Transportation Resource Oversight Committee Meeting (Lake & Porter Counties)

6100 Southport Road

Portage, Indiana 46368

(219) 763-6060

www.nirpc.org

January 26, 2021, 9:00 am CST Zoom link:

https://zoom.us/j/96751165521?pwd=NFB3M05GL0Vnc3dzVDljZEsva05FQT09

Meeting ID: 967 5116 5521

Passcode: 985471

Join by phone: 312-626-6799) (This a virtual meeting)

Agenda

1. Call to Order by Staff and Pledge of Allegiance

   
   

2. Meeting Minutes of October 27, 2020

   ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

3. Meeting Minutes of December 16, 2020

   ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

4. Public Comments

   This is an opportunity for comments from members of the audience. The amount of time available to speak will be limited to 3 minutes. Commenters must indicate their wish to comment on the sign-in sheet.

   
   

5. 2020-2024 Transportation Improvement Program

   The Spending Plan spreadsheet with changes will be provided prior to the meeting.

   ACTION REQUESTED: For Discussion

   
   

6. NOFA

   The spreadsheet with all the applications will be reviewed and recommendations will be sent to the TPC.

   ACTION REQUESTED: Approval

   
   

7. New Business

   1. Local Quarterly meetings are Thursday Feb 4, Wednesday Feb 10, and Thursday Feb 11. A schedule was sent out to everyone.

   2. Other Business not discussed earlier.

      
      

8. Adjournment

The next regularly scheduled TROC Lake/Porter Meeting is scheduled for April 27, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. Location and format to be determined later.

Transportation Resource Oversight Committee Meeting (Lake and Porter County)

Tuesday, October 27, 2020 Minutes

This meeting was convened as an electronic meeting, pursuant to Governor Holcomb’s Executive Order 20-04 and 20-09, extended by Executive Order 20-46. All persons were meeting remotely on a Google Meet platform that allowed for real time interaction and supported the public’s ability to observe and record the proceedings. When the agenda item was provided for public comment, this was supported as well.

Charles Bradsky called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was taken by Candice Eklund. In attendance were Duane Alverson (Lake County), Kevin Breitzke (Porter County), Robert Thompson (Porter County), Heather Evans (Crown Point), AJ Bytnar (Gary), Dean Button (Hammond), Mayor Brian Snedecor (Hobart), Phil Gralick (Hobart), Sandy Kolb (Portage), Jeff Huet (Schererville), George Topoll (Union Township), Michael Jabo (Valparaiso), Don Oliphant, Amy Baker, Glenn Petersen, Chris Murphy, Jake Dammarell, Dennis Cobb, Tim Hollandsworth, Ryan Lisak, and Joyce Newland.

NIRPC staff included Charles Bradsky, Kevin Polette, Flor Baum, and Candice Eklund Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the July 28, 2020 TROC meeting were approved on motion by Dean Button and

second by Robert Thompson. With Duane Alverson, Robert Thompson, Heather Evans, AJ Bytnar, Dean Button, Phil Gralick, Sandy Kolb, Jeff Huet, George Topoll, and Michael Jabo voting in the affirmative, and no one voting in the negative, the motion passed.

Public Comments

There were no public comments.

NOFA Summary

Charles Bradsky informed the committee that the applications received in the NOFA for FY 2025 and 2026 totaled $123,234,548. The brief summary of the applications received are below. Charles will distribute the spending plan and the spreadsheet reflecting the NOFA applications submitted to the committee.

• Group 1 - 47 applications $119,070,874

• Group 2 - 4 applications $4,163,674

• Air Quality - 1 application $720,000

• Complete Streets - 1 application $2,463,650

• Multi-Use Paths - 12 applications $19,420,933

• New Roadways - 5 applications $21,181,362

• Planning - 3 applications $1,756,261

• Quality of Place - 3 applications $11,447,212

• Road/Bridge - 26 applications $66,445,130

2020-2024 Transportation Improvement Program:

Charles Bradsky provided updates to the spending plan items below.

1. DES #1601147 Burns Harbor, down-scope and move letting to FY 2022 from FY 2025. To accommodate this request, Charles negotiated with the Area Plan Commission of

   Tippecanoe County (APCTC) to loan funding to them in FY 2020. The APCTC will return half of the funding in 2021 and the other half in 2024, allowing DES #1601147 to move to FY 2022.

2. Dean Button presented on DES #1601145, requesting to change the scope of the project from a Multi-Use Trail to a Complete Streets project due to the operation of the combined sewer overflow basin after the federal funding of $1,200,000 was awarded. The City of Hammond presented this request to the Ped, Peddle, and Paddle (3PC) Committee where it received unanimous approval. On motion by AJ Bytnar, second by Michael Jabo, and Dean Button abstaining, the TROC Committee approved this request to be presented at the Technical Planning Committee (TPC) meeting in November for final approval. With Duane Alverson, Robert Thompson, Heather Evans, AJ Bytnar, Phil Gralick, Sandy Kolb, Jeff Huet, George Topoll, and Michael Jabo voting in the affirmative, and no one voting in the negative, the motion passed.

1. Charles provided the following updates on the spending plan.

   • FY 2021 - Balanced (the APCTC will return half of the loan)

   • FY 2022 - Deficit of $200,000, but there is $350,000 in the Change Orders category

   • FY 2023 - Balance of $1,903,986

   • FY 2024 - Balance of $727,000 (the APCTC will return the remainder of the loan)

Phil Gralick requested moving the purchase of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) trucks forward in the spending plan. Charles will review Phil’s request. Mayor Brian Snedecor said he appreciated the consideration to move the purchase of the vehicles up from 2024.

New Business

Charles noted the Local Quarterly Meetings (LQM) are scheduled for November 10, 16, and 17 and will be held virtually. A meeting invitation will be sent out and consultants are invited to attend.

Dean Button requested the cost escalation issues with the Local TRAX grants be placed on the TPC meeting agenda scheduled for November 10. Charles noted that Kathy McKalip, with INDOT, will schedule quarterly tracking meetings with the communities who have Local TRAX projects.

The NOFA applications that have been submitted will be discussed at the topical meetings for review in November. Sponsors of each project are requested to attend the meeting. The schedule of topical meetings are listed below. Any application requesting more than $6,000,000 will go before the TPC for further discussion.

• Surface Transportation Committee (STC) - Meeting originally scheduled on November 3rd but will be rescheduled due to it being election day. Note: The STC meeting was rescheduled for November 10 at 1 p.m.

• Environmental Management Policy Committee (EMPC) and Land Use Committee (LUC) meetings will be held on November 5 at 9:00 a.m. and 10:30 a.m., respectively.

• Technical Planning Committee (TPC) - Meeting scheduled for November 10 at 1:00 p.m.

Adjournment

Having no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:43 a.m. The next meeting will be held on January 26, 2021 at 9:00 a.m.

Transportation Resource Oversight Committee Working Group Meeting (Lake, Porter, and LaPorte Counties)

Wednesday 16, 2020 Minutes

This meeting was convened as an electronic meeting, pursuant to Governor Holcomb’s Executive Order 20-04 and 20-09, extended by Executive Order 20-47. All persons were meeting remotely on a Zoom platform that allowed for real time interaction and supported the public’s ability to observe and record the proceedings.

Charles Bradsky called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m. with the Pledge of Allegiance. Roll call was taken by Candice Eklund. In attendance were Duane Alverson (Lake County), Jay Sullivan (LaPorte County), Kevin Breitzke (Porter County), Robert Thompson (Porter County), Jennie Burgess (Crown Point), AJ Bytnar (Gary), Mark Gordish (Hammond), Phil Gralick (Hobart), Adrian Vera (Lake Station), Nick Minich (City of La Porte), Sarah Nimetz (City of La Porte), Beth West (La Porte Transit), Skyler York (Michigan City), Shannon Eason (Michigan City), Sandy Kolb (Portage), Michael Jabo (Valparaiso), Beth Shrader (Valparaiso Transit), Mark O’Dell (Chesterton), Richard Konopasek (Griffith), Tom Schmitt (Schererville), Jeff Huet (Schererville), Nick Bellar (Winfield), David Wright (GPTC), Don Oliphant, Chris Murphy, Wing Lau, Eric Wolverton, Jake Dammarell, Dennis Cobb, Trisha Nugent, Michael Duffy, and Joyce Newland.

NIRPC staff included Charles Bradsky, Meredith Stilwell, Kevin Polette, Scott Weber, and Candice Eklund.

Charles Bradsky discussed the project funding types, targets for each of the years, and the tiers projects are categorized in the NOFA. In an internal NIRPC meeting, it was discovered that new roadways and road expansion projects fell into the Tier 3 category, which does not have any funding. Several of the committee members voiced their concerns and agreed that new roadways and road expansion projects should be categorized in Tier 2 for fairness, especially with the corridor studies that NIRPC conducted.

Kevin Breitzke stated he would support moving the new roadways and road expansion projects from Tier 3 to Tier 2, but the city planners would need to verify the additional construction costs and the time frame for their projects.

Charles documented the comments and concerns that were discussed during the NOFA application scoring meetings and sent them to the committee members. These items will be discussed when the NOFA continuous improvement working group convenes. It was felt that legacy projects may receive additional points in future NOFA’s, but would depend on the readiness and time frame of the project.

Michael Jabo suggested evaluating and prioritizing the projects currently in Tier 3 and selecting 2-3 projects, including one for LaPorte County, for this NOFA. Mark O’Dell also suggested possibly adding phases to projects to allow funding for additional projects.

Hearing no objections, a motion was received by Robert Thompson and seconded by Kevin Breitzke to make a recommendation to the TPC on moving new roadways and roadway expansion projects from Tier 3 to Tier 2 and evaluate what projects from Group 1 and Group 2 funds would move into this year's TIP. With Duane Alverson, Jay Sullivan, Robert Thompson, AJ Bytnar, Mark Gordish, Phil Gralick, Adrian Gera, Nick Minich, Skylar York, Sandy Kolb, Michael Jabo, Beth Shrader, Mark O’Dell, Richard Konopasek, Jeff Huet, Nick bellar, and David Wright voting in the affirmative, and no one voting in the negative, the motion passed.

Kevin Breitzke asked if it would be beneficial to schedule another meeting to evaluate what projects would be selected to be recommended to the TPC. Joyce Newland stated the projects being evaluated

would have to be committed in NIRPC’s long range plan, NWI 2050, and their air quality conformity to avoid sending a false positive to the federal agency on the air quality analysis. Scott Weber will run the air quality analysis report and include these projects in the NWI 2050 plan.

An amendment to the NWI 2050 plan is scheduled for next April, and the recommended projects will be included in the amendment. Scott concurred that any new roadway projects that would be added, would go through air quality conformity as well as the congestion management process and would be an amendment to the NWI 2050 plan.

It was agreed the next meeting to evaluate and rank the projects that will move from Tier 3 to Tier 2 will be held at a Surface Transportation Committee (STC) meeting. Tom Schmitt agreed to hold this meeting on January 5, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. to make a recommendation to the Technical Planning Committee (TPC) which two or three projects would be moved into this NOFA.

Adjournment

Having no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:12 a.m. The next TROC meetings are scheduled on February 23, 2021. Lake and Porter Counties will meet at 9:00 a.m. and LaPorte County will meet at 1:00 p.m.

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