HomeMy WebLinkAbout06/17/2002 Work Session
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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