Mercer County
Transportation Planning
Mercer County Metropolitan
Planning Organization (MPO)
2002 Meeting
Minutes
SHENANGO VALLEY METROPOLITAN
PLANNING ORGANIZATION COORDINATING/TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
Wednesday, January 23, 2002 – 9:00 A.M. - MCRPC Offices
Continuation Monday, February 4, 2002 1:00 P.M. – MCRPC Offices
Hermitage, PA
PERSONS PRESENT
|
Daniel Gracenin MCRPC |
Bruce Bennett Grove City
Borough |
|
Dean Collins PennDOT
District 1-0 |
Gary Hinkson City of
Hermitage |
|
Mariah Hanson PennDOT
District 1-0 |
Scott K. Young PA DOT
Mercer County Mgr. |
|
Erin Wiley PennDOT District
1-0 |
David Ryan City of Sharon |
|
Jim DeCapua MCRCOG |
Jeffrey Gurtner West
Middlesex Borough |
|
Kevin McCullough PennDOT
Program Center |
Al Jones West Middlesex
Schools |
|
Mark Miller Mercer County |
Mike Wilson Sharpsville
Borough |
|
Marcia Hirschmann City of
Hermitage |
Richard Houpt Greenville
Borough |
|
Bill Morocco City of
Farrell |
Michael Nashtock South
Pymatuning Township |
|
Thomas Paxton Pine Township |
Denise Anthony Senator
Robbins Office |
|
Barbara L. Conroy
Springfield Township |
Jim Morton Wolf Creek
Township |
|
Fred Ware Wilmington
Township |
Karl Ishman PennDOT
District 1-0 |
|
William F. William Shenango
Township |
Bob Price City of Sharon |
|
Bill Jones MCRCOG |
Denny Puko MCRPC |
|
Gene Smith S.T.C. |
Tom Stanton Wheatland
Borough |
|
Olivia M. Lazor Mercer
County Commissioner |
William Petit PennDOT
District 1-0 |
|
Gene Brenneman Mercer
County Commissioner |
Charles Fennel West
Middlesex Borough |
|
Charles Gilliland Shenango
Township |
Terry Farren Grove City
Borough |
|
Ron Faull Liberty Township |
Paris Weiland Grove City
Borough |
|
David George West Middlesex
Borough |
|
1. CALL
TO ORDER
Mr. Price called the meeting to
order at 9:13 A.M.
2. APPROVAL
OF ACTIONS TAKEN AT DECEMBER 20, 2001 MEETING WITHOUT QUORUM AND APPROVAL OF
MINUTES OF MEETING DECEMBER 20, 2001
Mr. Price asked to approve the
actions taken at the December meeting, which a quorum was not present and
asked for any additions, deletions, or corrections to the Minutes of the
December 20, 2001 meeting. There being no corrections, Mr. Price asked for a
motion to approve. Ms. Lazor so moved, Ms. Conroy seconded, and the motion
passed.
3. APPOINTMENT
OF A CHAIRMAN & A VICE-CHAIRMAN FOR 2002
Mr. Price stated that the first
meeting of each year is when elections are held. Mr. Price then opened the
floor for nominations for the position of Chairman. Mr. Morocco nominated Mr.
DeCapua as Chairman. Mr. DeCapua stated that he would prefer to stay as
Vice-Chairman of the MPO Committee. Mr. Price nominated Marcia Hirschmann as
Chairman. There being no further nominations, Mr. Price so moved, Mr. Morocco
seconded, and the motion passed. Ms. Lazor nominated Jim DeCapua as
Vice-Chairman. There being no further nominations, Ms. Lazor so moved, Mr.
Brenneman seconded, and the motion passed with Marcia Hirschmann as Chairman
and Jim DeCapua as Vice-Chairman for 2002.
4. AMENDMENTS/MODIFICATION
TO THE TRANSIT TIP (COG)
Mr. Gracenin stated that Bill
Jones has an amendment/modification for the transit portion of the TIP, which
was distributed to those in attendance. Mr. Jones stated that there is only
one change to the current fiscal year 2001. He stated that COG just replaced
six transit and trolley buses and they went over budget by $76,149. He stated
that by doing this budget change and applying $60,000 more in Federal funds
would help them draw down more in bond funding, which this project has to be
funded at 80%. He stated that this amendment is necessary in order to be
eligible for their funding. He also stated that there have not been any other
revisions to the transit portion of the TIP. Mr. Price asked if there were any
questions. There being none, Mr. Price asked for a motion to approve. Ms.
Conroy so moved, Mr. George seconded, and the motion passed.
Mr. McCullough asked Mr. Price if
he could make a couple highway amendments: 1) increase St. Glory Road railroad
crossing by $16,000 in Federal funds; 2) Hermitage Road project, Section A01
& A02. The A01 section had cost over runs and they used some of the low
bid savings on the A02 section to cover those costs. Mr. Price asked if there
were any questions. Someone questioned what they contributed the increase in
cost? He explained that there was never enough money in the first project and
the second project had too much money, and they are just balancing things out.
There being no further questions, Mr. Price asked for a motion to approve. Ms.
Conroy so move, Mr. George seconded, and the motion passed.
5. 2003-2006
DRAFT TIP ADOPTION (PaDOT & MCRPC)
Mr. Gracenin stated that at the
December meeting there was a major discussion on the Draft TIP. He noted that
MCRPC’s fair share of allocation was approximately $74 Million. After
Messrs. Puko and Gracenin reviewed the list with PennDOT officials in
Harrisburg, it was noted that Mercer County’s projects were reduced to $94
Million from $108 Million. He explained that the Committee would need to make
a decision on what the MPO is going to do with the TIP. Should the project
list be cut further to get it closer to our fair share, or should we adopt
what had been presented. He also stated that there would be some spike
funding, which is a pool of money available across the State for areas that
have projects that are larger and would be applied to their fair share
allocation. Mercer County could receive $5,000-$8,000 Million extra.
Mr. McCullough stated that he
could not promise any type of spike funding across the State due to Federal
cuts. He noted that the budget numbers would be announced next week and
unfortunately there would be a reduction in the amount of funding available.
Statewide there would be a $250 Million cut to the Transportation funding. He
stated that there was $300 Million available Statewide for spike funding, but
due to the Federal cuts, they could eliminate the spike funding and apply this
money to the transportation fund. He suggested that everyone should try to
stay as close to his or her fair share as much as possible. Mr. Morocco
discussed various economic issues and the uncertainty of the spike funding.
Mr. DeCapua stated that we should keep our project list at $94 Million, but
should prioritize our list just in case of cuts. There was concern that the
bridge projects should not be moved off the list. Mr. Miller stated that after
the last meeting, he prioritized the local bridge projects, in order to get to
fair share. He stated that there is over $6 Million in local bridges during
the four-year period. Mr. Gracenin went to have more copies made of the bridge
list for discussion. Commissioner Brenneman asked Mr. Miller what changes had
been reflected in the local bridges, which is self evident from the list.
Discussion continued and it was felt that priority should be placed on
projects, which is a tough thing to do. When doing this, everyone should look
at the County as a whole and not a particular area.
Mr. Puko stated that we review
our project list and look at each line item and make a decision on what can
and cannot be further adjusted. He repeated that the District Office is saying
that the State bridge category items are hard to make any further adjustments
to and the County bridge category items could be subject to some adjustments.
It was suggested that possibly the voting members of the MPO rank the project
list and go from there. Discussion continued on the various line items. It was
stated that we stick as close as possible to the guidelines and
recommendations and be careful with the safety and maintenance items. It was
decided that we would not prioritize or include bridges when ranking projects.
Mr. Price made a motion that Denny Puko and his staff put together a ballot
containing project information with background information, reason for project
and cost (and to keep in mind safety first and economic development second),
mail to the voting members of the MPO so that a list of priorities for Mercer
County could be mailed to the District by February 8th.
RECESS
Mr. Price noted that this meeting
would recess and reconvene on Monday, February 4th at 1:00 P.M.
CONTINATUION MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4,
2002 - 1:00 P.M. – MCRPC OFFICES
PERSONS PRESENT
|
Daniel Gracenin MCRPC |
|
David O. Ryan City of
Sharon |
|
Ken Robertson Sharpsville
Borough |
|
Charles & Bev Fennell
West Middlesex Borough |
|
Terry Farren Grove City
Borough |
|
Robert T. Price City of
Sharon |
|
Tom Paxton Pine Township |
|
Ron Full Liberty Township |
|
Mike Nashtock South
Pymatuning Township |
|
Chuck Gilliland Shenango
Township |
|
Ken Weaver Greenville
Borough |
|
Richard Houpt Greenville
Borough |
|
Elliott Lengel Findley
Township |
|
Fred Ware Wilmington
Township |
|
Karl Ishman PennDOT
District 1-0 |
|
Dean Collins PennDOT
District 1-0 |
|
Denny Puko MCRPC |
|
Marcia Hirschmann City of
Hermitage |
|
James A. DeCapua MCRCOG |
|
Mark Miller Mercer County |
|
Bill Jones MCRCOG |
|
Olivia M. Lazor Mercer
County Commissioner |
|
Barb Conroy Springfield
Township |
|
William F. William
Shenango Township |
|
David George West
Middlesex Borough |
|
Mariah Hanson PennDOT
District 1-0 |
|
Erin Wiley PennDOT
District 1-0 |
|
Scott K. Young PA DOT
Mercer County Mgr. |
RECONVENED MEETING
Marcia Hirschmann, Chairman
called the reconvened meeting to order at 1:00 P.M.
5. CONTINUATION
OF 2003-2006 DRAFT TIP ADOPTION
Ms. Hirschmann stated that at the
January 23rd meeting the draft TIP was discussed at great length.
The meeting concluded with a motion to submit project priority rankings from
voting members to MCRPC who would tally the results because PennDOT had asked
for a list of priorities for the various projects that need to be on or
adjusted on the TIP. Mr. Gracenin explained that a decision should be made on
the draft TIP today. He stated again that Mercer County’s project list
totals $94 Million, with Mercer County’s fair share of allocation at
approximately $74 Million. A packet containing a list of 12 highway-type
projects were delivered to all voting members, which we asked them to
prioritize. He noted that twenty-one responses were received. The results were
distributed to all in attendance. He asked those in attendance to review the
list for discussion, so a decision can be made on our draft TIP. Ms.
Hirschmann asked for any discussion or to entertain a motion for action on the
draft TIP.
Mr. Puko stated as a follow-up
from the last meeting and including the priority ranking, that the MPO
Committee wished to submit the $94 Million draft TIP proposal and submit with
it the priority ranking that all other factors being equal would be used by
the Department to further consider the development of the Mercer County MPO,
TIP. He stated that understanding that, there are other factors that would be
likely considered by the Department such as project deliverability in the next
four years. He also stated that after the response comes back from the
Department, further deliberations would take place and a final action would be
needed from the MPO Committee. There being no further discussion, Ms. Lazor so
moved the follow-up statement by Mr. Puko, Mr. Stanton seconded, the motion
passed with Karl Ishman opposed. Mr. Morocco questioned the system used when
ranking the 12 highway-type projects. Ms. Conroy also felt that local funding
could be lost due to delays on PA 208.
6. 2002-2003
UPWP SPECIAL STUDY DISCUSSION/ADOPTION
Mr. Gracenin explained the UPWP
(Unified Planning Work Program) Special Study, which is a function that needs
to be taken annually and to be adopted. The Federal government and State
distribute funds annually in order to develop a work program that is run from
July 1st thru June 30th. Mr. Gracenin explained the UPWP
in some detail. Overall, the entire budget is $130,889. There being no further
discussion, Mr. Gracenin asked for a motion to approve. Ms. Conroy so moved,
Mr. Lengel seconded, and the motion passed.
Mr. Gracenin noted that there is
a second section to this, which is Special Studies. He explained that the
State makes available extra monies to conduct work above and beyond their
Federal allocation. A few possible Special Studies projects: 1) Broadway Study
- Hermitage City along Swamp Road – safety concerns (study potential turn
lanes, traffic lights, etc.); 2) Trinity site – Greenville Borough (study
roadway/improved access); 3) U.S. 62/19 – Mercer Borough (looking at
intersections, traffic lights, turning bays, etc.); and 4) I-80 (new access
point off of I-80 coming into the Valley). These projects are funded at 80%,
with a 20% local match. The Broadway Study in Hermitage would range around
$15,000-$20,000 total with a $3,000-$4,000 local match. The other projects
have not identified a dollar amount. Ms. Lazor felt that the U.S. 62/19
turning bay would be an issue that should not be ignored. Mr. DeCapua felt
that the Trinity site improved access area should be considered. Mr. Gracenin
asked for a motion to submit 1 to 4 projects listed above after discussions
between MCRPC, the MPO Chairman and the Department to keep this open-ended,
and that he would speak to the Department to find out more information/costs
on the various projects. The UPWP could be amended. Ms. Conroy so moved, Mr.
Lengel seconded, and the motion passed. Mr. Lengel had some concern of maybe
doing a land use study in the I-79/Route 58 area.
7. OTHER
BUSINESS
Mr. Gracenin noted that the
Bylaws should be updated. He asked those who sit on this Committee, to please
stick around after the meeting and try to set up a Bylaws meeting.
8. ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business
to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.
Respectfully Submitted,
Daniel M. Gracenin, MPO
Secretary
Mercer
County Regional Planning Commission
2491 Highland Road, Hermitage, PA 16148
mail@mcrpc.com www.mcrpc.com
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