April 8, 2010

Call to Order & Welcome:
Donald Dodd, District 9 Co-Chair, opened the April 8, 2010 Transportation Advisory Committee meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance at 4:13 p.m.

Members Present:
Gary Brown (Dent), Donald Dodd (Dent), Darrell Skiles (Dent), Jim Decker (Gasconade), Richard Huse (Maries), James Kleffner (Maries), Lowell Tonding (Maries), , Larry Stratman (Phelps), Bruce Harrill (Pulaski), Cecil Penland (Pulaski), John Casey (Washington), and T.R. Dudley (Washington)

Members Absent:
Richard Martin (Crawford), Robert Schaffer (Crawford), Ed Worley (Crawford), Matthew Penning (Gasconade), Ron Jost (Gasconade), Danny Foster (Osage), Russell Scheulen (Osage), Jerry Wolfe (Osage), John Butz (Phelps), Candace Connell (Phelps), George Sanders (Pulaski) and Todd Moyers (Washington)

Alternates, MoDOT and Ex-Officio Present:
John Petersen (Phelps-Alt), Denis Beganovic (MoDOT), Willie Johnson (MoDOT) and Alan Trampe (MoDOT)

Staff Present:
Richard Cavender, Bonnie Prigge, Connie Willman and Lisa Warnke

Approval of February 11, 2010 TAC Minutes:
Jim Kleffner made a motion to approve the February 11, 2010 Transportation Advisory Committee minutes as presented. Lowell Tonding seconded the motion. Motion passed

Statewide Priorities:
Bonnie Prigge and Richard Cavender, MRPC staff, along with Willie Johnson, District 9 MoDOT, reported on the Statewide Priorities meeting that was held in Jefferson City on February 25, 2010. Bonnie informed the committee that the Regional Planning Commissions and other statewide planners met and divided up by district to discuss and rank the 32 statewide priority projects. The ranking of projects in the Meramec Region was as follows:

• Two-way tie for first – US 63 in Cole, Maries, Osage and Phelps Counties: Upgrade to four-lane expressway. Score was 34. It was recommended by MoDOT and the statewide planners proceed with this project when financing becomes available.
• Five-way tie for fourth – US 63 in Phelps and Texas Counties: Corridor improvements from Rte CC in Phelps to US 60 in Texas County. Score was 29. When funding is available the five projects will be discussed further by MoDOT and the statewide planners.
• Three-way tie for tenth – US 50 in Franklin, Gasconade and Osage: Four-lane roadway to bypass Linn, super two roadway from east of Linn to MO 28 and four-lane roadway from MO 28 to Union. When funding is available the five projects will be discussed further by MoDOT and the statewide planners.

The planning work is complete at this time for the Statewide Priorities but there are no funds available to go ahead with the projects. MoDOT is currently researching different avenues for funding.

Bylaws Review:
Connie Willman discussed the Bylaws and distributed a revised copy to the TAC committee for review. Connie asked the committee to take the time to look over the revisions and bring any additions or corrections to the June 10, 2010 TAC meeting. She informed the committee that the Bylaws will be voted on at that time. A copy will be attached to the next meeting agenda mailing.

Selection of Nominating Committee: Donald Dodd informed that committee that according to the TAC Bylaws“ The Chairman of the committee shall appoint a nominating committee annually. The committee shall be appointed not less than thirty (30) days prior to the annual meeting of the committee and shall consist of not less than four members, with equal representation from each MoDOT district. No individual currently holding the position of officer may be a member of the nominating committee. The nominating committee shall request nominations, consider qualifications and ascertain geographical distribution prior to recommending one or more members to be elected to each office of the committee. During the course of the annual election, nominations may be made from the general membership."

Donald informed the committee that he and the Ron Jost, District 5 Co-Chair were still eligible for re-election for the co-chair positions. He also reminded the committee that Richard Huse currently holds the secretary position and is eligible for another term as well.

Donald asked the committee for volunteers to serve on the Nominating Committee. He informed the members that the meeting would be held by a phone conference before the June 8, 2010 TAC meeting.

The following TAC members volunteered to serve on the Nominating Committee:

District 9

• TR Dudley
• Darrell Skiles

District 5

• James Kleffner
• Jim Decker

No MOre Trash! Bash!:
Connie Willman informed the committee about MoDOT’s roadside trash clean-up program – No MOre Trash! Bash. Connie said that there were over 111,000 bags of trash collected last year. She encouraged the members to call MoDOT and to participate in the program this year. Members can call MoDOT to get more information on the April Trash Bash or to get trash bags, at 888-275-6636 or visit the website at nomoretrash.org.

800 Better Bridges - Safe and Sound Bridge Program:
Bonnie Prigge presented information from the MoDOT website about the Safe and Sound Bridge program. She showed examples of how the members could access information for their area and how the website provides pictures of the individual bridges, bridge details, scope of work, which contractor was awarded the project bid or if any detour will be needed. Bonnie encouraged the TAC members to visit the website for more details – the website is: http://safeandsoundmap.modot.mo.gov/flex/SafeAndSound.html

MoDOT Updates and Staff Reports:

District 5 Report:
Alan Trampe informed the committee that there is not much going on with construction in District 5. Alan mentioned the following programs that are being advertised for the month of April: No MOre Trash! Bash and Work Zone Awareness Week (April 19).

Work schedule:

• There is a lot of pothole repair going on due to the rough winter weather.
• Hwy 89 – Overlay from E through Belle will begin around May 14, 2010. This project was scheduled to be started earlier but has been pushed back due to funding.
• Bridge in Vienna on Rte V work will begin around September or October.

District 9 Report
Willie Johnson informed the committee that a lot of projects have been delayed due to funding but MoDOT’s commitment to the STIP is still strong. MoDOT will be seeing a swing toward maintenance instead of new construction for the future. MoDOT is in a hiring freeze and are cutting budgets.

Work schedule:

• Overlay through Rolla in May

Staff Report:
Richard Cavender informed the committee that Kevin Keith is the Interim Director for MoDOT until a replacement is hired to fill the position of Director, Peter Rahn. Richard spoke with Kevin Keith and MoDOT plans to continue in the same organizational direction at this time.

The TAC members discussed writing a letter of support and appreciation to MoDOT with recommendations to continue along the same plan/path.

John Petersen made a motion that MRPC should write a letter to MoDOT to show the TAC’s support and appreciation with recommendations to continue working along the same path. Larry Stratman seconded the motion. The motion passed.

Next Meeting: The next Transportation Advisory Committee meeting will be held on June 10, 2010.

Adjournment
Jim Kleffner made a motion to adjourn the April 8, 2010 Transportation Advisory Committee meeting at 5:23 p.m. Larry Stratman seconded the motion. The motion passed.

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District 5, Co-Chair, Ron Jost Date