Held at the offices of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority

August 1st, 2002 - 1:30 p.m.

MINUTES

APPROVAL OF BOARD AGENDA FOR AUGUST 1st 2002

NEW BUSINESS AND BOARD COMMENTS

ADJOURNMENT

Motion was made by Mr. Lester and seconded by Mr. Rhodenizer to approve the agenda of the August 1, 2002 meeting. The meeting agenda was approved unanimously.

Mr. Mullins presented the month’s activities: 

The process of flexing the high priority project funds to FTA has been completed.  Access to the funds is available as the grant process is completed. Some progress has been made with the City of Atlanta relative to the properties adjacent to the site of the Multi Modal station.  Stated in a letter received from Mike Dobbins, the City of Atlanta is prepared to transfer the property and the funds. Staff has met with the City of Atlanta staff to coordinate modification of Spring Street Bridge reconstruction issues to accommodate the MMPT site and bus access.

Rail Corridor Implementation Work

Grade Crossing Safety Implementation

SEHSR /Amtrak Issue

A kick-off meeting for the SEHSR Planning study between Charlotte, North Carolina and Macon, Georgia took place on July 17th.  This is a joint effort of the Departments of Transportation of Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina to develop a planning and concept engineering study to examine opportunities for increased speed in the designated SEHSR corridor between Charlotte and Macon.  The anticipated completion for this study is 12 months. 

Mr. Stapleton questioned if the committee could be provided with a report in the future on the impact of the construction and the access improvements that would have to be made in Macon for Terminal Station to serve the rail passenger program.

Mr. Mullins indicated this would be added as a topic for future reports.

Station Acquisition and Development Policies

Mr. Roberts presented the recommended policies for operation, management and finances for the Station Acquisition and Development.  Mr. Roberts indicated that the principle recommendation is to have the system responsible for acquiring and financing station sites and facilities.  The Station Acquisition and development policy for GRPP has not been established.  The Environmental Assessment of the Macon-Atlanta commuter rail project resulted in a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI).  These sites are important to the generation of the passengers. As a part of adopting this policy, any necessary environment assessment would continue to be a responsibility of the State.  Amendment to the environment assessment would occur if changes in station location were made. Development of the basic station platform and site would be the responsibility of the State, but flexibility would be preserved to encourage local initiatives for mixed used development and/or to add amenities to the basic station. 

Mr. Lester questioned whether the parking at the stations would be fee based or at no cost. 

Mr. Roberts indicated that traditionally this is a supply and demand question.  Putting more capacity than what you need would influence whether there would be fees or no charge. The question is not answered in this policy. 

Ms. Gay questioned whether the policy could reflect the philosophy to stimulate development in and around the stations for mixed-use development as a value to the riders. 

Mr. Vaughan responded that the model is based on the Winder site. As the Winder site is being examined, these are items that will be considered such as commercial, office space, development

that will enhance the ridership to make the experience more attractive. The policy may need to be amended to encourage additional development in and around the station to maximize the basic station design. 

Mr. Hubbert questioned the determination to provide enough capacity upfront to enable to offer no fee parking.

Mr. Roberts stated that the recommendation is to acquire sufficient property to meet the forecast for 2025 patronage, how quickly the riders will respond will determine what is to be built.  In some instances areas developed more quickly than anticipated but the intent is to build adequate capacity parking facilities to meet the demands.

Macon Corridor Advisory Committee

Mr. Vaughan discussed the recommendation to establish and activate a Macon Corridor Advisory Committee. The intent of the committee is to have participation from every city and county along the route from Macon to Atlanta which have rail stations.  Mr. Vaughan indicated that voting shall be advisory in nature and no quorum is necessary. The meetings shall be public and provide for public comment at the appropriate time. Record of the proceeding shall be maintained for general benefit and for the members of Program Management Team. Responsible agencies, GDOT, GRTA and GRPA would manage the local advisory committee through the rail managers of the three agencies. Throughout the corridor regional agencies would be appointed as non-voting members who would be welcome to participate in the discussion.   

Mr. Hubbert requested that the participants of the committee reflect the diverse population makeup of the community in which they serve. 

Mr. Vaughan indicated that the language could be amended to constitute its committee delegation be reflective of the diversity of the community it serves and encourage them to appoint multiple participants that reflects the diversity of each community.

September GRPP Meeting

Mr. Mullins indicated that the Grade Crossing Principles would be presented in September.

Mr. Wilson stated that the Livable communities initiative is due to be in its final form by September 30^th, it was suggested that it be presented at the October meeting.  

Mr. Bruning questioned that status of the MMPT Schematic Design RFP and requested a draft .

Copy.  Mr. Mullins indicated that the RFP is under development and the members of the committee should provide with a copy of the RFP within the next few days.  

Mr. Lester questioned that status of future payments to the consultants and whether the status of this issue should be included on the September meeting.

Mr. Stapleton requested PowerPoint updates on the stations construction, cost, and design ideas be presented at the September meeting. 

Adjournment:

There being no further business to come before the Project Management Team, the meeting adjourned at 2:20 pm.