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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-19-2021 Policy Board Meeting MinutesFranklin County Planning Department 218 North Second Street Chambersburg, PA 17201 Phone: 717-261-3855 Fax: 717-264-8667 Email: planning@franklincountypa.gov FRANKLIN COUNTY METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION POLICY BOARD MEETING August 19, 2021 – 10am Meeting Minutes I.Welcome and IntroductionChairman Sam Cressler called the meeting to order at 10:12 AM. II.Meeting Minutes – May 13, 2021Chairman Cressler asked Kenana Korkutovic to correct the usage of “Southampton Township” toread either “Shippensburg Borough” or “Shippensburg Area.” Motion to approve the May 13th minutes was made by Beth Raves and seconded by Allen Coffman. III.New Businessa. I-81 Improvement Strategy Update Justin Gochenauer from Michael Baker gave a presentation on the ongoing I-81 ImprovementStrategy. Steve Thomas sits on the Project Management Committee with Lebanon, Tri-County/HATS, PennDOT Representatives, and FHWA which meets on a monthly basis. Conversation followed regarding highway capacity levels in Franklin County. David Mackley stated that the MPO should advocate for federal funding in light of the new infrastructure bill inthat passed in the Senate. Steve Thomas said the MPO is watching the infrastructure bill closely. b.Long Range Transportation Plan UpdateLaurel Stelter gave a presentation on the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) which started on July 1st. Steve Thomas said the anticipated adoption date is May 2023 and that KenanaKorkutovic is going to reach out to some MPO members to join the steering committee orengage in interviews. c.Coordinated Human Services Plan Aarion Franklin gave presentation on the findings of the Coordinated Human Services Plan. Adraft document will be sent to MPO and comments will be accepted until September 1, 2021. d.Transit ReportMatt Boyer provided an update on behalf of Commuter Services. COVID-19 is still impacting travel to work because telework is still in place for a lot of businesses. However, there has beenan uptick of transit and carpooling numbers lately. In July, 147 new people signed up for theprogram. There were 6,400 green trips tracked which is equivalent to 171,000 miles avoideddriving on roads. IV.Administrative Businessa.Letterkenny/Greene Township Ad Hoc Meeting UpdateGreg Lambert gave an update on the ad hoc committee which was created in the May MPOmeeting. There was a meeting held in July with Letterkenny Army Depot, Greene Township, andFranklin County Development Authority Corp in attendance. Letterkenny Army Depot has committed to installing and maintaining a new signal on SR 997, where the incoming/outgoing Army traffic will be rerouted to. They have also committed to studying the impacts of a newsignal on 997 to the existing 5-legged intersection of SR 997 and SR 433. Chairman Cressler asked if Greene Township has any recommendations for the 5-legged intersection, to which Greg Lambert says they prefer roundabout be put in rather than re- signalization. b.Legislative Letter of Support for Infrastructure SpendingA draft letter was sent out in the agenda packet. MPO staff took suggestions for finalizing the letter. Staff will do the revisions, get County approval, and send a finalized letter to the Policy Board. A motion was made by Commissioner Ziobrowski as approval to finalize the legislative letterof support for infrastructure spending contingent on comments being added and seconded byCommissioner Keller. c.TIP Administrative Amendments and Modificationsi.Chambersburg Signal Project Phase II FundingBeth Raves gave an explanation of funds for Phase II of the Chambersburg Signal Improvement Project. A copy of the TIP amendment was sent in the agenda packet to members. A motion to add the Chambersburg Signal Project Phase II funding as submitted FY2021-24 TIP was made by David Mackley and seconded by Allen Coffman. ii.Chambersburg Signal Project Full CabinetsJeff Heverly gave an update on the Signal Project. There was an increase in cost due tocabinets which amounted to about $40,000 additional or 1% of the total budget. d.Staff Report – Steve ThomasThe 2022-2024 Unified Planning Work Program is being drafted by staff. The LRTP willdominate the first year of this document. Steve Thomas hopes to do special studies in the secondyear. He asked that members provide feedback to MPO staff on suggestions of how to allocateUPWP funds. The 2022-2025 TIP is being drafted at a state level. Exit 12 will dominate most of the fundingfor the next few years. MPO staff will do outreach on the TIP as the planning progresses. V.Future MeetingsOctober 21, 2021 – FCMPO TAC Meeting at 9:30 AM November 18, 2021 – FCMPO Policy Board Meeting at 10 AM VI.Public Comment Greg Lambert provided an update on two projects that Greene Township has in the works. Improvements are being completed on Fifth Avenue and Parkwood Drive in Chambersburg. This is a cooperative effort with Chambersburg Borough. MPO staff will send a follow-up email to members including the presented attachments. There were no other public comments. VII.AdjournmentA motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Commissioner Ziobrowski and seconded by Allen Piper.