NORTHWESTERN INDIANA REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING

Thursday, October 18, 2018, 9:00 A.M.

NIRPC Lake Michigan Room, 6100 Southport Road, Portage, IN Annotated Agenda

1.0 Call to Order and Introductions – Geof Benson, Chair

2.0 Public Comment

Members of the audience who have signed up to comment on agenda items will be recognized by the Chair. Time is limited to 3 minutes per commenter. Commenters must sign up on the blue form prior to the start of the meeting.

3.0 Approval of Minutes – September 20, 2018 Pages 1-3

ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

4.0 Report of the Executive Director – Ty Warner

5.0 Report of the Chair – Geof Benson

1. Finance & Personnel Committee - George Topoll Pages 4-9

2. Procurement #18-05.03 City of Hobart Conservation Zoning and

   Sub-Area Plan Page 8

3. Procurement #18-24.01 Two Replacement Vehicles Page 8

4. Procurement #19-02 Ten Replacement Vehicles Page 8

5. Procurement #19-03 One Replacement Vehicle Page 9

7.0 Environmental Management Policy Committee – Kathy Luther Pages 10-11

1. Technical Planning Committee - Kevin Breitzke Pages 12-40

2. Programmatic Investment Approach for 2050 Plan and FY 2020-2024 Transportation Improvement Program

   ACTION REQUESTED: Informational

3. Resolution 18-17, Amended Congestion Management Air Quality

   Performance Plan Pages 14-15

   ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

4. Resolution 18-18, Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers Pages 16-34

   ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

5. Public Comment Report on FY 2018-2021 Transportation Improvement

   Program Amendment #17 Pages 35

   ACTION REQUESTED: Informational

   
   

6. Resolution 18-14 FY 2018-2021 Transportation Improvement Program

Amendment #17 Pages 36-40

ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

9.0 Report of the Indiana Department of Transportation

Rick Powers, La Porte District Deputy Commissioner

10.0 Other Commission Business

11.0 Announcements

12.0 Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Full Commission/Executive Board is currently scheduled for November 15, 2018 at 9 a.m.

1. Adjournment

   
   

   The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, familial status, parental status, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program.

   NIRPC Executive Board Meeting 6100 Southport Road, Portage, IN September 20, 2018

   Minutes

   
   

   Call to Order - Chairman Geof Benson called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and self-introductions. The meeting was streamed live on YouTube and filmed for local public access.

   
   

   Executive Board members present included Geof Benson, Karen Freeman-Wilson, Justin Kiel, Mark Krentz, Tom McDermott, Jr., Diane Noll, Ed Soliday, Jim Ton and George Topoll.

   
   

   Other Commissioners present included Robert Carnahan, Tom Schmitt, Dave Shafer and Mary Tanis.

   
   

   Guests present included Rick Powers, Justin Mount, Matt Deitchley, Adam Parkhouse, Heather Ennis, Terry Velligan, Jay Rohleder, Carl Lisek, Jim Nowacki, Christopher Murphy, Andrew Steele and Tim Zorn.

   
   

   Staff present included Dave Hollenbeck, Ty Warner, Kathy Luther, Daria Sztaba, Trey Wadsworth, Talaya Jones, Dominique Edwards, Charles Bradsky, Eman Ibrahim, Candi Eklund, Gabrielle Biciunas, Peter Kimball, Scott Weber and Mary Thorne.

   
   

   Public Comment –Jim Nowacki, Gary resident, commented on flooding issues on the 12/20 corridor.

   
   

   Minutes – The minutes of the August 16, 2018 Full Commission meeting were approved on a motion by Ed Soliday and a second by George Topoll.

   
   

   Presentation – Terry Velligan, United Bridge Partners and Jay Rohleder, Figg Group, presented an update on the Cline Avenue Bridge project. Once completed, it is expected to bring more economic development, improve transportation and congestion. If traffic counts are high enough the two-lane configuration could be expanded to four lanes. Charles Bradsky (NIRPC) relayed that INDOT has a project in 2023 to rehab Cline Avenue going into the bridge. More information is available at www.clineave.com. Bob Carnahan added that a more detailed presentation on the bridge will be given at the 16 Plus meeting at Schererville Town Hall on September 28. A brief question and answer session followed.

   
   

   Report of the Executive Director –

   • Ty Warner said he attended and was on a panel for the launch of the strategic plan for regional development spearheaded by the NWI Forum (“Ignite the Region: Northwest Indiana’s Strategy for Transformation”), for which he served on the Leadership Group. Though there are no initiatives for which NIRPC is specifically tagged that have not already stemmed from prior planning initiatives including the 2040 Plan, “Ignite the Region” aligns the efforts of NWI’s regional agencies toward strategic goals. One of the recommendations, which is very helpful, is for the region to support NIRPC’s efforts to close the loop on the Economic Development District designation. The plan also syncs with the development of the 2050 Plan. The strategic plan also support NIRPC hosting a Regional Economic Development Summit through the Economic Development Administration that will bring other federal partners to match federal programs to the region’s desired projects, which is planned for November 14. Heather Ennis thanked NIRPC and the communities for their participation in creating the plan. The plan is on the Northwest Indiana Forum’s website at www.nwiforum.org/economic- initiative.

   • Mr. Warner referenced the activity outside the building. 300 trees are being delivered today as part of the US Forest Service’s CommuniTrees program. A workshop will be held here on October 19 on trees and tree ordinances.

   • Mr. Warner referred to the copy of a Northwest Indiana Times editorial provided at the request of Kevin Breitzke on driving deaths in the region. The Time’s report on this last weekend correlates to NIRPC’s efforts to reduce congestion through livable communities, transit-oriented development, safety targets and other programs to increase mobility and reduce the need for vehicle trips.

   • Related to the value of creating opportunities for other transportation modes, Mr. Warner invited the Commissioners to take copies of the new Greenways and Blueways maps that have recently been printed and are being distributed throughout the region. .

     
     

     Finance & Personnel Committee –

   • George Topoll said the committee met this morning to review the financial status, reconciliation of expenses, and approve the claims register.

   • Daria Sztaba said the Committee recommends approval of Procurement 18-21 for the purchase of vehicle replacements for Valparaiso V-Line, Procurement 18-20 for the purchase of two vehicle replacements for Porter County Aging and Community Services and two vehicle replacements for Valparaiso’s V-Line and Procurement 18-24 for purchase of two vehicle replacements for East Chicago Transit. On a motion by Jim Ton and a second by Ed Soliday, the Executive Board voted to approve the procurements.

   • Kathy Luther said the Committee also recommends approval of the addendum to the contract with South Shore Clean Cities for them to implement the Northwest Indiana Green Fleets Program, a duty of NIRPC’s former environmental educator whose position is unfilled, through the balance of 2018 in the amount of $30,000. On a motion by Ed Soliday and a second by Diane Noll, the Executive Board voted to approve the addendum to the contract as presented.

     
     

     Environmental Management Policy Committee –

   • Kathy Luther reported that the Committee recommends the adoption of Resolution 18-15 in support of SepticSmart Week which is this week. On a motion by George Topoll and a second by Justin Kiel, the Executive Board voted to adopt Resolution 18-15.

   • Ms. Luther said EMPC will meet on October 4. NIRPC business will be conducted first at 8:30 a.m., and then at 9:30 a.m. the Environmental Protection Agency will join the committee to develop a Northwest Indiana sub-area contingency plan for emergencies for environmental instances. This is a result of the letters on the US Steel chromium spill.

     
     

     Technical Planning Committee –

   • Committee Vice-Chair Jim Ton reported that the Technical Planning Committee met on September 11 and heard a staff presentation and provided feedback on the draft Performance-Based Planning (PbP) Framework for the 2050 Plan. The Committee also heard a staff presentation and provided feedback on the draft Programmatic Investment Approach for the 2050 Plan and 2020-2024 Transportation improvement Program (TIP). Both presentations are on the website. Staff also gave updates on the 2050 Plan outreach.

   • The Technical Planning Committee recommends action on Resolution 18-16, the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Performance Plan which must be submitted to FHWA by October 1st. Scott Weber explained the Plan. On a motion by Jim Ton and a second by George Topoll, the Executive Board voted to adopted Resolution 18-16.

   • Action on the Project Substitution and Scope Change Policies will be sought at the Full Commission meeting in November.

   • The Technical Planning Committee will meet on October 9 at 9 a.m. at NIRPC.

   • Mr. Warner added that the PowerPoint presentations on the Performance Based Planning Framework and Programmatic Investment Approach are being worked through NIRPC’s committees. While

     sparing the Executive Board the same presentations today, staff did want to provide the Commission with an opportunity to review the presentations and offer feedback on the performance measures and the proposed new project selection process, which will ultimately increase transparency, objectivity, and predictability.

     
     

     Legislative Committee – Mary Tanis announced the committee will meet on October 9 at 11 a.m. in the Dune Room at NIRPC and will feature a report from the AIM summit. Ms. Tanis said she testified on SB 195 about an increase in benefits to surviving spouses for first responders and she also encouraged attendance at the CommuniTree workshop.

     
     

     Local Government Assistance Committee – The committee did not meet.

     
     

     Indiana Department of Transportation – Rick Powers thanked Mr. Velligan for his work on the Cline Avenue Bridge and in Chesapeake. He said the call for Community Crossings projects will close on September 28 and the Local Trax application program closed August 31. Construction is moving along. The ADA retrofitting work is being done. INDOT is looking for winter drivers with CDLs. The LaPorte County project will be completed in a couple of weeks. Ed Soliday said the at-grade crossing experiments were mostly in Northwest Indiana with safety and congestion relief primary goals. Communities should make sure they apply for Community Crossings before the deadline. Charles Bradsky added that Northwest Indiana had six of the 36 applications submitted for Local Trax.

     
     

     Other Business –

   • Jim Ton read a statement regarding the importance of internal controls in the committee structure. He praised the shift of money management responsibilities from staff to the new Transportation Resource Oversight Committee.

   • Mary Tanis said Main Street in Munster needs to be increased to four lanes under the West Lake commuter train corridor into Illinois (connecting to Joe Orr Road) to relieve congestion in the Dyer area.

     
     

     Announcements –

     Bob Carnahan said the Lake County Solid Waste District is holding two more waste collections: Saturday, October 13 in Griffith and Saturday, October 27th in Hammond.

     
     

     Adjournment –

     Hearing no other business, on a motion by Jim Ton and a second by George Topoll, Geof Benson adjourned the meeting at 10:20 a.m.

     
     

     A Digital MP3 of this meeting is filed. Contact Mary Thorne at the phone or email below should you wish to receive a copy of it. DVD recordings will be available once they are received by NIRPC from the videographer.

     
     

     The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, familial status, parental status, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program.

     

     
     

     FINANCE AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE

     Meeting Agenda Thursday, October 18, 2018

     8:00 a.m.

     NIRPC Office, Portage, Indiana

     
     

     1. Call to Order

     2. Meeting Minutes of September 20, 2018 (Pages 1-2)

        ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

     3. Review of Financial Status – September 2018

        1. Bank Statements Reconciliation (Pages 3-5)

        2. Expenses YTD September 2018 – Budget vs. Actual (Chart) (Pages 6-7)

        3. Revenue YTD September 2018 – Budget vs. Actual (Page 8)

           NO ACTION REQUIRED

     4. Approval of Claims Register – September 2018 (Pages 9-16)

        ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

     5. Approval of Budget Amendment 5th and 6th (Page 17-18 )

        ACION REQUESTED: Approval

     6. Procurement Recommendations (Pages 19-20)

        1. Procurement #18-05.03

           NIRPC City of Hobart Conservation Zoning and Sub-Area Plan

        2. Procurement #18-24.01

           Two (2) Vehicle Replacements

        3. Procurement #19-02

           Ten (10) Vehicle Replacements

        4. Procurement #19-03

        One (1) Vehicle Replacement ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

     7. 2018 Fall Vehicle Disposition Sale

        Handout will be provided.

     8. Bryco Services, Inc. Addendum to the Agreement (Pages 21-28 )

        Addendum to extend the cleaning contract for two months with a cost Of $2,640.

        ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

     9. Review Draft of FY 2019 Budget – Daria Sztaba Handout will be provided.

        ACTION REQUESTED: Informational

        
        

     10. Review the State Board of Accounts Audit

         ACTION REQUESTED: Informational

     11. Discuss Proposed 2019 F & P Committee meeting schedule (Page-29 )

         Kathy Luther will provide a proposed schedule based on other committees’ Schedules.

         ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

     12. Adjournment

The next meeting will be November 15, 2018 at 8:00 am

The Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, familial status, parental status, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance program.

Requests for alternate formats please contact Daria Sztaba at (219) 763-6060 extension 104 or dsztaba@nirpc.org. Individuals with hearing impairments may contact us through the Indiana Relay 711 service by calling 711 or (800) 743- 3333.

NORTHWESTERN INDIANA REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION

FINANCE AND PERSONNEL COMMITTEE

August 16, 2018

NIRPC Dune Room, Portage, Indiana

Members Present Staff and Others Present

George Topoll - Chair Ty Warner

Christine Cid Dave Hollenbeck

Richard Hardaway Daria Sztaba

Justin Kiel Kathy Luther

Jim Ton Talaya Jones

Diane Noll Lisa Todd

Karen Freeman-Wilson Meredith Stilwell Candice Eklund

Call to Order

George Topoll called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the July 19, 2018 meeting were approved as presented on motion by Richard Hardaway and second by Justin Kiel.

Review of Financial Status – July 2018

1. Daria Sztaba presented the July bank reconciliations for the NIRPC general fund account, the LaPorte County Revolving Loan fund (RLF) and the Sequestered Revolving Loan Fund. It was explained that a difference of $48,190 in the general fund reconciliation was due to a deposit made in July that was not posted as a journal entry until August. A difference in the RLF reconciliation was due to a journal entry posted in July with the deposit posted to the bank account in August.

2. Daria Sztaba presented the Budget to Actual Expenditures Report for January through July 2018. Salaries, fringe benefits, maintenance, departmental, contractual and capital outlays categories are all currently under budget. While the communications line for the commission/Executive Director is currently over budget, it will most likely even out over the course of the rest of the year. The contractual line for legal services is over budget due to the legal costs for background checks for new employees. There will be additional legal work regarding an immigration situation so any amendment to the budget will be addressed after further information is gathered. It was also noted that NIRPC should be receiving invoices shortly for the household travel survey which is currently at 100% under budget. Year to date general fund expenditures of $1,903,080 are 14% under budget.

   
   

   Approval of Claims Register – July 2018

   Daria Sztaba presented the July 2018 claims register. Subrecipient reimbursements pass-through payments were made to the South Lake County Community Services and North Township for April through June quarterly expenses. Kathy Luther explained that a $6,000.00 check issued to the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra was in sponsorship for free concerts they were hosting at which NIRPC would have a table to promote the 2050 plan and air quality education. On motion by Jim Ton and second by Richard Hardaway, the committee approved the claims register for July

   Other Business

   The State Board of Accountants will be on site for several weeks.

   
   

   With the absence of NIRPC’s Environmental Educator, Kathy Luther stated the contract with SSCC will be amended to assume some of those responsibilities.

   Kathy Luther presented the option of NIRPC observing Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve as paid holiday’s in 2018, since they fall on Monday. Kathy stated the budget for Christmas Eve would allow the paid time off. The budget for New Year’s Eve will be reviewed at the end of the year. The Committee agreed to the additional paid holidays.

   
   

   Adjournment

   There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:47 a.m.

   Procurement Recommendations October 18, 2018

   
   

   NIRPC City of Hobart Conservation Zoning and Sub-Area Plan – Procurement #18-05.03

   • Secure a contract for a qualified planning consulting firm who will work with the City of Hobart, IN. The selected firm will be responsible for producing adoptable zoning ordinance language for a new Conservation Zone, and create an environmentally protective sub-area plan for a developing portion of the city encompassing vulnerable segments of Deep River and Sprout Ditch for the City of Hobart.

   • Paid with Federal IDNR Lake Michigan Coastal Program funds (50%) out of Contract ID #27241 and the local share coming from Calumet Land Conservation Partnership (50%)

   • Recommendation to award a contract to a planning consulting firm in an amount not-to-exceed $80,000.00.

     
     

     Two (2) Replacement Vehicles – Procurement #18-24.01

   • Purchase of:

     • Two (2) vehicle replacements (35ft buses) for East Chicago Transit

       • Replacing bus numbers EC2007A and EC2007B

       • $646,000.00 in federal funds

   • Vehicles being replaced will have met their useful life of 12 years or 500,000 miles at the time of delivery.

   • Paid with Federal Transit Administration funds (80%) out of grant IN-2018- 026 and local share coming from the above listed agency.

   • Recommendation to approve purchase of replacement vehicles not to exceed

     $646,000.00 in federal funds.

     
     

     Ten (10) Replacement Vehicles – Procurement #19-02

   • Purchase of:

     • One (1) vehicle replacements (BOC bus) for North Township Dial-A- Ride

       • Replacing bus numbers DAR 18

       • $56,400.00 in federal funds

       • Funding source: 5307

     • Two (2) vehicle replacements (BOC buses) for Opportunity Enterprises

       • Replacing bus numbers 93 & 98

       • $126,283.00 in federal funds

       • Funding source: 5307

     • Five (5) vehicle replacements (BOC buses for City of Valparaiso V- Line

       • Replacing bus numbers 16, 17, 18, 19, & 20

       • $452,000.00 in federal funds

       • Funding source: FHWA Flex

     • Two (2) vehicle replacements (BOC buses) for South Lake County Community Services

       • Replacing bus numbers 438 & 436

       • $131,198.00 in federal funds

       • Funding source: 5310

   • Vehicles being replaced will have met their useful life of 4 years or 100,000 miles at the time of delivery.

   • Paid with Federal Transit Administration Funds (80%) out of grant IN-2018- 026 and local share coming from the above listed agency.

   • Recommendation to approve purchase of replacement vehicles not to exceed

     $765,881.00 in federal funds.

     
     

     One (1) Replacement Vehicle – Procurement #19-03

   • Purchase of:

     • One (1) vehicle replacement (motorcoach) for City of Valparaiso ChicaGo Dash

       • Replacing bus number 1001

       • $637,500.00 in federal funds

       • Funding source FHWA Flex

   • Vehicle being replaced will have met its useful life of 12 years or 500,000 miles at the time of delivery.

   • Paid with Federal Transit Administration funds (80%) out of grant IN-2018- 026 and local share coming from the above listed agency.

   • Recommendation to approve purchase of replacement vehicles not to exceed

$637,500.00 in federal funds.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT POLICY COMMITTEE

NIRPC - Lake Michigan Room September 6, 2018

Minutes

Members/Guests: Geof Benson, George Topoll, Laura Reilly, Deb Backhus, Kathryn Vallis, Sylvia Collins, Leslie Dorwith, Sherryl Doerr, Unis Krouse, Paul Labus, Tim Kingsland, Richard Morrisroe, Lauri Keagle, Cathy Martin, Brenda Scott Henry, Kris Krouse, John Rogner and Chris Mulvaney.

NIRPC Staff: Ty Warner, Kathy Luther, Trey Wadsworth, Scott Weber, Mitch Barloga, Joe Exl and Candi Eklund.

Call to Order and Pledge of Allegiance

Geof Benson called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance and self-introductions.

NIRPC Business: Approval of Minutes

On motion by Tim Kingsland and a second by Richard Morrisroe, the June 7, 2018 EMPC meeting minutes were approved as presented.

Presentation: Performance Based Planning (PbP) Framework for 2050 Plan

Scott Weber presented the draft Performance Based Planning (PbP) Framework for the 2050 Plan to the committee. The PbP is the result of a federal requirement from the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST)

Act. There are 25 U.S. Department of Transportation performance measures that states are required to set. The PbP framework will include these required measures and break down how NIRPC will go beyond those using the 16 critical paths as outlined in the 2050 Plan matrix to achieve Northwest Indiana’s vision. The Environmental plan focus area, as it relates to the vision statements, was examined at length for the committee. Staff will be looking at data metrics and measures, and baseline conditions to achieve increased or decreased performance targets by 2035 and 2050.

Feedback from the committee included questions regarding the integration links between people and green space, assess and provide public access points to managed lands, consideration of certain segments of land being targeted for public use and Low-impact development, which impacts sustainability. Paul Labus stated that since trees are linked to air quality, he recommended that tree canopies be used as a metric in both Critical Path 5 and Critical Path 6. Lauri Keagle discussed she might be able to provide cumulative survey information to provide measurable data for the environmental critical path information. Kathy Luther encouraged the Committee to reflect on the Critical Paths and provide their knowledgeable feedback.

Presentation: Programmatic Investment Approach for 2050 Plan

Mitch Barloga presented on the draft Programmatic Investment Approach for the 2050 Plan and 2020-2024 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) at the EMPC meeting. This enhanced approach will identify investment programs, evaluate the programs and size funding to each program based on regional priority, evaluate projects within all programs and then program the highest scored projects with available funding per program. While the usual approach is more straightforward, the enhanced approach will better utilize the flexibility provided by some funding sources. Benefits will be easier to quantify and demonstrate performance.

The best scored projects will come from regionally significant programs. Examples of what the practice might look like were shown and the scoring process for the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) was examined. The scoring of the projects will occur at the individual committee meetings to measure metrics. Feedback was solicited from the committee. The evaluation of projects types, regional priorities and staff recommendations will be discussed at the October meeting. The funding allocations for the programs will be presented at the Technical Planning Committee (TPC) meeting in November. 10

Presentation: Chicago Wilderness Visioning

Kris Krouse, a steering committee member of the Shirley Heinze Land Trust, stated Chicago Wilderness is being exposed to new partners and making progress in their collaborative spirit with their accomplishments over the years. Kris then introduced John Rogner, a member of the Illinois Audubon Society Board of Directors. John discussed that their regional initiative is to protect, restore and celebrate the globally important diversity of the Chicago region.

They will focus on public land base where biodiversity resides. The biggest challenge is making the organization more relatable to the average citizen and become the voice for regional nature. Laura Riley was introduced as the newest staff addition to the organization.

Kris Krouse will email Kathy Luther the survey Chicago Wilderness is conducting. Kathy Luther will ask Candice to email the link to the survey to the Committee through Constant Contact.

Kathy Luther will organize and host a focus session with Kris Krouse after he presents the idea to his vision group and when they are ready to that.

Presentation: Oak Ecosystem Project

Chris Mulvaney, representing the Chicago Arboretum, said the Oak Ecosystem is a project that derived from a model by Chicago Wilderness and is now being pursued by the Chicago Arboretum on behalf of Chicago Wilderness. Chris noted that oak trees support at least 500 butterfly and moth species as well as hundreds of bird species. Oak woodlands and savannas are declining and under extreme threat in the years ahead if action isn’t taken now. The Oak Ecosystem recovery plan is to help understand where the ecosystems are and what still remains. In the 1800’s there were 2.5 million acres of ecosystems but only 250,000 or only 10% remain today.

Chris asked the group if there was an interest in extending their collaboration efforts to continuing mapping the ecosystems in Indiana. Kathy Luther discussed the difficulty NIRPC has faced in trying to obtain aerial photos because they are housed at the Indiana Geological survey at Indiana University and there is a substantial cost. Kathy Luther set a meeting time for Chris Mulvaney on October 30, 2018 from 9:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m. to meet with local partners in Indiana to talk in depth on what oak recovery means.

Resolution:

On motion by Brenda Scott Henry and second by Richard Morrisroe, the EMPC group recommended a resolution for NIRPC to adopt the SepticSmart week from September 17-21, 2018.

Announcements

The event announcements submitted will be distributed in an email to the committee. Blue Way and Green Way plans and maps were distributed.

Adjournment

Hearing no other business, Geof Benson adjourned the meeting at 10:53 a.m.

A Digital MP3 of this meeting is filed. Contact Candice Eklund at 219-763-6060 Ext 142 or ceklund@nirpc.org should you wish to receive a copy of it.

Technical Planning Committee

NIRPC Lake Michigan Room, 6100 Southport Road, Portage September 11, 2018

Minutes

Kevin Breitzke called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance, remembering the victims of September 11, 2001. Members present included Kevin Breitzke, George Topoll, Susan Weber, Mark O’Dell, Kelly Wenger, Tom MacLennan, Margot Sabato, Dean Button, Kay Nelson, Daryl Lampkins, Stephen Stofko and Tyler Kent. Others present included Jerry Siska, Bruce Lindner, Laurie Keagle, Adam Moore, Jeff Huet, Doug Ferguson, Claudia Taylor, Akhtar Zaman, Ismail Attallah, Jake Dammarrell, and Karie Koehneke. David Wright participated via conference

phone. Staff present included Mitch Barloga, Kathy Luther, Trey Wadsworth, Charles Bradsky, Dominique Edwards, Lisa Todd, Scott Weber, James Winters, Eman Ibrahim, Peter Kimball, Candi Eklund, Nathan Pasyk and Mary Thorne.

The INDOT participation survey was available at the table in the lobby.

The minutes of the August 14, 2018 Technical Planning Committee meeting were approved on a motion by Kay Nelson and a second by Tom MacLennan.

There were no public comments.

Presentation - Scott Weber presented on the draft Performance Based Planning (PbP) Framework for the 2050 Plan. The framework will break down how NIRPC will go beyond federal requirements using the 16 critical paths as outlined in the 2050 Plan matrix to achieve Northwest Indiana’s vision.

The Mobility plan focus area as it relates to the vision statements was examined at length for the committee. Staff will be looking at data metrics and measures, and baseline conditions to achieve increased or decreased performance targets by 2035 and 2050.

Feedback from the committee included getting more feedback from the Northwest Indiana Forum and trade unions on certification information and high school graduate retention information.

Presentation - Mitch Barloga presented on the draft Programmatic Investment Approach for the 2050 Plan and 2020-2024 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). This enhanced approach will identify investment programs, evaluate the programs and size funding to each program based on regional priority, evaluate projects within all programs and then program the highest scored projects with available funding per program. While the usual approach is more straightforward, the enhanced approach will better utilize the flexibility provided by some funding sources. Benefits will be easier to quantify and demonstrate performance. The best scored projects will come from regionally significant programs. Examples of what the practice might look like were shown and the scoring process for the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) was examined.

Feedback was solicited from the committee. Creating Livable Communities will probably be an applied layer. More information on project funding will be given later. Direct connections to our critical paths will be part of the criteria. The call for projects will be held in November to January. Staff will help LPAs with the scoring but they are making the decisions. We must be in compliance with federal requirements. Funding will be blended by program. Transparency and follow through are the goals here. The funding program will span five years to be in sync with INDOT’s Notice of Funding Availability. NIRPC’s planning majority is under state administration. There are crucial project types that are not on the list, like transit expansion and roadway resurfacing. Staff is still working on that. More information was gleaned at previous committee presentations and will be incorporated for discussion in October.

Implementation Planning

Dominique Edwards reported on the 2050 Plan pop up events which ended September 1. Over 900 responses were tracked across our influences and trends. The next series will take place in October.

Scott Weber explained the recommendation to the Technical Planning Committee to approve the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Performance Plan which must be submitted to FHWA by October 1st. On a motion by Dean Button and a second by George Topoll, the Technical Planning Committee voted to recommend the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Performance Plan to the NIR NIRPC Board for adoption.

Programming

Charles Bradsky presented the revisions to the Project Substitution & Scope Change Policies as revised last month. Suggestions included consistency in terminology in the use of programming rules and prerequisites, and changing the nine bulleted rules to nine numbered rules. These policies will sunset eventually. On a motion by Dean Button and a second by Mark O’Dell, the committee voted to recommend the Project Substitution & Scope Change Policies to the Full Commission at its next meeting.

Topical Committee Reports

• The Environmental Management Policy Committee will meet at 8:30 a.m. on October 4. The first hour will be to discuss the Performance Based Planning Framework and Programmatic Investment Approach. The second part of the meeting will feature information from the EPA regarding the chromium spill. The EPA will develop a Northwest Indiana response plan for environmental emergencies. Invitations will go out to the municipalities and county emergency mangers.

• A presentation will be made on Lime Bikes on September 28 at NIRPC at 9 a.m.

• The Transit Operators Roundtable will meet immediately following this meeting. The roundtable will again meet twice between now and November to discuss the Coordinated Transit Plan and Transit Asset Management Plan.

• The Land Use Committee met last Wednesday. The next meeting is October 3 at 10 a.m.

• The Surface Transportation Committee met last Tuesday to see the two presentations featured today and will again meet on October 2 at 9 a.m.

• The Lake & Porter Transportation Resource and Oversight Committee will meet on September 18 at 9 a.m. at NIRPC.

• The LaPorte Transportation Resource and Oversight Committee will meet next Tuesday at 1:30 at the City of La Porte Parks Department.

  
  

  Planning Partners

  Doug Ferguson announced that the CMAP On to 2050 launch will be held on October 10 at Millennium Park from 10 a.m. to noon.

  
  

  Emerging Trends: Due to time constraints, no video was provided.

  
  

  Announcements

  South Shore Clean Cities is hosting a National Ride and Drive event today at NIRPC.

  
  

  The next Technical Planning Committee meeting is October 9 at 9 a.m. at NIRPC. Hearing no other business, Kevin Breitzke adjourned the meeting at 11:00 a.m.

  
  

  A Digital MP3 of this meeting is filed. Contact Mary Thorne at the phone number or email below should you wish to receive a copy or a portion of it.

  

  
  

  RESOLUTION 18-17

  A RESOLUTION OF THE NORTHWESTERN INDIANA REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION AMENDING THE CONGESTION MITIGATION AIR QUALITY (CMAQ) PERFORMANCE PLAN

  AMENDMENT NO. 1

  October 18, 2018

  
  

  WHEREAS: Federal legislation enacted in the FAST Act signed into law December 4, 2015 imposed performance-based planning requirements; and

  
  

  WHEREAS: The United States Department of Transportation issued a rulemaking effective February 17, 2017 (23 CFR 490.107) that requires the Commission to include a CMAQ Performance Plan to comply with the performance-based planning requirements; and

  
  

  WHEREAS: The Commission misinterpreted the meanings of “2-Year” and “4-Year” targets for Traffic Congestion Measures in 23 CFR 490.107; and

  
  

  WHEREAS: The Technical Planning Committee approved the amended CMAQ Performance Plan at its October 9, 2018 meeting.

  
  

  NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission amends the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) Performance Plan to adjust the “2-Year” and “4-Year” targets for the Traffic Congestion Measures as shown on the attachment to this resolution.

  
  

  Duly adopted by the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission this 18th day of October 2018.

  
  

  

  Geof R. Benson Chairperson

  
  

  ATTEST:

  
  

  

  Karen Freeman-Wilson

  Secretary 14

  AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO THE CONGESTION MITIGATION AIR QUALITY (CMAQ) PERFORMANCE PLAN

  Targets for Traffic Congestion Measures (UZA): Peak Hours of Excessive Delay Per Capita (PHED):

  
  

  Target Timeframe	Old Target (hours per capita)	Amended Target (hours per capita)
  2-Year Target	Not Applicable	Not Applicable
  4-Year Target	15.5	15.4

  
  

  Percent Non-Single Occupancy Vehicle Travel (non-SOV):

  
  

  Target Timeframe	Old Target	Amended Target
  2-Year Target	31.6%	31.4%
  4-Year Target	32.1%	31.9%

  

  
  

  RESOLUTION 18-18

  
  

  A RESOLUTION OF THE NORTHWESTERN INDIANA REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION TO ADOPT THE NORTHWESTERN INDIANA REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION TRANSIT ASSET MANAGEMENT GROUP PLAN FOR SMALL PROVIDERS, AS REQUIRED BY 49 CFR 625.45.

  
  

  WHEREAS, the citizens of Northwest Indiana require a safe, efficient and effective regional transportation system that maintains and enhances regional mobility and contributes to improving the quality of life in the region; and

  
  

  WHEREAS, the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, hereafter referred to as “the Commission” is the designated metropolitan planning organization for the Lake, LaPorte, and Porter Counties of Indiana; and

  
  

  WHEREAS, the Commission is a Designated Recipient of Federal Transit Administration grant funds as defined by 49 U.S.C. § 5307(a)(2); and

  
  

  WHEREAS, the Transit Asset Management (TAM) Final Rule issued by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requires transit providers to set performance targets for state of good repair (SGR) by January 1, 2017; and

  
  

  WHEREAS, the Commission together with the seven Transit Operator Sub-Recipients: City of La Porte, City of East Chicago Transit, North Township Dial-a-Ride, Opportunity Enterprises, Porter County Aging and Community Services, and South Lake County Community Services together qualify to participate in a Tier II Group Transit Asset Management Plan; and

  
  

  WHEREAS, the NIRPC Technical Planning Committee provides the Commission with technical advice and recommendations, and concurs with this resolution; and

  
  

  NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission officially adopts the NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers.

  
  

  Duly adopted by the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission this 18th day of October 2018.

  
  

  

  
  

  ATTEST:

  Geof R. Benson Chairperson

  
  

  

  Karen Freeman-Wilson Secretary

  2019 – 2022

  
  

  Northwestern Indiana transit asset management group plan

  for small transit providers

  NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers

  
  

  Introduction

  This Transit asset management group plan is for all small transit providers in Northwestern Indiana. Every small provider in this plan is a subrecipient of the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission. Transit operators participating in this plan are:

  • City of LaPorte, TransPorte

  • City of Valparaiso, ChicaGo Dash and V-Line

  • East Chicago Transit

  • North Township Dial-a-Ride

    

    

    

    

    

  • Opportunity Enterprises

  • Porter County Aging and Community Services

  • South Lake County Community Services

    Each subrecipient in this group plan, and all the subrecipients together qualify as a Tier II Plan.

    In the last two years, transit operators have been undergoing a regional, system-wide set of improvements to the systems used to distribute funding for maintaining, operating, and expanding transit in Northwestern Indiana. This Transit Asset Management plan is part of that process. This plan will outline a strategy for replacing revenue and service vehicles, and targets associated with those strategies. These targets were made in collaboration with all transit operators in the small group plan. When developing the plan, operators indicated that this is one small part in a large set of reforms to transit funding. As such, aggressive targets were unnecessary and would hinder progress in the broader planning effort. For instance, on paper many vehicles in the small group plan’s fleet have met the end of their useful life, however most of the vehicles in question are already in awarded grants and are pending replacement.

    NIRPC is working with the operators to create efficiencies in the timing of vehicle replacements. This document will address some of those strategies. Operators also indicated that while some vehicles may have met the end of their useful life, many of the vehicles have been well-maintained and are functioning well, for the operator’s needs. This document offers strategies to allow for flexibility on behalf of the operators to hold on to vehicles that may have met the end of their useful life, but are still highly functional.

    This document allows for regular updates to the vehicle condition assessment and the prioritized list of investments. The document’s four year planning horizon will be updated annually, so that a new list of prioritized investments will be added in the furthest available year of the plan.

    NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers

    
    

    Asset inventory

    

    

    

    

    

    The following asset inventory is a summary of all significant assets contained within the small group plan. Unlike many other transit systems, the operators in this small group plan have no significantly valued assets other than rolling stock. All equipment of significant value is often leased, outsourced to an outside maintenance provider, or is part of the broader agency and is not purchased or maintained with FTA funding. Additionally, none of the operators in this small group plan occupy buildings that were purchased with FTA funding, and therefore are not owned by NIRPC, the direct recipient. Every operator in this group plan has a parent agency or municipality that owns buildings that serve multiple purposes outside of transit. These buildings have other sources of funding for their upkeep and maintenance. On occasion, an operator will submit a small maintenance project to be secured with grant funding, but these instances are rare and are of little value. None of the operators currently have any other infrastructure, such as rail lines, associated with their operations.

    NIRPC currently maintains an asset inventory of all significant assets among its subrecipients. The asset inventory is attached as Appendix A. The asset inventory contains the following fields:

    Spreadsheet will contain, but is not limited to, the following fields:

  • NIRPC ID

  • Serial number

  • Agency ID

  • Vehicle Model

  • Vehicle Type

  • Lift (Y/N)

  • Fuel Type (Gas, Diesel, Liquid Propane)

  • Vehicle Type (Service, Non-service)

  • Model Year

  • Cost (At time of purchase)

  • Useful Life Benchmark (Years)

  • Delivery Month

  • Delivery Year

  • End of Useful Life Month

  • End of Useful Life Year

  • Current Years in Operation

  • Amount of Years Over the End of Useful Life Benchmark

  • Percent of Years Over the End of Useful Life Benchmark

    NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers

    
    

  • Current Revenue Mileage

  • End of Useful Life Benchmark (Mileage)

  • Percent of Miles Over the End of Useful Life Benchmark

  • Estimated Replacement Year

  • Condition Assessment

  • Inflation Years (Number of years of inflation between purchase and replacement)

  • Estimated increase in cost due to inflation

  • Estimated true cost of replacement (includes inflation added)

  • Spare Status (Is this vehicle being used as a spare? Y/N)

    

    

    

    

    

  • Replacement Schedule:

o 2019

o 2020

o 2021

o 2022

NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers

Condition assessment

The condition assessment will be combined with the asset inventory. A field will contain the assessed condition of each vehicle in the fleet. Operators are required to submit a rating for each system on each vehicle, using a 0-10 rating scale. Each vehicle in the fleet will have each system rated when each vehicle is submitted for regular routine maintenance by a mechanic or other certified professional. All condition assessments must be completed annually, by the end of the federal fiscal year.

Failure to complete an annual condition assessment for each vehicle in an operator’s fleet will result in no TIP awards or grant executions for an operator’s vehicle replacements.

Unless a vehicle has a system rated as “0” or “inoperable” it will not be submitted to FTA as a request for early retirement.

Each operator will use the following system rating score to assess each vehicle’s systems:

This score will be applied to the following ten vehicle systems:

NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers

The combined score of 1-10 across all ten systems on each vehicle will provide each driver with a score from 0-100. The higher the score, the better condition the vehicle is in. The condition assessment will be utilized in two ways:

1. Prioritization of all vehicles

2. Individual prioritization from transit operators on which vehicles to submit for replacement, if more than one vehicle qualifies for replacement in any given year

The scores and their ratings are as follows:

NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers

In the first year of implementation of this TAM group plan, no condition assessments have been submitted. The group waives the requirement in the first year of implementation to provide time to streamline the process into their regular preventive maintenance schedule. All operators will be required to have a condition assessment before September 30, 2019.

NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers

Decision support tools

The following decision support tools will be used in determining which vehicles are eligible for replacement in any given year. These support tools are comprised of four distinct parts:

Goal: A broad statement of a desired end condition or outcome; a unique piece of the agency’s vision. An example of a goal is to achieve and maintain a state of good repair.

Metric: A quantifiable indicator of performance or condition. An example is vehicle miles traveled. This metric could inform a performance measure, such as average accumulated mileage.

Performance Measure: An expression based on a metric to assess progress toward meeting established targets. An example of a performance measure is the percent of passenger vans that have met or exceeded their ULB.

Target: A quantifiable level of performance or condition, expressed as a numerical value for the measure, to be achieved within a specific time frame. An example of a target is 90% of the performance measure (i.e., % of assets that meet or exceed the ULB)

The support tools are as follows:

NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers

NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers

Prioritized list of investments

The aforementioned decision support tools provide a prioritized list of investments. Investments will be prioritized by:

1. Service or non-service vehicle

2. Percent of years over end of useful life benchmark

3. Percent of mileage over end of useful life benchmark

4. Vehicle condition assessment

Appendix B contains a prioritized list of investments for 2019 – 2022.

NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers

Programmatic rules

In addition to the decision support tools, the following programmatic rules will apply when considering vehicle replacements:

• If an operator has more than one vehicle that has met the end of its useful life, they may choose to swap the priorities of the vehicles if the vehicle swapped has a lower condition assessment

  

• NIRPC will not submit any vehicle replacement into a grant unless it is confirmed that the vehicle will meet the end of its useful life within the following calendar year, the vehicle will be bumped into the following priority year and all other vehicles will advance in priority

• Preliminary specs on vehicle replacements and capital purchases are due before FTA grant submissions and/or TIP applications

• NIRPC will not approve any vehicle replacement into the TIP unless it is part of the Indiana State QPA or an identified state cooperative agreement

• NIRPC will not submit any vehicles for early replacement to FTA if none of the vehicle’s systems have been rated as “inoperable”

• Operators will have to submit an annual condition assessment for every vehicle in their fleet

• Vehicles will only be replaced until the cap of 5307 funding designated 10% for vehicle replacements has been reached

• Vehicle replacements will be funded through other funding categories, such as CMAQ, 5310, and 5339 before spending 5307 funding on replacements. This assumes there is funding left in each other funding program after those programs consider all proposed projects for the year.

• Vehicles may be purchased beyond the cap, if it allows the region to meet the goal of 50% or fewer revenue vehicles in operation that have met the end of their useful life; 20% or fewer of revenue vehicles that have met the end of their useful life, but are pending replacement; and 10% or fewer service vehicles met the end of their useful life.

• Late or missing data submissions may result in denied vehicle replacements or approval for federal funds. Including:

  • NTD

  • ALOP

  • Other subrecipient reporting:

    • Vehicle Usage & Accident

    • Drug & Alcohol Testing

    • Disadvantage Business Enterprise Report

    • Preventive Maintenance Reporting

    • Operating Assistance Financial Report

      NIRPC Transit Asset Management Group Plan for Small Providers

      
      

    • Capital Cost of Contracting Financial Report

    • Income Financial Report

    • ADA Review Documentation

    • Biennial Review Documentation

    • Certifications and Assurance Compliance

    • Availability of Local Match Annual Report

    • Triennial Review Documentation

    • State Board of Accounts Audit

      

    • Procurement Documentation

• Projects in the TIP that have not been obligated in two years after their original program year, will be cancelled, adding the total of cancelled federal funds into the availability for funds in the upcoming year.

• If an operator does not have enough local match to replace multiple vehicles in a single year, the operator may choose to “bump” a vehicle from one year to another, advancing the priority of all other replacements, provided the group can maintain its ULB thresholds.