Fresno COG Header

TRANSPORTATION TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

Date:
Time:
Place:

Friday, July 13, 2012
8:30 AM

COG Sequoia Conference Room
2035 Tulare St., Suite 201, Fresno, CA



Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accommodations
The Fresno COG offices and restrooms are ADA accessible. Representatives or individuals with disabilities should contact Fresno COG at (559) 233-4148, at least 3 days in advance, to request auxiliary aids and/or translation services necessary to participate in the public meeting / public hearing. If Fresno COG is unable to accommodate an auxiliary aid or translation request for a public hearing, after receiving proper notice, the hearing will be continued on a specified date when accommodations are available.

Video Conferencing Available – please contact Kai Han at 559-233-4148 Ext. 206

Dial in number for teleconferencing:

Toll Free Number:  877-455-8688

Participant Code:  278933



TTC Agenda and Annotated Agenda in pdf format

TRANSPORTATION TECHNICAL COMMITTEE

The Transportation Technical Committee will consider all items on the agenda.  The meeting is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m.

I.TRANSPORTATION CONSENT ITEMS

About Consent Items:

All items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine and non-controversial by COG staff and will be approved by one motion if no member of the Committee or public wishes to comment or ask questions.  If comment or discussion is desired by anyone, the item will be removed from the consent agenda and will be considered in the listed sequence with an opportunity for any member of the public to address the Committee concerning the item before action is taken.

A.
Executive Minutes of June 15, 2012 [APPROVE]
B.
FY 2012-13 Transportation Development Act (TDA) [Fawcett][APPROVE]

Summary: At the time of the mailing of this meeting package, there was no transportation funding claims submitted.

Action: This is an information/action item. Direction may be given at the discretion of the Committee.

C.
Fresno COG FY 2011-12 Monthly (May) Progress Report [Beshears] [ACCEPT]

Summary:  Included in your agenda packet is the FY 2011-12 May Progress Report which is a summary of funds expended and work completed in each work element during the month of May 2012. Due to requests from Caltrans we are now submitting a monthly report. The report to the Committee consists of continuous reporting on progress throughout the fiscal year (July 2011-June 2012).

Action:  Staff recommends acceptance of the FY 2011-12 Progress Report as presented.

D.
E: 76 Request Submittal Deadline [Garza] [INFORMATION]

Summary:  the federal fiscal year ends Sept 30, 2012.  While most agencies have already submitted the majority of their Requests For Authorization (RFA) for federal funds (E-76 requests), some are still pending.  Please send these remaining RFAs to Caltrans as soon as possible. The deadline to receive these in the District so that Caltrans can forward on to Sacramento for processing is COB Friday, August 3, 2012.

 After that date,  Caltrans will continue to review and process late requests but the likelihood of having your E-76 authorized this federal fiscal year will be greatly diminished due to the lead time needed to process the request, the volume of projects already in the queue, and the availability of funds statewide.

Special Funding Sources and Transfer Programs

Any remaining requests for funds from the Discretionary Programs (e.g.,Public Lands Hwys, Scenic Byways, TCSP, etc.)  need to be sent to Caltrans office IMMEDIATELY in order to process this year.  Likewise,  requests for FTA transfers will need to be received by Caltrans office no later that Friday July 20, 2012 to facilitate a transfer this fiscal year. Please contact Melissa Garza or Lindsey Monge if you have questions. 

Action: Information.  Direction may be given at the discretion of the Committee.  

E.
Fresno COG's Environmental Justice Task Force Representatives [Veenendaal] [INFORMATION]

Exhibits:

Summary: Fresno COG is seeking interested parties who represent the Environmental Justice Communities defined in our current EJ Plan, to sit on the EJ Task Force. Those communities include those with low incomes, minorities, seniors and the disabled, representing public, private or non-profit sectors. No experience or understanding of transportation plans is required.

The EJ Task Force will meet as needed on a monthly basis from August 2012 to October 2013 to serve in an advisory capacity as the Fresno Council of Governments updates the following plans:

 1. Regional Transportation Plan, which includes the Sustainable Communities Strategy

A seat for one EJ Task Force member will also be available on the Regional Transportation Plan Roundtable

2. Environmental Justice Plan

3. Regional Housing Needs Assessment

Once these plans are completed, the EJ Task Force and Fresno COG will assess how often the group should continue to meet. However, it will always be on an “as needed” basis.

If you or anyone you know is interested in joining the Environmental Justice Task Force, or would like more information, please contact Fresno COG Senior Regional Planner Brenda Veenendaal by calling (559) 233-4149 ext. 219 or email her at brendav@fresnocog.org.

A full description of the roles and responsibilities projected for Fresno COG’s Environmental Justice Task Force is enclosed in your package.

Action:  This is an information/action item. Direction may be given at the discretion of the Committee.

F.
Greenprint Update [Thompson] [INFORMATION]

Summary:  The month of July promises to be an important time for the Greenprint project.  Staff anticipates that the contract with UC Davis, the project consultant, will be fully executed by the early part of the month.  This will then allow for the announcement during the month of the availability of the Greenprint survey.  The survey, an important early task of the project, will be widely distributed throughout the San Joaquin Valley.  The purpose of the survey is to determine the aspirations, challenges, opportunities, and priorities of stakeholders for the open space lands, water and living resources in the Valley.  The results of the survey will also help determine the information to be gathered and the maps compiled so that the Greenprint project can be as informative and useful to our cities and counties as possible.  This first phase of the Greenprint project is largely a data collection and mapping activity and will culminate in the publishing and dissemination of a State of the Valley report.  The second phase of the project, for which funding has been approved by the Strategic Growth Council, will then identify consensus strategies for resource management and will similarly culminate in the publishing and dissemination of a guide for resource management.  

Action:  Information item.  Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Committee. 

G.
Prop. 84 / Blueprint Award - Call for Nominations [Terry] [INFORMATION]

Summary: To further encourage quality in planning and development while increasing the public’s awareness of the San Joaquin Valley Blueprint, Fresno COG, on behalf of the Regional Policy Council, is pleased to announce the Call for Nominations for the 2012 San Joaquin Valley Blueprint Awards, which was released on July 6, 2012.  Nomination applications are due no later than August 24, 2012 at Noon.  A judging panel comprised of representatives from government, private and public institutions will be formed, with the announcement of award recipients expected September 21, 2012.  An awards ceremony will be held at the San Joaquin Valley Regional Policy Council Fall Policy Conference on October 12, 2012, at the Tachi Casino and Resort located in Lemoore, CA.  For any questions, please contact Rob Terry at (559) 233-4148 Ext. 22 or via email at rterry@fresnocog.org.

Action:  Information item.  Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Committee.  

H.
SB 375 / Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) Monthly Update [Cai] [INFORMATION]

Summary: The Fresno County SB 375 Task Force is at the tail end of 2012 target-setting for greenhouse gas emission reduction, which will be used in the upcoming 2013/2014 RTP/SCS. On July 25, Fresno COG staff and the consultants will be presenting the final results of scenario modeling. The Task Force will be making a recommendation on the greenhouse gas emission reduction targets for the Fresno region at the July 25th meeting. The recommendation will then be presented to TTC/PAC and the Policy Board for approval in September. Member agencies and stakeholders are encouraged to attend the July 25th Task Force meeting.      

The SCS process will kick-off in August along the RTP process.

Action: Information item.  Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Committee.   

I.
FY 2011 Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) Amendment Update [Garza/Monge] [INFORMATION]

Summary: The update to the 2011 FTIP included changes to project descriptions, open to traffic dates, grouped projects, funding and phase changes.  An update to the RTP and a corresponding conformity analysis was required.  The final document was adopted by the Fresno COG Policy Board on July 29, 2010 and received Caltrans approval on November 12, 2010 and FHWA approval on December 14, 2010.

Administrative Amendment No. 10 (Administrative Modification):  Amendment 10 included funding changes to projects of less than 40% of the total project cost and changes to the Regional Transportation Improvement Program back-up listing.  This amendment was approved by the Executive Director of the Fresno Council of Governments (FCOG) as authorized by the Policy Board on March 20, 2012 and by Caltrans on March 21, 2012.

Formal Amendment No. 11 (Type 3): Amendment 11 included projects whose cost changes were greater than 40% of the total project cost or more than $10 million, new projects, changes to the group listing and updates to the financial summary tables.  A 7-day public review and interagency consultation period was conducted and completed on April 24, 2012 at 4:30 pm.  One comment was received from the City of Fresno.  This amendment was approved by the Executive Director of the Fresno Council of Governments (FCOG) as authorized by the Policy Board on April 25, 2012, by Caltrans on May 1, 2012 and by FHWA on May 30, 2012.

Administrative Amendment No. 12 (Administrative Modification):  Amendment 12 included funding changes to projects of less than 40% of the total project cost and changes to the group listing.  This amendment was approved by the Executive Director of the Fresno Council of Governments (FCOG) as authorized by the Policy Board on May 16, 2012.

Administrative Amendment No. 13 (Administrative Modification):  Amendment 13 included funding changes to projects of less than 40% of the total project cost and changes to the group listing.  This amendment was approved by the Executive Director of the Fresno Council of Governments (FCOG) as authorized by the Policy Board on June 6, 2012.

Administrative Amendment No. 14 (Administrative Modification):  Amendment 13 included changes to one City of Clovis project that was left out of Amendment No. 13.  This amendment was approved by the Executive Director of the Fresno Council of Governments (FCOG) as authorized by the Policy Board on June 8, 2012.

Action:  Information item.  Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Committee.

J.
Grant Writing Workshop [Monge] [INFORMATION]

Summary: Fresno COG is hosting a two-day grant writing workshop on July 23-24, 2012.  The workshop will be presented by Grant Writing USA and is open to grant seekers across all disciplines.  Tuition is $425 and includes a course workbook and accompanying resource CD.

 Participants will learn how to find grants and write winning grant proposals.  More information and online registration is available at http://grantstraining.com/fresno.  If you have any questions please contact Lindsey Monge at 559-233-4148 ext. 205 or by email at lmonge@fresnocog.org.

Action:  Information item.  Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Committee.

K.
Grant/Call for Project Reminders [INFORMATION]

1.  HSIP and HRRR Call for Projects-The Highway Safety Improvement Program and the High Risk Rural Roads program 2012 Call for Projects is coming up.  The total available federal funding is expected to be between $100-150 million and applications are expected to be due in July 2012.  This is the largest call for projects that Caltrans has made available for Safety Programs and is encouraging all local agencies to apply.  Please visit the Caltrans website to ensure that your current Safety projects are on track with meeting all required milestones. Any agency that has a project flagged for not meeting the required delivery milestones will be ineligible to apply for this call.  See enclosure for more information.

Action: Information item. Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Committee.

II.TRANSPORTATION ACTION / DISCUSSION ITEMS

A.
Adoption of 2013 Federal Transportation Improvement Program, 2011 Regional Transportation Plan Amendment No. 2 and Corresponding Conformity Analysis [Monge] [APPROVE]

Summary: The Fresno Council of Governments is adopting the 2013 Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP), Amendment No. 2 to the 2011 Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and the Corresponding Conformity Analysis. The 2011 FTIP must be adopted and submitted to Caltrans by October 1, 2012 to be included in the overall state programming document. Per the 2012 approved Fresno COG Public Participation Plan, a 30 day public comment period was conducted, ending July 2, 2012, and a public hearing was held on June 28, 2012. Information relating to comments received can be found in the Response to Comments section in the final document.

2013 FTIP:  The FTIP is the incremental implementation of the long-range Regional Transportation Plan and includes programming for fiscal years 2012/13 through 2015/16.  The 2013 FTIP is available on the Fresno COG website (www.fresnocog.org); hard copies are also available upon request.  Please contact staff if you have any questions or concerns.

2011 RTP Amendment No 2: The 2011 RTP represents the long range planning vision for Fresno County’s regional transportation system through the year 2035.  The RTP is a long-term strategy to meet Fresno County’s transportation needs out to the year 2035.  The amendment clarifies project information that was changed by the FTIP update as well as the addition of a Fresno City project, Downtown Fulton Mall Complete Street Connectivity, to the RTP.  A copy of the amendment is included in your package.

Corresponding Conformity Analysis:  The Conformity Analysis contains the documentation to support a finding that the 2013 FTIP and 2011 RTP Amendment No. 2 meet the air quality conformity requirements for carbon monoxide, ozone and particulate matter.

Action:  Staff recommends the approval of Resolution 2012-25 adopting the 2013 Federal Transportation Improvement Program, Amendment No. 2 to the Regional Transportation Plan, and the Corresponding Conformity Analysis.

B.
Transportation Enhancement Funds [Garza] [APPROVE]

Summary:  The City of Selma was awarded Transportation Enhancement (TE) funds for their Class I Bikeway, Selma Branch Canal between Floral Ave. and Stillman St project; however, the City is currently facing issues relating to scope, limits, and matching funds as well as anticipating right of way delays due to having to purchase land that will exceed the funding available. They anticipate delays in all three phases of project delivery, PE, ROW, and CON and want to avoid losing funds due to these uncertain but expected delays.  Because these are federal dollars, the City of Selma believes that these funds should be put to use as soon as possible within the Fresno County region.  The City of Selma has advised Fresno COG staff that they intend to relinquish the associated TE funding. This makes $678,000 in TE funds available that can be placed on another project in lieu of toll credits to assist with region-wide project delivery.

The current toll credit policy for TE projects only allows the programming of toll credits on projects that have a total project cost greater than $1 million.  Though there are several TE projects programmed in the FTIP, only the City of Clovis has a project that qualifies under this criteria.   The Trail Head Improvement is a TE project with a total project cost of $1,932,300 and is on schedule to be delivered within the available STIP TE programmed shares for Fresno COG. The City of Selma agrees to allow the reprogramming of their funds to assist with the delivery of the Trail Head Improvement project with the understanding that should the city acquire resources to deliver the Floral/Stillman project in the future, COG staff would support a request to reinstate the project subject to the availability of STIP TE funding, similar to the way the Kingsburg Depot project was recently reinstated.

Due to limited STIP capacity it was determined that a call for additional TE projects would not be made until the existing awarded TE projects are delivered. 

TE projects must be pre-screened by the Caltrans TE coordinator and must involve the California Conservation Corps as well as received the fund allocations by the California Transportation Commission before an authorization is granted. The Trail Head Improvement project is the sole project that currently meets these requirements, meets the toll credit programming requirement and is ready for delivery.  It is important that our region continue to deliver the TE Program to the best of our ability to avoid future loss of funds.  We continue to struggle in the area of delivering TE projects, and allowing the City of Clovis to receive the funding will improve the success rate of TE program delivery.    

Action:  Staff recommends that the TTC/PAC recommend authorizing $678,000 in TE funding to be transferred from the City of Selma’s Branch Canal Class I Bikeway project to the City of Clovis’ Trail Head Improvement project.

C.
Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) Update

 

1.  RTP Roundtable Membership [Steck] [APPROVE]

Summary: The purpose of the RTP Roundtable is to support the Fresno COG staff and COG standing committees in their development and preparation of the 2014 Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy.  It is therefore vital to the success of the process that the RTP Roundtable consider issues that support development of the 2014 RTP/SCS and provide comments and community-based consensus that support the final decision on the RTP by the Fresno Council of Governments’ Policy Board. Staff has proposed 35 seats on the Roundtable – 16 seats that allow for one staff person from each member agency; 16 seats open to a variety of interest groups and 3 “at large” seats. In June, the Board approved the “membership categories” from which torecruit.  Applications were due to COG by July 6th.  Staff will make nominations from amongst those applicants and will present them at the meeting.  All RTP Roundtable meetings will be open to the public.

Action:  Staff recommends approval of the RTP Roundtable membership nominations.

2.   RTP Kick-off Seminar “Promising Practices for Integrating Social Equity and Health into Regional Planning" – held June 18, 2012  [Veenendaal]  [INFORMATION]

SummaryFresno COG hosted a seminar on June 18th as a kick-off for the Regional Transportation Plan development process entitled Promising Practices for Integrating Social Equity and Health into Regional Planning. Jonathan London, from the UC Davis Center for Regional Change presented a free, interactive seminar that introduced participants to a range of methods for integrating social equity issues and values into regional planning on issues such as transportation, land use, housing, environmental protection, public health, and youth development. The goal of the seminar was for participants to gain new understanding of how they might use promising practices on social equity on their own work in the San Joaquin Valley, including the development of regional Sustainable Communities Strategies. 

The seminar was held at Fresno COG, with 81 people registered to attend in person, and 17 webinar locations registered for online attendance. COG staff will present the seminar accomplishments, findings and follow ups at the June 13th meeting.

Action: Information item.  Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Committee.

3.   Fresno COG RTP Public Outreach Plan  [Veenendaal]  [INFORMATION]

Summary: Fresno COG staff is beginning development of a formal public outreach strategy for development of their RTP Public Outreach Plan. Staff is soliciting input on the types of public outreach strategies that should be included in the plan, as well as contact information for agencies, organizations and individuals that need to be involved in the RTP development process.

Outreach strategies staff is discussing include the following:

  • RTP Outreach Plan- an outline of the tasks, roles, responsibilities and key decision points for consultation and coordination of all outreach activities.
  • Partnership with Valleywide SCS Outreach Strategies
  • Surveys:  Scientific and Community surveys will be conducted. The RFP for a scientific survey will be released Monday, July 9, 2012 and will be available on the Fresno COG website on that date.
  • Community-based outreach mini-grants
  • Stakeholder focus groups
  • E-newsletters
  • Social networking
  • Website communications
  • Attending already scheduled community/organization meetings

A detailed list of these strategies and their descriptions is included in your packet. Please submit additional public outreach ideas in writing, if possible. 

Action: Information item.  Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Committee.

D.
RTP/SCS EIR Consultant Selection [Terry] [APPROVE]

Summary: In accordance with Federal law and State regulations, Fresno COG has recently begun the process of updating its Regional Transportation Plan (RTP), which covers the geographical area of Fresno County.  Senate Bill 375 (SB 375) now requires that each RTP include a Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS), which aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the demonstration of land-use and transportation measures that will be utilized within the plan.  As with RTPs developed in the past, this level of plan requires a thorough California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Environmental Impact Report (EIR) analysis be performed.  With the newly required addition of the SCS to the RTP, it is crucial that the EIR consultant team be of the highest caliber; aware of the background, history and challenges of the RTP and SCS processes.  As such, Fresno COG released a Request for Proposals (RFP) on May 18, 2012, soliciting consultation services relating to the required program-level EIR process, with a maximum budget amount of $250,000.  Submittal deadline for such proposals was June 21, 2012; five proposals were received (list attached).  A selection review committee was formed to assist in the review of all five proposals which included a representative from Caltrans District 6, an East and West side city representative, several project managers from Fresno COG and an at-large participant.  At the time of this agenda, the committee has yet to complete its review process, which includes consultant interviews tentatively scheduled for July 12, 2012.  As a result, staff will present the committee’s recommended firm for consideration by the TTC/PAC at the July meeting.

Action: Staff recommends that TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve the selected consultant to prepare the RTP/SCS EIR, permitting Fresno COG to enter into a contract with the selected consultant for an amount not to exceed $250,000, with a contract period through December 2014.

E.
Initiate 30 Day Review and Comment Period for FY 2012-13 update to the Regional Transportation Program component of Measure ā€œCā€ Expenditure Program [Beshears][REVIEW]

Summary: The FY 2012-13 update to the Regional Transportation Program component of Measure “C” Expenditure Program has been drafted by Fresno COG staff in consultation with Fresno County Transportation Authority staff.  Upon staff completion, the update was reviewed and approved by COG’s  Measure “C” Regional Program  subcommittee and is now ready to be released to the general public for the required 30 day review and comment period. The current schedule provides for Plan adoption by the Fresno COG Policy Board on September 27, 2012 and the Fresno County Transportation Authority Policy Board on October 10, 2012. 

The catalyst for this update is the need to provide a deliverable schedule of transportation projects to the California Transportation Commission’s State and Local Partnership Program (SLPP) as soon as possible due to looming deadlines.  As part of the update, adjustments have been made to the Plan to reflect higher sales tax revenues from a revised estimate by the Authority’s financial advisor, Montague-DeRose.  Adjustments are also made to bring State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) revenue into accord with the adopted 2012 STIP and other state and local revenues; including a recommendation from Caltrans to incorporate $9 million for design and support for the SR 269 Bridge project in the SHOPP, contingent upon our Measure C program being able to advance funding for ROW capital and construction. In total, the net revenue increases add $74.77 mil. to the Plan.  In conjunction with the increased revenue projections, a variety of project cost savings resulted in a total net decrease in project costs of $14.41 mil.  In total, the combination of the two (revenue increases/cost savings) results in an additional $89.18 million becoming available for the Measure “C program. 

With regards to how the program savings should be allocated, staff consulted with our member agencies to determine if advancement of various projects were feasible, and also took into account the results of recent engineering studies completed on Veterans Blvd. and Golden State Blvd.  In the end, this process resulted in development of a Plan where a number of advancements were made to various project implementation schedules at the request of Caltrans, City of Fresno, and the City of Clovis. The results were as follows:

In the Measure “C” Urban program, Right Of Way (ROW) acquisition for Veterans Blvd. is being advanced four years to 2012/13 and the construction funding for the interchange is being advanced two years to FY 2019/20.

In the Measure “C” Rural program, the design funding for Golden State Blvd. is being advanced two years to 2013/14.  It is also recommended that $15 million in prior Measure “C” funds be used to advance the ROW and fifty percent of the construction cost for the SR 269 Bridge, with construction now occurring in 2016/17.  

ActionInitiate the 30 day review and comment period for the FY 2012/13 Measure “C” Regional Transportation Program update.

F.
High Speed Rail Update [Boren] [INFORMATION]

Summary: Staff will give a verbal update at the meeting.

Action:  Information item. Direction may be provided at the discretion of the Committee.

III.OTHER BUSINESS

A.
Items from Staff

1.
August Meeting Schedule

Transportation Technical Committee - August 10, 2012 - 8:30 am

Policy Advisory Committee - August 10, 2012 - 10 am

Fresno COG Policy Board and Fresno County Rural Transit Agency - August 23, 2012 at 5:30 pm

B.
Items from Members

IV.PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS

This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the TTC on items within its jurisdiction but not on this agenda.  Note:  Prior to action by the TTC on any item on this agenda, the public may comment on that item.  Unscheduled comments may be limited to 3 minutes.

PRESENTATIONS

Presentations

The TTC and the PAC will meet as a joint Committee to consider scheduled public presentations brought before the Committees.  This portion of the meeting is scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m.

1.
Caltrans Report [CALTRANS] AT 10 AM PRIOR TO PAC MEETING

Summary:  Caltrans staff will present a verbal update.  A copy of the Quarterly Report is included in the meeting package.

Action: This is an information item.  Direction may be given at the discretion of the Committees.