MATS Policy Committee meeting on Wednesday 12-19-07

	Here is audio of meeting - 12-19-07  The audio is 11.5 MB big in MP3 format. It should open automatically with Windows Media Player, or it may just simply open automatically in another program.   Susan Hanberry Martin -  CAC report begins at 10 minutes before the ending.  Chairman Bishop tried to deny her time to read our report (which we understood from the CAC meeting - should have been listed as an agenda item, but it was not) Bishop never actually said "Shut Up!" to the citizens.  But, Bishop did try to abort the CAC report several times.  Listen here to one minute of his anti-citizen, fillibustering, rhetoric:... ( Listen)
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	Policy Committee members  as of June 2008 Chairman – Robert Reichert, Mayor, City of Macon Vice-Chairman – Charles W. Bishop, Chairman, Bibb County Commission Voting Members Elmo Richardson – Chairman, Bibb County Finance Committee Bert Bivins – Chairman, Bibb County Public Works Committee Miriam Paris - President, Macon City Council Lonnie Miley - Chairman, City of Macon Public Works Committee Frank Amerson – Chairman, Macon Water Authority Tom Hudson – Chairman, Macon Transit Authority Damon King – Chairman, Macon-Bibb County Planning & Zoning Commission James H. Webb – Chairman, MATS Citizen’s Advisory Committee Richard Mullis – Mayor, Payne City Mell Merritt – Commissioner, Jones County Commission Bert Liston – Commissioner, Jones County Commission Larry Childs – Commissioner, Jones County Commission Tom McMichael – Chairman, Middle Georgia Regional Development Commission Gena Abraham – Commissioner, Georgia Department of Transportation Non-voting Members Vernon B. Ryle III – Executive Director, Macon-Bibb Co. Planning & Zoning Commission Mike Anthony – Interim Chief Administrative Officer, City of Macon Danny Tavakol – Interim Manager, City Engineering Department Ken Sheets – Bibb County Engineer Nigel Floyd – Macon-Bibb County Traffic Engineer Robert E. Fountain, Jr. – Chairman, Macon-Bibb Co. Industrial Authority Bob Lewis – Chairman, Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority Lala Scales – Chairman, Jones County Planning Commission Ralph Nix – Executive Director, Middle Georgia Regional Development Center Larry Walker – 8th District Representative, Ga. State Transportation Board Rodney Barry – Division Administrator, FHWA Vacant – Local Representative, State of Georgia
	MATS POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES December 19, 2007 A meeting of the MATS Policy Committee was held on December 19th at 9:30 a.m. in the County Engineering Annex. There were 8 voting members present, thereby establishing a quorum. The minutes of the previous meeting were introduced and approved. The first item discussed was the draft Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) presented by Jim Thomas. Mr. Thomas stated that this document outlines the work tasks by funding category and the final copy of the UPWP will be presented in May. Subsequently, a motion was made by Susan Hanberry Martin and seconded by Elmo Richardson to approve the draft UPWP. The motion was approved unanimously by the committee. The next item was the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and TIP amendments presented by Vernon Ryle. According to the SAFETEA-LU requirements, projections by network year for road projects are required based on year of expenditure amounts. Therefore, the revenue and cost items for projects must use an inflation rate to reflect the year of expenditure dollars. Furthermore, the plan must be financially balanced according to the requirements. In addition, the CMAQ projects were presented to the committee members for inclusion in the TIP. These projects involve the retrofit of existing vehicles and the purchase of hybrid vehicles. Mr. Ryle also stated that a new set of CMAQ applications are currently being prepared for submittal to the Georgia D.O.T. A resolution to amend the LRTP and TIP was presented by Mr. Ryle to include the year of expenditures estimates and the CMAQ projects. Subsequently, a motion was made by Susan Hanberry Martin and seconded by Tony Rojas to approve the resolution amending the LRTP and the TIP which was approved by the committee. Susan Hanberry Martin also added that the CAC was not able to recommend approval of the resolution. Vernon Ryle also discussed the Conformity Determination Report (CDR). This document is done in order to comply with the air quality requirements for PM 2.5 and ozone levels. As part of the CDR, a regional emission analysis is required using specified modeling techniques. The conformity determination for the amended LRTP and TIP met the required federal emission standards. A resolution to amend the CDR was introduced to the Policy Committee by Vernon Ryle. Subsequently, a motion was made by Mayor Reichert and Tony Rojas to adopt the CDR resolution which was subsequently approved by the committee. The next item discussed on the agenda was the Project Status Report. Tom Queen of Georgia D.O.T. stated that the HPP projects had been added to the report and a meeting concerning the I-75/I-16 interchange project had been held. He also stated that a concept had not been developed yet for the reconfiguration of the Lower Thomaston Rd. and Lamar Rd. intersection. It was determined by GDOT that a roundabout for this project was not feasible and Vernon Ryle asked if this matter could be explained in more detail. Tom Queen stated that in the future the Planning & Zoning Office will be invited to road concept meetings and be provided with right of way plans. Tony Rojas requested that the project status report include all projects and not just preconstruction items. In addition, Lonnie Miley inquired about the Millerfield Rd. project and stated there were sections where the sidewalks were not complete. Charles Bishop commented that David Lucas had already discussed this matter with GDOT. Furthermore, Van Etheridge stated that this project could be completed once the environmental document had been approved. Under New Business, Vernon Ryle stated that at future MATS meetings, the comments of the CAC should be included on the agenda. Susan Hanberry Martin presented a memo from the CAC containing a number of items that were discussed at their last meeting. One of the items requested that all documents to be voted on by the MATS Committees be presented two weeks before the scheduled meeting. Subsequently, Charles Bishop stated that the Policy Committee would not able to vote on the items at this time. Furthermore, Tony Rojas suggested that this item should be placed on the agenda for the next meeting so it can be reviewed in more detail. Charles Bishop stated that the CAC memo would be taken under consideration at the next Policy meeting and there will also be a review of the MATS By-laws and CAC appointments. Finally, the new MATS Policy members in attendance were introduced to the committee. Being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.
	MATS TECHNICAL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES December 12, 2007 A meeting of the MATS Technical Coordinating Committee was held on December 12th at 10 a.m. in the Planning & Zoning Office. There were 10 voting members present, thereby establishing a quorum. The minutes of the previous meeting were introduced and approved. The first item discussed was the draft Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) presented by Jim Thomas. Mr. Thomas stated that this document is required in order to receive federal grants. He reviewed the work program for FY 2009 that included such tasks as MATS Coordination and Citizen Outreach programs. The final copy of the UPWP will be presented in May. Subsequently, a motion was made by Phil Clark and seconded by James Webb to recommend the draft UPWP to the Policy Committee for approval. The motion was approved unanimously by the committee. The next item was the Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) and TIP amendments presented by Vernon Ryle. According to the SAFETEA-LU requirements, projections by network year for road projects are required based on year of expenditure amounts. Therefore, the revenue and cost items for projects must use an inflation rate to reflect the year of expenditure dollars. This information was presented to the committee in an amendment to the LRTP. In addition, the CMAQ projects were also presented to the committee members for inclusion in the TIP. These projects involve the retrofit of existing vehicles and the purchase of hybrid vehicles. In addition, Mr. Ryle stated that a new set of CMAQ applications are currently being prepared for submittal to the Georgia D.O.T. Subsequently, a motion was made by Phil Clark and seconded by Kelly Gwin to approve the amendments to the LRTP and the TIP which was approved by the committee. Vernon Ryle also discussed the Conformity Determination Report (CDR). This report is done in order to comply with the air quality requirements for PM 2.5 and ozone levels. The revisions to the CDR involved the different network years for the various road projects. A motion was made by Vernon Ryle and seconded by Ken Sheets to adopt the CDR which was subsequently approved by the committee unanimously. The next item discussed on the agenda was the Project Status Report. Tom Queen of Georgia D.O.T. stated that the HPP projects had been added to the report and a meeting concerning the I-75/I-16 interchange project had been held. He also stated that a meeting concerning the Sardis Church extension had been held and that ROW plans had been approved and property acquisition had begun for this project. Van Etheridge also stated a meeting with the GDOT Urban Design section had been held concerning the project and the problems of the residents in the area were presented. As a result of the meeting, the issues of the citizens were resolved and no houses will be taken as part of the project. Under New Business, Vernon Ryle stated that at future MATS Technical meetings, the comments of the CAC should be presented. He also stated that a committee should be formed to review the existing road projects and work with Georgia D.O.T. This committee should be composed of Jim Thomas, Tim Pitrowski, Phil Clark, and Ken Sheets. James Webb presented a memo from the CAC containing a number of motions that were made at their last meeting. One motion requested that all documents to be voted on by the MATS Committees be presented two weeks before the scheduled meeting. Subsequently, a motion was made by Phil Clark and seconded by Danny Tavakol to forward this recommendation to the Policy Committee which was approved by the TCC members. Another motion that was presented by Mr. Webb stated that the MPO and MATS Committees be provided in the future with updated plans for road projects. Tom Queen of Georgia D.O.T. stated that approved ROW plans for road projects could be made available at the MPO level. Other motions discussed included RIP projects as part of the MATS process and the mediation of the Forest Hill Rd. project. After the memo was presented, it was decided that this information should be presented to the Policy Committee for further review. Also under New Business, Phil Clark stated that the Safe Routes to School plan was scheduled to be finished in March. Being no further business to discuss, the meeting was adjourned.