Mercer County Transportation Planning

Mercer County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO)

2002 Meeting Minutes

SHENANGO VALLEY METROPOLITAN
PLANNING ORGANIZATION COORDINATING/TECHNICAL COMMITTEE
Wednesday, April 3, 2002 – 10:30 A.M. - MCRPC Offices, Hermitage, PA

PERSONS PRESENT

Marcia Hirschmann Hermitage City

Daniel Gracenin MCRPC

Elliott Lengel Findley Township

Richard Houpt Greenville Borough

Fred Ware Wilmington Township

Barb Brown Springfield Township

Jim Morton Wolf Creek Township

Kristen Robinson Shenango Township

Tom Paxton Pine Township

Mike Nashtock South Pymatuning Township

Mark Miller Mercer County

Bill Morocco Farrell City

Dave Ryan Sharon City

Ken Robertson Sharpsville Borough

Mike Wilson Sharpsville Borough

Karl Ishman PennDOT

Tom Stanton Wheatland Borough

Tom Kotay PennDOT

Kevin McCullough PennDOT

Denny Puko MCRPC

Chuck Gilliland Shenango Township

Gene Smith State Transportation Commission

Stephen Theiss Mercer County Trails Association

Lisa Holm Winslow Engineering

Jack Thompson Grove City Borough

Howard F. Mitchell Shenango Township

Larry Robinson Shenango Township

Jeffrey Gurtner West Middlesex Borough

Richard G. Rea Shenango Township

Albert J. Jones West Middlesex Schools

Harmon Fennell West Middlesex Borough

Dick Stevenson State Representative

Mariah Hanson PennDOT

Erin Wiley PennDOT

Ken Pochatko PennDOT

 

1. CALL TO ORDER

Ms. Hirschmann called the meeting to order at 10:30 A.M.

 

2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF MEETING JANUARY 23, FEBRUARY 4, 2002

Mr. Hirschmann asked for any additions, deletions, or corrections to the Minutes of the January 23, February 4, 2002 meeting. There being none, Ms. Hirschmann asked for a motion to approve. Mr. Lengel so moved, Mr. Houpt seconded, and the motion passed.

 

3. APPROVAL OF 2003-2006 TIP RESPONSE FROM PaDOT

Ms. Hirschmann noted that everyone received with their meeting notice, a spreadsheet that gives PennDOT’s response to our action taken at the last MPO meeting. Mr. Gracenin explained that at our last meeting, we submitted a $94 Million TIP to PennDOT. After they reviewed it, PennDOT trimmed down the TIP to $79 Million and they are asking that we approve this TIP today in order for this process to move on to the next stage in order to perform air quality analysis on all of the projects and start some of the administrative things that need to be taken care in order to be formally adopted in July.

In discussion, there was concern as to what the surrounding areas are doing? Mr. Puko stated that he is not sure what the other MPO’s are doing, but noted that after looking at the proposed TIP, it is our belief that we are closer than most, especially if we could receive extra dollars in spike funding. Mr. Kotay explained spike funding noting that each area has a base allocation.

There was concern of why the Department did not select an engineer and initiate the planning and design for the PA 318/PA 60 interchange, despite having engineering funds programmed for 2002? The Department stated that they were not ready and the capacity is not there to start the engineering.

Ms. Hirschmann stated that the MPO Committee must approve a draft 2003-2006 TIP, but also draft a letter to the Department along with our action, noting our frustrations and concerns over the lack of progress in advancing locally initiated high priority highway projects. It should also state the lack of progress is most notably apparent in planning and design, as well as programming for construction. The MPO Committee could not overemphasize the importance of some of these projects and noted that most have serious safety concerns. Mr. Kotay thought this was a good idea, and noted that the MPO Committee might meet more often to see the status of individual projects to know if things are on time.

Mr. Wilson, Sharpsville Borough had some frustrations with projects moving slowly, particularly the Lamor Road/Pine Hollow project. It took 2 years to hire an engineer – why did it take so long? PennDOT stated that things are moving and they do not need to show on TIP.

Mr. Lengel made a motion to approve the draft 2003-2006 TIP with a letter to the Department noting our frustrations and concerns and to have the letter signed by all members, and not just the Chairman. He felt that the individual municipalities should also draft a letter to the Department to reinforce this. It was also noted that we should have monthly contact and to work as a group in order to get a better process. Mr. Morocco seconded. Following the motion, there were comments from various individuals. Mayor Ryan asked if the letters do anything? The Department stated that they read all letters and also reference them in future years. Mr. Puko stated that we must get projects ready. Ms. Brown commented that the process is broken and needs to be fixed. A question was asked if the Department is putting enough money in design? Mr. Ishman stated that in the short term, yes, but a few years down the road, there might not be enough money in design. Ms. Hirschmann stated that there was a motion on the table and a second. The motion passed with a representative from West Middlesex voting no.

 

4. TRANSPORTATION ENHANCEMENT FUNDING ALLOCATION

Mr. Gracenin explained that the Transportation Enhancement is a funding allocation that allows an area to receive dollars that are not highway related, such as trails, bicycle/pedestrian type facilities, preserve historic transportation related buildings, removal of billboards in scenic areas, etc. He stated that this year we have $390,000 available to split up between two projects, which were submitted for the County.

The first project is sponsored by the Shenango Valley communities (Sharon, Farrell, Hermitage, Sharpsville and Wheatland) to build a roadway type system for bicycle/pedestrian along the north/south and east/west corridor in the Shenango Valley. Proposed under this project would include signage, lane markings painted on the roadways, and sidewalks where none exist. The cost for the total project is $414,750. What they are requesting out of our funding pool is $327,750, which would be the construction cost. He noted that all of the engineering and the preliminary work up to construction would need to be paid for by the locals communities, which would be the 20% match that the Federal government requires.

The second project is sponsored by the Mercer County Trails Association, the Trout Island Trail, which runs along an abandoned railroad grade starting at the Dam and running out in two phases and stopping somewhere along Trout Island. The cost for the total project is $283,000 and they are requesting $180,000. The rest of the money would be received from a local match or a DCNR grant, which is pending. Mr. Stephen Theiss of the Mercer County Trails Association explained the project in detail and noted that Winslow Engineering did the preliminary engineering on this project.

Mr. Gracenin noted that we are over budget on the amount for the two projects. He stated that there is also a discretionary pot of dollars available and we could put a letter together and submit it to the Secretary and request the additional funding in order to get both projects completed.

Ms. Hirschmann stated that she felt that the Trout Island Trail project, by its nature, should be built all at once. The Shenango Valley project is quite a bit more flexible in that it could be done in parts. She felt that we should fully fund the Trout Island Trail at $180,000 and allocate the remainder, $210,000, to the Shenango Valley project with the provision that if any money comes back from other projects that would not be moving forward, that those would also go to the Shenango Valley project and to perhaps apply for the discretionary funding to make up the difference. Ms. Brown made a motion to approve funding the Trout Island Trail fully at $180,000 and give the remainder $210,000 to the Shenango Valley project. Should any project fall through and not move forward, than those funds should also go to the Shenango Valley project and also apply for the discretionary funding, just in case we need to make up the difference. Mr. Stanton seconded, and the motion passed.

 

5. BYLAWS COMMITTEE REPORT

Mr. Gracenin explained that since the MPO Committee has been growing, a Bylaws Committee was created. They held their first meeting last month and the main issue was membership. Should they keep the membership as is, do some kind of membership to get Countywide participation based upon population, or perhaps breaking the County into regions and have a rotating type vote between communities in those regions. Also, they discussed on how to get people off of the MPO Committee, since they rarely participate. He noted that they are planning on having another meeting soon to go over their progress and make a recommendation to the full MPO Committee at a future meeting. Someone questioned the method of voting? Mr. Gracenin stated that it never changed, it has also been that the voting member can vote, and not the alternate.

 

6. OTHER BUSINESS

Kevin McCullough distributed a sheet regarding the Mercer MPO 2002 TIP Second Quarter Revision for their information in order to keep them up to date.

 

7. ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned at 12:00 P.M.

Respectfully Submitted,

Daniel M. Gracenin, MPO Secretary

 

Mercer County Regional Planning Commission
2491 Highland Road, Hermitage, PA 16148
[email protected]    www.mcrpc.com

 

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