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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes_GTAB_10.11.2019Minutes of the Meeting of the Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board and the Governing Body of the City of Georgetown, Texas October 11, 2019 The City of Georgetown is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). If you require assistance in participation at a public meeting due to a disability, as defined under the ADA, reasonable assistance, adaptations, or accommodations will be provided upon request. Please contact the City at least three (3) days prior to the scheduled meeting date, at (512)930-3652 or City Hall at 113 East 81h Street for additional information: TTY users route through Relay Texas at 711. Board Members Present: Ron Bindas — Board Chair, Dan Jones, George Brown, Sheila Mills, Doug Noble, Troy Hellmann, Ercel Brashear Board Members Absent: Robert Redoutey, Rachael Jonrowe Staff Present: Wes Wright, Ray Miller, Emily Koontz, Michael Hallmark, Joseph Carney, Paul Diaz, Wayne Reed, Susan Watkins Others Present: Carl Norris -ACC, John Milford -ACC, Louis Alcorn - University of Texas at Austin, Trae Sutton — KPA, Phillip Huntley — Garver, Jacob Walker — HDR, Wendy Dew — ACC Regular Session A. Call to Order: Meeting called to order by Chairperson Ron Bindas at 10:OOam Georgetown Transportation Advisory Board may, at any time, recess the Regular Session to Convene an Executive Session at the request of the Chair, a Board Member, The City Manager, Assistant City Manager, General Manager of Utilities, 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. B. Introduction of Board Members and Visitors: All board members, visitors, and staff were introduced. C. Updates to various planning initiatives by CAMPO and TxDOT transportation improvement projects as wells as an update on GoGeo Operations. Ray Miller gave updates. All updates included in the packet. D. Discussion regarding the Airport Monthly Update and Project Time Lines - Joseph A. Carney, C.M., Airport Manager and Ray Miller, Acting Director of Public Works. Joseph Carney gave updates. All updates included in the packet. Brashear asked why there were two different financial reports. Paul Diaz replied that there were several reports previously generated before the city's reorg, now that the budget team is putting the report together the reports there will only be one report and that will eliminate variances in reports because there will be no time difference between when reports were generated. Citizens Wishing to Address the Board: The following people with the Airport Concerned Citizens (ACC) signed up to speak to the Board on Item E: Carl Norris — 6 minutes (extra 3 minutes donated by John Milford) — Statement attached to minutes. E. October 2019 GTAB Updates - Wesley Wright, P.E., Systems Engineering Director/Michael Hallmark, CIP Manager. Wesley Wright gave updates. All updates included in the packet. F. The Draft Bicycle Master Plan. The City of Georgetown Public Works Department is working with graduate students from The University of Texas at Austin to create a Bicycle Master Plan for Georgetown. The plan will serve as a blueprint for potential cycling transportation enhancements in the future. Brashear asked and Miller replied that the $15 million estimate would produce about 51 new miles of bike lanes. Noble asked and Miller answered that some of this could be tied in to street maintenance projects. Bindas commended Miller on his thoroughness and also advised caution with proceeding forward because of the inherent dangers of road sharing with bicycles and cars. Hellmann asked and Miller answered that protected bike lanes will work differently depending on the widths of the streets and expressed concerns about residents be able to park in front of their homes. Legislative Regular Agenda G. Consideration and possible approval of the Minutes from the September 13, 2019 Meeting - Emily Koontz - Board Liaison. MOTION by Hellmann, second by Brown to approve the minutes. APPROVED 6-0-2-1 (Redoutey and Jonrowe - absent, Brashear - abstained) H. Consideration and possible action on Task Order KPA-20-001 to Kasberg, Patrick, and Associates, LP (KPA) in the amount of $162,970.00 for professional engineering services related to the FY20 Downtown ADA Improvements -- Wesley Wright, PE, Systems Engineering Director. Plans are included in the packet. Bindas asked and Wright replied that this plan highlights specifies projects that are higher need and not compliant. MOTION by Hellmann, second by Noble. APPROVED 7-0-2 (Redoutey and Jonrowe - absent) I. Consideration and possible recommendation to award a contract to Royal Vista, Inc. of Liberty Hill, Texas for the construction of the 17th Street CDBG Sidewalk project in the amount of $163,405.00 - Wesley Wright, P.E., Systems Engineering Director/Michael Hallmark, CIP Manager. Wright explained that CDBG stands for Community Development Block Grant. The reason this area was chosen was because of the income in the area and the two GoGeo bus stops. MOTION by Noble, second by Brashear. APPROVED 7-0-2 (Redoutey and Jonrowe - absent) J. Consideration and possible action on Task Order KPA 20-002 with Kasberg, Patrick, and Associates, LP in the amount of $423,500.00 for professional engineering services related to FY20 Street Maintenance and Curb and Gutter replacement -- Wesley Wright, PE, Systems Engineering Director. Plans are included in the packet. MOTION by Mills, second by Brown. APPROVED 7-0-2 (Redoutey and Jonrowe - absent) K. Consideration and possible action to approve an appropriation of $2,650,000 to AvFuel Corporation for annual fuel purchases for resale at the Georgetown Municipal Airport -- Joseph A. Carney, C.M., Airport Manager and Ray Miller, Acting Director of Public Works. The city is currently choosing to continue with the contract with AvFuel to purchase fuel against that and sell later. Hellmann asked and Carney replied the fuel purchases do not happen all at once. MOTION by Brashear, second by Brown. APPROVED 7-0-2 (Redoutey and Jonrowe - absent) Adjournment Motion by Hellmann, second by Bindas. APPROVED 7-0-2 (Redoutey and Jonrowe - absent) Meeting was Adjourned at 10:57 AM Approved: Attested: Bindas -Chair Dan Jo s - 5ecre#ary I Emily K ntz - GTAB S d Liaison GTAB STATEMENT OCTOBER 11, 2019 AGENDA ITEM "D" AIRPORT MONTHLY REPORT Good morning Mr. Chairman, and members of the GTAB. My name is Hugh C. Norris, Jr. My residence is 4400 Luna Trail, Georgetown, Texas. I am a member of the Airport Concerned Citizens (ACC), a group of over 100 city households. My comments this morning on behalf of the ACC continue our August 9, and September 13, 2019 statements demanding a professional study showing how the Georgetown Municipal Airport (GTU) can be seamlessly relocated to a safe, superior, and protected site at no cost to current taxpayers. Our August 9, 2019 GTAB statement touched on the hazards associated with GTU's location to the ground dwelling public and esteem of the city. The GTAB denied participation of any public member having NEPA related concerns for the health, safety, environmental hazards and property values of those on the ground in development of the 2016 Airport Master Plan and its $60 Million PROGRAM of continued hazardous aviations expansion. Public objections were ignored and destroyed without response. By its actions, the GTAB has endorsed the 2030 Comprehensive Plan Update land use plan for the GTU as the single most dangerous location of a civilian/military airport in the nation. That plan locates the industrial zoned GTU in the planned landlocked heart of our city rapidly growing to 200,000 and totally atop the exposed Edwards Aquifer Recharge Zone (EARZ). We were dramatically reminded last week of our vulnerability to these hazards by the devastating air crash, explosions and fires at Bradley Airport (BDL) in Connecticut. Like the GTU, the BDL is a military/civilian airport only larger. BDL has over 2,400 acres. It is well buffered from development. The GTU has, reportedly, between 550 and 640 acres and, due to lack of proper city zoning, is densely enclosed and landlocked by non -airport compatible land uses. The enormous BDL toxic aviation fuel fires required large quantities of firefighting foam containing PFAS, an EPA toxic chemical, that local officials fear may have dangerously contaminated the Farmington River and points downstream. As this board knows, the GTU lies entirely atop the EARZ, a vast honeycombed cavernous structure, providing direct surface water recharge to the Edwards Aquifer, a sole and public regional water supply. If the BDL disaster had happened here, it could have destroyed dozens of private homes and enveloped travelers of portions of neighborhood streets and major city roadways with significant loss of life and properties. Contrary to FAA regulations, these homes and roadways lie within the crash and explosion "Runway Protection Zones and Object Free Areas" shown on the GTU Airport Layout Plan approved by TxDOT for federal and state grants for operations expansion approved by this board. If a BDL type explosion ignited the 35,000 gallons of above ground stored GTU toxic aviation fuels it could have ignited numerous FBO fueling stations, and the resulting inferno would make our disaster larger than that of the BDL and potentially poison the sole and public water supply of the Edwards Aquifer. Every person in this room knows to avoid such a potential disaster, the GTU must be relocated to a safe, superior, and protected site. Members of this board are obligated by their recommendations to protect the best transportation interests of the citizens of Georgetown as a whole, but may feel restricted in any actions for possible GTU relocation based on past city airport dogma and contents of the Citizen FAQ posted on the city's GTU website. DON'T BE! Past dogma and the entire FAQ are riddled with falsehoods, distortions, misinformation, and lack of information which the ACC will debate in any open GTAB forum. The FAQ portion on airport relocation is a prime example. Our city leaders sought citizen input for use of over $500,000 in excess FY 2018 budget funds. They spent over $1 Million studying alternatives for the two Austin Avenue Bridges. They recently approved almost $400,000 for a bus system that virtually no one rides but the drivers. They sold their previous city facilities to substantially afford their palatial new ones. No responsible city leader, and that includes members of this board, can refuse in good conscience to accept the location of the GTU as best of all possible alternatives without a professional study showing there is no other alternative. The city can easily fund the study. Why should it not? If this board refuses to respond to this request, it must demand the city's Communications Department explain the refusal to the citizen owners of the airport. Mr. Chairman, comments and/or questions from board members will be appreciated.