Macon-Bibb - Planning

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Macon-Bibb Planning and Zoning MBPZ.org

	Ga division of FHWA
	Macon Area Transportation Study memberships By-Laws Citizens Advisory Committee Caution Macon
	Next Meeting Dates: MATS Policy Meeting: Feb 3rd, 2010 If you have any questions, please call 751-7460. or 478.751.7463. Gregory L. Brown

	CAC Comments on the LRPT 4-29-09 The LRTP is not a document that looks forward. It tries to solve new problems with old thinking, and this just doesn't work. It hasn't worked in the past, and it certainly won't work in the future, particularly as the cost of fuel increases and its availability becomes limited. Planning wisdom says: if you plan roads for cars you get cars in your community. If you plan roads for people you get people. We are planning for cars, and that is all we are getting. We need to plan for people to stem the tide of the exodus to other counties. Instead, we are planning to accommodate THEIR cars at the expense of OUR people. The allocation of funds is terribly flawed. The LRTP shows 75% of future funds going to expansion of the local system. The rest goes for maintenance and transit, with about 6% for transit. New construction and expansion funding should be greatly decreased. Funding at this level is definitely not going to support the needs of the community in the future nor is it supported by the demand models which are also a part of the document. The demand models show flat growth across the community except on the interstate, particularly I-475. We do not need to devote most of our funding for new construction. Maintenance should be greatly increased. We also do not have enough money to properly maintain our existing infrastructure, and continued under-funding will only make this problem worse. The portion of the funding allocated for maintenance should be greatly increased. Transit funding should be greatly increased. Progressive communities understand that planning for transit makes a viable community. This is particularly true as the baby boom generation ages and a huge cohort (the senior citizen cohort is the group showing the most growth) reaches an age when driving a car is no longer advisable. In Bibb County we already have a large number of people living in poverty, and that cohort is not going to decrease, particularly if access to jobs is limited by the ability to get to them. As climate concerns receive the attention that they require, the communities that have planned for alternatives will be more attractive to industry. Why shouldn't Bibb be one of those communities? We need to map our neighborhoods. There are lots of maps in the plan, but this isn't one of them. Progressive communities map their neighborhoods. What this does is allow planning to reflect the values and the needs of the communities. We only look at a system of roads, not the places through which they travel. If planning is done from a neighborhood perspective, not only will it serve the county better, but planning can occur with the community instead of being imposed on the community. The LRTP as a document continues to show a commitment to the old DOT model of DAD – Design, Announce, and Defend. Changing the planning perspective to a neighborhood model will go a long way toward changing this paradigm. We are desperately in need of a new paradigm. Map vacant commercial properties. We know that we have a big problem with vacancies in the county, but how big is it? Without a map, we don't know how big the problem really is. Before we commit tax dollars to new infrastructure to accommodate shifting businesses, we need to think about incentives for redevelopment and/or disincentives for building new centers that will be vacant in a few years. All of this shifting costs the taxpayers money as they are still providing services for the vacant properties, while at the same time must meet expanding demand for the new. We can't afford to continue to do this. Map vacant residential properties. We know that there are many abandoned, vacant, and repossessed properties in Macon. It may be necessary to shrink the size of the city in some areas if properties that fall into these categories make up a large percentage of the neighborhood. Once again, we provide all of the services in these areas: schools, police protection, maintenance of infrastructure, and it may not be feasible to continue to do this. In some areas, it may be possible to develop appropriate properties into pocket parks or community gardens that can enhance the livability of the neighborhood.

ObamaBucks-GDOT-Stimulus_Package-for-original_AASHTO_survey.pdf - Dec 2008

Meetings:
Policy20080604.htm
CAC20080618.htm
CAC20080709.htm
CAC20081112.htm
Policy20090401.htm
Policy20091104.htm
TCC-2010-January20.htm
Policy20100203.htm

Traffic Cameras Bibb Engineering
The City of Macon	The County of Bibb
Georgia	U.S.A.

CAC Meeting at P+Z
12-5-07

(top-left picture) Theresa and Milton McKinney look at road plans in front of Jim Thomas. The McKinney home is being threatened by GaDOT plans to widen and move Sardis Church Road. See news articles here: about Sardis Church Rd.

(top-right) Christine Barwick who lives off Park Street outlines her neighborhood concerns about cut-through traffic speeding.

CAC Meeting at P+Z
12-5-07

From: "J H Webb" <jhw@mylink.net>
To: "Tim Thornton" <tdthornton@bellsouth.net>,
        "Susan Martin" <shanberry@stratford.org>,
        "Stella Tsai" <sitkdd@gmail.com>,
        "Mary Ann Richardson" <mar5331@cox.net>,
        "J H Webb" <jhw@mylink.com>,
        "Lindsay Holliday" <teeth@mindspring.com>,
        "Anthony Cunningham" <tony.cunningham@robins.af.mil>,
        "Amanda Upshaw" <amandaandjamesu@yahoo.com>,
        "Lee Martin" <mermaidlover@bellsouth.net>,
        "Dan Fischer" <FISCHER_DP@Mercer.edu>,
        "Susan Long" <salong946@cox.net>,
        "Greg Brown" <gbrown@mbpz.org>,
        "Jim Thomas" <jpthomas@mbpz.org>

Subject: report of the 12-12-07 TCC meeting
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2007

Dear CAC members,

I attended the TCC meeting on Wednesday, 12-12-07 and their agenda was essentially the same as ours.

During the "Old/New Business" portion of the agenda, Vernon made the announcement that the TCC and the Policy Committees would have added to their agendae a section for "CAC Report". (This was agreed on by the TCC and I suppose needs to be done for the Policy Committee, too, so whoever goes next Wednesday make sure it is mentioned.) This is a good step, and I thank Vernon for it because it gives us a scheduled portion of those meetings and treats us less like a step-child.

Vernon asked, and I agree, that when we give our reports, that the motions we report which are votes on agendae items be separate from any "New Business". This makes sense to me and I had thought of separating them on the attached memo anyway.

As for the fate of our motions, please refer to the attached memo with its eleven motions.

The first four motions are reporting our votes on the agenda items.
# 5 was discussed, although not voted on, with the FHWA representative and they were asked to investigate possibilities to accomplish this. They asked that we identify the specific issues and that they would see what they could do. Now, the motion asks for not just FHWA participation, so we need to suggest others and bring the concept to the MPO.
# 6 was discussed, heavily supported by both Vernon and Jim Thomas, and approved. It needs to be taken to the Policy Committee as well.
# 7 & # 8 were deferred until GDOT can inform us what they can do. Their representative promised that he would have an answer by the Policy Committee meeting on 12-19-07. So, it needs to be brought up and re-introduced at that meeting. (However, I can tell you that the words "halt all work" will kill it, so my suggestion is to be open to ammending it to make the main focus of the motion be "communication".) I said that these were being introduced on behalf of citizens who had come to us with problems, that the MPO staff had no idea what the situations really were, that we and they were frustrated, etc. Again, Vernon and Jim were supportive of the motion as a way to force communication their, and our, way.
# 9 was not voted on, per se, but Vernon made an impassioned speech about the need for this and there seemed to be a lot of agreement in the later discussions. This needs to be brought up at Policy for a vote.
# 10 & 11 were not asked to be voted on by TCC. They really should just go to the Policy Committee, but I brought the TCC's attention to them and said they would be introduced at the Policy meeting.

Lastly, staff announced that they were trying to go pretty much "paperless" for all committees in the future. Environmentally, this is a good thing. However, my later thought on it is that it is a little unfair to CAC in that the other committee members can print out, at tax-payer expense, the reams of paper and reports, whereas the CAC members would have to print them out at their own private expense. This does not seem quite right to me, and I will send Vernon a note about it, asking that the CAC be provided a few hard copies of the available (online) reports in the future.

Sorry I won't be able to attend on Wednesday,... I could not reschedule.

Regards,

Jaime Webb

James H. Webb, Associate Broker
Sheridan Solomon and Associates Realtors
2618 Riverside Drive
Macon, GA 31204
Tele: 800-329-9980, ext. 322 or 478-746-2000, ext. 322
Fax: 478-746-2003
email: jhw@mylink.net

CAC Motions
12-5-07

TO: MATS TCC and Policy Committee

FROM: MATS CAC

DATE: 5 December 2007

RE: Motions to be forwarded and actions to be recommended

On Wednesday, December 5, 2007, a regular meeting of the MATS Citizens Advisory Committee was held in the 10^th floor conference room of the Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning Commission beginning at approximately 5:00 p.m.. The meeting lasted three hours and, in addition to reviewing and voting on the agenda items, we heard from three concerned citizens about problems in their neighborhoods. A number of motions which addressed citizens’ concerns were made, discussed, voted on and unanimously approved. These motions are hereby referred to both the Technical Coordinating and the Policy Committees of the MATS:

1) The CAC voted to accept, without comment, the draft of the Unified Planning Work Program, FY 2009.

2) The CAC voted to accept, without comment, the Congestion Management & Air Quality Projects.

3) The CAC voted to register its agreement with the mathematical precepts of the Year of Expenditure Program Costs, however the committee does not agree with all of the projects and, therefore, cannot recommend approving or accepting it.

4) The CAC voted to pass along with no recommendation the Conformity Determination Report due to the fact that committee members do not possess the technical expertise to evaluate the data although we do question some of the assumptions and analyses.

5) The CAC makes the motion that the MATS staff investigate and arrange opportunities designed to educate the public and public officials about good transportation and urban planning issues and concepts. Such forums may include, but will not be limited to, FHWA personnel.

6) The CAC makes the motion that it be made a policy of all three MATS committees that all committees receive the agenda and all information and documents, which are to be reviewed and voted on at their next meeting, at least two full weeks prior to their respective meetings. Therefore, whichever committee meets first in the three-meeting cycle cannot be held unless this requirement is met and the two subsequent meetings must be scheduled accordingly.

7) The CAC makes the motion that GDOT be instructed to halt all work, including right-of-way plans and acquisitions, on all projects for which the public and the local planning agency have not seen final plans, and that the Policy Committee make it a policy that the MPO and the MATS committees receive regular updates on construction documents, plans which include delineation

of rights-of-way and construction easements, and all other pertinent information and documentation for all projects, current and future, which are planned for the MPO.

8) The CAC makes the motion that all RIP projects be transferred into the MATS process.

9) The CAC makes the motion that a “Needs Assessment” be conducted on all current and long-range transportation-related projects for our area which will include determination of a need for additional projects.

10) The CAC makes the motion that the Policy Committee hire an expert urban planner, acceptable to the Forest Hill Road residents, to assist said residents in the proposed mediation.

11) The CAC makes the motion that the Policy Committee ask GDOT to hold an “open discussion” public forum, with a Q&A-format, regarding the Forest Hill Road projects which includes current maps showing the project design, landscaping and right-of-way plans prior to the proposed mediation.

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)



i

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 19^th 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 12^th 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.

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