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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/17/2002 Work Session . . . MINUTES OFDIRECTORS MEETING LANE TRANSIT DISTRICT SPECIAL MEETING/JOINT WORK SESSION WITH SRINGFIELD CITY COUNCIL Monday, June 17,2002 Pursuant to notice given to The Register-Guard for publication on June 13, 2002, and distributed to persons on the mailing list of the District, the Board of Directors of the Lane Transit District held a work session with the Springfield Ci~ Council on Monday, June 17,2002, beginning at 5:30 p.m., in the L TO Board Room at 3500 E. 1 i Avenue, Eugene. Present: Lane Transit District Board of Directors Susan Ban Gerry Gaydos, Vice President DaveKleger, Treasurer Hillary Wylie, President, presiding Ken Hamm, General Manager Jo Sullivan, Recording Secretary Springfield City Council Ann Ballew Tammy Fitch Lyle Hatfield (arrived at 5:50 p.m.) Sid Leiken, Mayor . Christine Lundberg Fred Simmons Mike Kelly, City Manager Gino Grimaldi, Assistant City Manager Absent Patricia Hocken Virginia Lauritsen, Secretary Robert Melnick Absent Dave Ralston CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to orderat 5:38 p.m. by Board President Hillary Wylie. She welcomed L TO's Springfield guests. Springfield Council President Sid Leiken then called the Springfield Council work session to order. Councilor Hatfield was not yet present. Ms. Wylie noted that as L TO was approaching work on bus rapid transit (BRT) projects, such as the Springfield Station and the Pioneer Parkway BRT corridor, it was important to continue to work together hand-in-hand. She said that BR~ was a big project and the partners would need to use everything they had to get through it with a minimum of costs and problems. She said she was grateful for the working relationship between the City of Springfield and L TO, thrilled to see the route the two bodies had taken and the growth they had made, and excited about their plans. BUS RAPID TRANSIT PHASE 1: L TO Director of Development Stefano Viggiano noted the background information included in the agenda materials for both the Board and the Council. He used a PowerPoint presentation to provide a brief update on the current status of the BRT project, schedule, and vehicle acquisition. He discussed the proposed change from two to three BRT stations in Glenwood, at new locations. The new Lexington Station would be located at the western access to the future nodal development being planned by Springfield. Mr. Viggiano also discussed the approved design elements and additional design proposals for South A Street in Springfield. Councilor Ballew asked how traffic would be accommodated if LTD BOARD MEETING 07/17/02 Page 10 . . . MINUTES OF L TO BOARD/SPRINGFIELD COUNCIL JOINT MEETING, JUNE 17, 2002 Page 2 /-'" / 'j \ J \..,___.i' BRT took a traffic lane. Mr. Viggiano explained that adequate traffic capacity was maintained. The goal of the changes was to slow the traffic for better pedestrian safety. In discussing the project schedule, Mr. Viggiano said that L TO would break ground on the first sector in early fall of 2002, and if all went as planned, service would begin in the fall of 2004. He also explained the design characteristics of the BRT vehicle and how attributes of the Phileas bus, developed in the Netherlands, fit the needs of L TO's BRT system. Mr. Viggiano next discussed the Pioneer Parkway BRT Corridor, which had been selected by the Springfield Council as the next BRT corridor in Springfield for specific reasons. The next Eugene corridor, along Coburg Road, had the opportunity to connect with the Pioneer Parkway corridor in the Gateway area and create a loop, which was the. reason it was selected by the Eugene City Council. Mr. Viggiano explained that L TO had the money to plan these next corridors but not to build them. L TO would be requesting that funding in the reauthorization of the transportation funding bill. Staff were not sure if it was possible to receive an 80/20 match (80 percent federal funding/20 percent local) again, or if the local match might be higher for the next grant. In response to a question from Councilor Ballew, Mr. Viggiano said that B~T service would replace existing service along the corridors, because L TO could not afford to provide duplicate service. BRT would replace service that currently got stuck in traffic with service that could move along more quickly, so L TO should be able to spend less to provide an equivalent level of service. Councilor Fitch asked whether it was anticipated that a northern station would be needed at Gateway Mall once both the Coburg and Pioneer Parkway lines were built. Mr. Viggiano said that L TO might want to relocate the Gateway Station because it was difficult to reach where it was because of circulation through the parking lot. It was yet to be decided whether there would be a station at both the north and south end of the mall. For BRT, the goal was to minimize the number of stops. A centra/location for Gateway Mall would be ideal, and possibly one by the post office or somewhere in that area, north of the mall. Mr. Hamm added that the smaller BRT stations eventually would replace the larger stations like Gateway, because along the BRT route there would be neighborhood connectors bringing riders from the neighborhoods and other areas of town. Mayor Leiken said that a critical location for a station would be on the Pioneer Parkway BRT corridor near the employment center, possibly near the hospital or just beyond, 'in the industrial park area, and somewhere where it would not have to be moved in a few years. Mr. Viggiano stated that in planning the corridor in segments, staff were trying to coordinate one segment with the Peace Health master plan for the RiverBend development. There had been some discussion about going to PeaceHealth's front door and connecting with Industrial Way. Councilor Ballew asked if new streets would be built a little sturdier to accommodate the buses. Mr. Hamm said he thought this was something the engineers would work out; however, the BRT buses would be far lighter than standard buses, and smaller buses probably could be used in a lot of the community for connector service. Ms. Wylie noted that the new buses also would be much quieter than current buses, and suggested that maybe a separate lane should be built close to the hospital just for BRT. Councilor Lundberg mentioned concerns about coordinating a northern link where roundabouts were installed near Beltline, near Symantec and Sony, because of the concerns of the residents in that area. She said that many people were concerned about how the road, being called L TD BOARD MEETING 07/17/02 Page II . MINUTES OF L TO BOARD/SPRINGFIELD COUNCIL JOINT MEETING, JUNE 17, 2002 Page 3 the "northern link" went north from Beltline. She wondered if buses could get through a roundabout. Mr. Viggiano said it would be much easier to get a Phileas bus through a roundabout than it would be for a normal bus, and Councilor Lundberg said that part of the solution would be in making modifications. Mr. Hamm stated that the two staffs had been working very well together and would need Board and Council help to facilitate some things to make these projects work. . SPRINGFIELD STATION JOINT DEVELOPMENT: L TO Facilities Maintenance' Manager Charlie Simmons provided some background information on the Springfield Station master plan, site issues, and joint development. Councilor Ballew asked about visibility from the station to the street. Mr. Simmons explained that the architectural firm, WBGS, was working on those design issues, including security and visibility, in a design charrette being conducted elsewhere in the building. He said that $3.8 million had been secured for the project, and L TO had requested an additional $3 million. If the additional funding were not received, it would be very difficult for L TO to build this station. With a guest services center (GSC) and 2,000 square feet for L TO's use, the cost already was right at $6.8 million. . Mr. Simmons said that currently the project was on schedule for completion in May 2004, the same timeline as the first corridor of the BRT project. It was critical that this station be operating at the same time as BRT. Joint develo'pment was critical to the master plan. L TO had to find a way to minimize its operational expenses while providing services for Springfield and L TO's guests. Mayor Leiken thought that other developers would be very interested in this project, due to Carolyn Chambers' significant investment in downtown Springfield. Mr. Simmons stated that the timing of joint development was an issue for the project. The Springfield Station Design Review Committee (ORC) thought it was important to have joint development in place when the station opened. Mayor Leiken said that there were a lot of people with a lot of passion for the corridor, and he thought that someone would be willing to step up and work with L TO on this project. Springfield Executive Development Manager John Tamulonis explained that a major constraint in this area was that the cost of developing a new facility was twice as much as could be received in rents with the current market conditions. To help with operational costs, there may be a way to have the lessee handle some of the costs or activities. Mr. Hamm noted that there were some restrictions when using federal funds. He said that staff believed that L TO could reprogram its capital budget in order to fund $500,000 for additional square footage for joint development (but not by debt financing). If the responsibility for some of the operational costs, such as restrooms and guest services functions, could be shifted to the tenants, L TO could pay the tenants to perform those functions. This could enhance the effort to redevelop within the downtown core. He stated that L TO was proposing this idea as a solution to the loggerhead in finding joint development, but that to go beyond 5,000 square feet did not make sense at that time. Mr. Tamulonis said that L TO needed to design the development so that it worked for the station, and he-thought that potential tenant could be found for 5,000 square feet. Mr. Simmons noted that L TO was looking for a business that would operate on the same schedule as the buses, to provide visibility and oversight at the station. He also said that while L TO was proposing to go forward with 5,000 square feet for joint development, it would be planning for future development of 15,000 to 12,000 square feet. He thought that it probably would take a minimum of a couple of years to plan that additional joint development. . LTD BOARD MEETING 07117/02 Page 12 . . . .. MINUTES OF l TO BOARD/SPRINGFIELD COUNCIL JOINT MEETING, JUNE 17, 2002 Page 4 Councilor Simmons asked about federal restrictions on joint development. Mr. Hamm replied that the restrictions had decreased quite a bit and that joint development actually was a high priority for transit projects. Councilor Simmons then said that a strong;concem was to have restroom facilities available when the station opened, not later. Mr. Tamulonis said that the concept was to include things that were paramount to l TO at the front end as well as the opportunity for future development. However, the small amount of parking space might be the main restriction on what could be done at the site. Councilor Fitch wondered jf the City could help find the funding for the difference by directing staff to work with l TO to find solutions for funding. Mr. Tamulonis said that staff were looking at many possible solutions, and that it would be a series of small options that would make this project possible. ADJOURNMENT: Ms. Wylie thanked the Council and Springfield staff for being there to help keep the project moving. Mayor leiken noted that this most likely was Councilor Simmons' last joint meeting as a City Councilor, since he had chosen not to seek reelection. The mayor thanked Mr. Simmons for his input on these projects. With no further discussion, the meeting was adjoumed at 6:43 p.m. -;;-1:: Jl&ltt~ Board Secretary Minutes of the Joint Meeting with the LTD Board held on June 17, 2002. Approved by the Springfield City Council this ___, day of Septe , 2QP2. AT~ L TD BOARD MEETING 07/17/02 Page 13