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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_GTAB_07.09.2007Minutes of the Meeting of Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board and the Governing Body of the City of Georgetown, Texas Monday, July 9, 2007 The Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met on Monday , July 9, 2007 presiding. Board Members Present: Jack Noble - Chair, Ricki Salazar - Secretary, Keith Brainard, Gabe Sansing arrived 1:04p.m., Harry Gibbs, Charlene Mendoza - Vice Chair arrived @1:08 p.m. Board Members Absent: Howell Jones Staff Present: Paul Brandenburg, Jim Briggs, Micki Rundell, Jana Kern, Tom Benz, Ed Polasek, Joel Weaver, Jordan Maddox, Mark Miller OTHERS PRESENT: Bill Sattler - City of Georgetown Council Member, Alan Tomczak - The Williamson County Sun Minutes Regular Meeting Mr. Jack Noble called the regular meeting to order on Tuesday, July 9, 2007 at 1:02 p.m. Board may, at any time, recess the Regular Session to convene in Executive Session at the request of the Chair, a Board Member, the City Manager, Assistant City Manag er, City Council Member, or legal counsel for any purpose authorized by the Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551, and are subject to action in the Regular Session that follows. A. Consideration and possible action to approve the minutes from the regular meeting held on May 16, 2007. -- Jana Kern Discussion: None Action: Motion by Salazar, seconded by Gibbs to approve the minutes as written. Approved 4-0 ( Jones absent. Sansing & Mendoza absent for this item only) B. Consideration and possible action on the approval of the updated GTAB Bylaws. - Jim Briggs Discussion: Briggs explained that Council directed staff to have a standard format and we are complying with this request. Action: Motion by Sansing, seconded by Salazar to approve the amended GTAB Bylaws. Approved 6-0 (Jones absent) C. Consideration and possible action to recommend approval of the creation of a Transportation Division for the City of Georgetown. -- Paul E. Brandenburg Discussion: Brandenburg presented this item. The City Council's number one budget priority for FY 2007/08 was to restructure the Transportation Services group and prepare for the creation of a “Transportation Division”. This division will report directly to the City Manager and will be responsible for all road, street, and transportation projects and issues for The City. This will include, but not limited to, street maintenance repairs, maintenance schedules, maintenance repair plan, street capital improvements plan, sidewalks, future street and road planning, financing and constructions, signalization and traffic control, transit, light rail, and other modes of mobility and transportation. The Director of this division will also handle all communications and interaction with other Federal, State, and County agencies related to transportation projects, planning and funding. Action: Motion by Brainard, seconded by Salazar to recommend approval of the creation of a Transportation Services Division for the City of Georgetown. Approved 6-0 (Jones absent) At 1:21 p.m., the Board moved to Item “E”. D. Possible Bond Transportation Improvement Plan -- Tom Benz, Ed Polasek Discussion: At the May 14, 2007 GTAB meeting, staff was give the direction to give an overview to the Board on the projects that are important for congestion relief, mobility, and which are not currently funded by other methods. Below is the list of projects. Mr. Benz went through and explained each of the projects. Project # Description of Projects V & V1 FM 971 IH 35/Austin Ave to SH 130 KK Airport Redesign and Widening to Urban Arterial (IH 35 to SH 195) EE FM 1460 Widening (CR 111(Westinghouse Road) to Quail Valley) AH Northwest Inner Loop (Widen to 4 Lanes (Williams Drive to Water Plant) 22 Shell Road William Drive to SH195 CR 143 SH 195 to IH35 14A Southwest Bypass SH 29 (Inner Loop) to SW Bypass 14D/16A Southwest Bypass DB Woods to SH 29 and Water Plant to Cedar Breaks Rd 18 CR110 CR111 (Westinghouse Road) to SE1 HH1/HH2 CR 111 (Westinghouse Road) FM 1460 to CR 110 Parking Garage for the future rail station Briggs also mentioned that the Williams Drive widening, from DB Woods to FM 3405, has fallen out of priority for State funding. What this means is that this projec t has no funding. The City has already given the State $1.5M for right of way acquisition and has done a lot of coordination work with some of the utilities. Because of some of the “give backs” from the Federal Government for transportation funding from Washington to the State. The State had to give back some of this money. When this happened, the State had to re-prioritize some projects. Williams Drive was one of the projects that had fallen out. Briggs also stated that there might be some Pass Thru funding that might become available. Sattler asked would a $15M increase in Pass Thru financing increase the tax rate. Rundell stated that it would depend on the timing of the debt service. With Pass Thru tolling the road has to be built and have traffic counts before you would pay your debt service. Brainard asked for a status update on SW Bypass from SH 29 to IH 35. Briggs stated that what Council has directed staff to do on that portion, is when right of way, environmental study and funding are available we would work on that part of the project. At this time there is not full funding. We have environmental information that is available and this information has been shared with TxDOT. There is also an arrangement with TxDOT and CTRMA to take a look at the entire route - SH 29 W to SH 29 E. The County asked to have SH 29 all the way to 183A looked at as potential toll lanes. Staff to come back with recommendations at the September 10th meeting. Rundell to do modeling for growth. E. Discuss the impacts of debt funding on the City's property tax rate. - Micki Rundell Discussion: Noble gave an overview on why this Board is asking for this information. Rundell stated that the property tax base supports the general debt issued by the City. There are two types of General Debt: General Obligation Bonds - approved by voters; Certificates of Obligation - nonvoter approved, usually less impact to the tax base. In each case, the City issues 20 year, level debt bonds for public improvements, such as roads. The annual debt service is then included in the City’s property tax calculation for inclusion in the tax rate. To determine the potential impact a road bond would have on the tax rate, the net taxable assessed valuation is used. For example: An increase of $.01 for the 2007/08 preliminary assessed valuation represents about $3.7M in new bonds. A bond issue of $15M would increase property tax by over $.04. This amount decreases over time, as the assessed valuation grows and there is more property to spread the cost over. Action: None At 1:30 p.m. the Board Moved to Item “D” Motion by Salazar, seconded by Sansing to Adjourn. Approved 6-0 (Jones absent) Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 02:11 PM. Approved : Attest: _______________________ ________________________ Jack Noble - Chair Ricki Salazar - Secretary