federal register. Having ODOT's support was encouraging. City of Spnn.gfield Council Work Session Minutes July 6, 2009 Page 3 , . Councilor Lundberg asked what the total cost of the corridor was on the Springfield side in order to do everything we wanted to do. Mr. Boyatt said the planning level cost estimate including the roundabout and right-of-way was about $49.5M. He reiterated that this was just a cost estimate and there were still a number of unknown factors. Councilor Lundberg said in looking at the criteria, this seemed to be a good project for this application. This project would kick start the Glenwood area. She asked if it included the two lanes and the angled parking. Mr. Boyatt referred to a map showing the complete project. He explained the improvements. Councilor Lundberg said this was very exciting. She asked what our plans were if we went forward with this, since people in this area had been told nothing would happen for a long time because of funding. . . Mr. Boyatt said if the City was successful in getting this grant, we would be moving very quickly with an open public process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEP A), an environmental assessment and design at the same time so we could begin construction in a year or year and a half after grant award. Last time staff discussed this with Council, they talked about taking this through the legislative planning process with the Glenwood Refinement Plan update. That could still be done if we didn't apply for the :rIGER grant, but staff felt they did have a good chance at the grant. The City would be multi-tracking the public process with design and moving that as quickly as possible to the land acquisition phase so we could be starting construction in time to complete two full phases by February of 20 12. All of the construction may not be complete by February 20 l2, but most of it could be done. If we were only awarded what we could complete by 20 l2, the transportation bill could cover the rest. Councilor Lundberg asked when we would know if we received the grant. Mr. Boyatt said they would know by February 20l0. Discussion was held regarding the way the applications would be scored. The Mayor asked about the number ODOT had signed on for. Councilor Pishioneri discussed the total amount available and how it could be split among all states. He noted the number of staff hours and asked about the trade-off. Mr. Boyatt said for staff hours they would have help from ODOT on the economics and cost benefit side, and also help from 'LTD. The rest could be covered by Mr. Boyatt, Mr. Reesor and Assistant Public Works Director Len Goodwin. The trade-off was that over the next 30-40 days, this would take a higher priority than the transportation system plan and one or two other things. They would very much like to try for the grant. . Councilor Pishioneri said the Oregon Department ofFish and Wildlife (ODFW) had a lot of concern on the west side regarding the overpass over the Willamette River. They could be another agency that could partner in this application. . . . , . City of Springfield Council Work Session Minutes July 6, 2009 Page 4 Mr. Boyatt said he would check into that. Councilor Leezer said having the VoID on our side was an excellent suggestion. She suggested using every avenue available to position us for receipt of the grant. She asked if L TD would be adding any dollars if this grant was received. Mr. Reesor said this grant was unique in that it could pay up to 100% of the project cost, with no match. Staff was meeting weekly with ODOT and LTD staffto work on the application. The project cost would be covered by the grant. Mayor Leiken asked if the VoID had students that were serving internships that could assist with some ofthe research for this grant. Mr. Boyatt said they would check. Mayor Leiken said it would be helpful to have them doing some of the work to free up time for staff. Councilor Ralston said in terms of economic stimulus, he felt the Franklin project would do more to turn Glenwood from a chunk of coal to a diamond than anything else we could do. Mayor Leiken said it would provide Community Development Manager John Tamulonis with another tool when talking with potential developers in Glenwood. Mr. Tamulonis said this type of project was very helpful in that regard. He explained. Council consensus was for staff to move forward with the application. ADJOURNMENT The meeting ':Vas adjourned at 6:52 p.m. Minutes Recorder - Amy Sowa Attest: ~~ Amy SOWi City Recoroer