Strafford Metropolitan Planning Organization
Technical Advisory Committee Meeting
DRAFT
June 6, 2008 Minutes
Present: Dave Sharples (Somersworth), Jeremy LaRose (COAST), Beverly Cray (UNH), Ed
Lemos (Barrington), Wallace Dunham (Madbury), Nick Alexander (NHDOT), John Law
(Farmington), Melodie Esterberg (Rochester), Larry Brown (Milton) and Bruce Woodruff
(Dover)
Proxy Votes: Diane Hardy (Newmarket)
Members Not Present: Mark Stevens (Middleton), Michael Clark (New Durham), Nathaniel
Leach (Rollinsford), Ed Jansen (Rollinsford), Diane Hardy (Newmarket), Craig Wheeler
(Somersworth), Steve Pesci (UNH), Shelley Winters (NHDOT Rails and Transit), Tom Reinauer
(SMRPC), Steve Ireland (NH DOT District 6), Dirk Timmons (UNH), Ed Wojnowski
(Newmarket), Rad Nichols (COAST) and Tom Dube (Wakefield)
Staff: Myranda McGowan (Transportation Planner) and Marilyn Barton (Administrative
Assistant)
Note: B. Woodruff called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m.
1.
Introductions
Introductions were made around the table and people gave their name and what town or agency
they were representing. B. Woodruff noted this was his last TAC meeting due to the fact his
term was up and dues were not paid by Dover to SRPC because of the FY09 budget.
B.Woodruff noted D. Sharples would be the new chair on July 1, 2008.
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2.
Staff Communications
M. McGowan stated the Policy Committee at their May 29, 2008 annual meeting approved
recommending changes to the Bylaws. She also noted that beginning in July 2008, appointments
to TAC would be two years instead of one and notices would be sent out for next year’s
appointments in the next month.
M. McGowan stated new language has been added to the Prospectus based on the NH STIP
Revision Procedures and each of the four MPO’s in NH will use this language in their respective
Prospectuses. She noted there would be three variations of amendments: Full amendment,
Administrative Modification and Information Only. M. McGowan stated the two changes would
be done by a monthly report received from NHDOT. She stated C. Copeland in her role, as
Executive Director, would then review these changes with the Executive Committee to approve
or disapprove the recommendations. M. McGowan noted the TAC committee would have a
chance to voice an opinion as well, as a letter would be sent out monthly to TAC members, prior
to the Executive Committee Meeting, regarding any information only or administrative
modification changes. M. McGowan opened the discussion for questions.
M. McGowan noted an update from B. Watson, of NHDOT, that stated, “Based on a number of
comments received to date, many of them being very similar to those Bruce Woodruff and others
expressed at the TAC meeting, the DOT is not going to immediately hold a statewide meeting
(previously considered for this week) and will not be pushing to complete the plan by June 30.
As we continue to work through the comments and issues raised during the public comment
period, we will be sure to keep everyone up to date on the progress we are making and the
schedule for completion.” M. McGowan stated the section of the May 2, 2008 TAC minutes
relating to the NHDOT Statewide Long Range Plan would be submitted to NHDOT along with
comments from the Strafford MPO.
M. McGowan stated the NH Legislation recently passed a bill that requires NH drivers to give
those on bicycles three feet when passing them. She noted in the upcoming year there would be
education for drivers and updates for driving education programs. M. McGowan stated there
was an additional piece added to the bill recommending that bicyclists wear reflective gear at
night so they can be clearly seen.
M. McGowan stated the next SRPC meeting would be July 11, 2008 at the SRPC office due to
the July 4 holiday occurring on the first Friday of the month.
There were no other staff communications.
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3. Draft Strafford MPO TAC May 2, 2008 Minutes
M. McGowan stated B. Watson noticed an error under number five of the May 2, 2008 minutes.
He stated the comment period should be May 2 through June 13 and not June 16 as reflected in
the minutes. M. McGowan noted the error had been corrected.
B. Woodruff entertained the motion to approve and adopt the minutes from May 2, 2008 as
amended. D. Sharples made a motion and L. Brown seconded the motion. All in favor, motion
passed unanimously.
4. 2009-2035 Metropolitan Transportation Plan
M. McGowan stated there were copies of the Background chapter of the Metropolitan
Transportation Plan available at the meeting that were previously emailed to TAC members. B.
Woodruff opened it up to discussion.
B. Woodruff noted on pages I-4 through I-6, Dover should either be moved to non-voting status
or have some notation as they will no longer be able to vote after July 1, 2008.
M. McGowan stated she wanted to discuss how to integrate the NH Long Range Plan into the
Metropolitan Plan and to discuss how that should be done. She stated there are good goals in
that plan, and wanted to know if the TAC would like to incorporate these goals into the revised
Strafford MPO 2009-2035 Metropolitan Transportation Plan. M. McGowan handed out copies
of the Executive Summary of the NH Long Range Plan for review.
B. Woodruff asked if she meant the Executive Summary should be placed into the
Transportation Plan for the MPO or the entire Long Range Plan or would it be included by
reference only?
M. McGowan stated that would be the question to discuss. She referenced page ten and the
seven goals the State had in their Long Range Plan and suggested these goals could be used for
the Metropolitan Transportation Plan.
B. Woodruff questioned the wording for mobility and mode choice and what it meant. M.
McGowan stated it’s the process of getting goods and people to their destination.
B.Woodruff stated he thought mobility and mode choice was not clear enough. B. Woodruff
stated public or mass transit is additional issue that should be added to the Metro Plan. He stated
funding to get public or mass transit is a core issue and should be stated as
funding/implementation of public transit in the Metro Plan.
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N. Alexander asked if there would be a section in the Metropolitan Transportation Plan devoted
to public transit, and M. McGowan replied that there would be one chapter devoted to public
transit.
B. Woodruff stated he was not criticizing what the State had in their plan; merely focusing on
public transit.
M. McGowan asked everyone to read and forward any comments.
M. McGowan stated the next chapter to discuss was the Alternative Fuels chapter. She noted on
page X-5 it focused on goals and strategies.
L. Brown noted on page X-11, it stated Milton Hardware was a propane fueling station. He
stated he did not think that was the case and M. McGowan stated she would research that.
B. Woodruff stated he liked the section about types of fuel and infrastructure needs as well as the
advantages and disadvantages.
B. Woodruff asked about contact information about the various groups referenced on pages X-20
and X-21? M. McGowan stated websites were referenced but additional contact information
could be added. B. Woodruff suggested including a different section on trends in future.
There were no additional comments.
5. STIP/TIP Amendment
M. McGowan stated COAST recently requested the Strafford Metropolitan Planning
Organization (MPO) to amend their 2007-2010 TIP to reflect changes in funding for COAST and
the additional funding from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), New Freedoms Grant
Program and funding for the Dover Intercity Bus Service. She stated any changes be made in the
Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan (STIP) Amendment #8 is expected to be approved
towards the end of August.
M. McGowan noted all but one request is a full amendment; the other request, for general
planning, is an information only change. She stated that Strafford MPO staff have written a draft
version of the request letter for the Information Only change and that would be sent to TAC
members (as discussed earlier during the conversation regarding Administrative Modification
and Information Only Changes for STIP Requests) asked all members to read and if there are any
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changes to please let her know. She stated this would be a template that will be used in the
future.
B. Woodruff suggested that additional information should be added regarding the reasons for the
Information Only Change that might influence their decision regarding the request.
M. McGowan stated that Strafford MPO staff had written another draft letter for TAC to review
regarding the March Monthly Minor Revisions should be looked over to see if any changes to
need to be made.
N. Alexander stated there needed to be a change in the wording on the last sentence of the first
paragraph. He stated “made” should be changed to “reported”.
B. Woodruff stated it would be helpful to have the amount the line item was increased to and the
reason it was increased. M. Esterberg stated that would be helpful for making recommendations
and stated that the reasons for the project increase for the Rochester project was due to increase
ledge work.
M. McGowan stated she would send both letters (COAST Information Only STIP Request and
the March Monthly Minor Revisions request) to TAC members by email prior to the Executive
Committee meeting on June 13, 2008.
6. Project Updates
M. McGowan stated May 16, 2008 was Bike/Walk to Work Day 2008 and this year’s event was
a huge success. She noted the following communities in our region participated: Dover,
Durham, Lee, Milton and Rochester. B. Woodruff asked if there were any statistics on where the
workplaces were for those who participated. M. McGowan stated that information was not
available. B. Woodruff stated that information might be good for future reference as well as total
miles saved. M. McGowan stated that could be included for next year.
M. McGowan stated the proposed Farmington Pedestrian Safety Action Plan was presented to
the SPR Advisory Committee on May 19, 2008. She noted as of this week no decision had been
made. N. Alexander stated results should be out in the next couple of weeks and that the
presentation was well received by the SPR Advisory Committee.
M. McGowan stated on May 12, 2008 Operation Lifesaver Presentations were given to the
Newmarket Schools. According to Lyman Cousens, NH Operation Lifesaver Coordinator, eight
presentations were given to at 500 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. She stated on
June 2, 2008 presentations were given to grades kindergarten through fifth grade to students in
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Milton and Lebanon, Maine due to an unfortunate accident in that area. M. McGowan noted
Lyman Cousens is currently scheduling additional presentations to other schools that have rail
corridors in their towns. She stated to have a presentation scheduled in a community to contact
Lyman Cousens at lymancousens@comcast.net.
M. McGowan stated applications for the second round of Safe Routes to School were submitted.
She noted one application from the William Allen School in Rochester was submitted from the
region. M. McGowan handed out copies of the application and scoring criteria. She stated each
Regional Planning Commission has until July 7 to score each application and submit to the Safe
Routes to School’s Statewide Advisory Committee. B. Woodruff asked if these scored
applications would be sent to TAC members for review. M. McGowan stated staff will score the
application and will send the scored application the TAC members for review before the July 7
deadline.
M. Esterberg noted a change to be made on page three. She stated Terry Desjardin is not a
council member; rather she is on the Planning Board Chair, employee of the school, and a parent.
M. Esterberg explained that the construction project that is referred to in the William Allen
School’s Safe Routes to School application has been delayed three years per the Capital
Improvements Program (CIP) of the city of Rochester.
M. Esterberg stated COAST went before City Council in Rochester requesting advertising on bus
shelters to increase revenue.
J. LaRose stated COAST met with the City of Rochester to discuss the possibility of advertising
on bus shelters. J. LaRose stated that the City of Rochester has agreed to let COAST put
advertising on the two bus shelters that are in Rochester. J. LaRose explained that the
advertising on the bus shelters would increase funding for bus service without increasing the
amount of funding that the City of Rochester would have to provide. J. LaRose also stated that
the City of Rochester would not decrease the amount of money that the City of Rochester will
provide to COAST as a result of advertising on the bus shelters. He noted they have received
increasing calls on this issue.
N. Alexander noted an update to STIP Amendment #6 that Durham Wildcat was waiting for
approval for a smaller bus.
B. Woodruff stated Dover, in its quest to save taxpayers’ money, did not touch COAST as
requested in the budget and is going forward with Dover Fastrans service. B. Woodruff thanked
everyone for the last year during his time as chair.
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L. Brown stated he is becoming the new chair for the Executive Committee for the upcoming
year.
7. Adjournment
Bruce entertained the motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:25 a.m. N. Alexander made a motion
and J. Law seconded the motion. All in favor, motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Marilyn Barton
Administrative Assistant
Strafford Regional Planning Commission
Bruce Woodruff
Strafford MPO Technical Advisory Committee Chair