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Home My WebLink AboutMinutes_GTEC_03.17.2010Minutes of the Meeting of Georgetown Transportation Enhancement Corporation and the Governing Body of the City of Georgetown, Texas Wednesday, March 17, 2010 The Georgetown Transportation Enhancement Corporation of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met on Wednesday, March 17, 2010. Board Members Present: Gabe Sansing - President, Dale Ross - Vice President, Ray Armour - Sectretary, Ben Oliver - arrived at 2:03 PM, Kevin Kelly, Matthew Painter, Richard Anderson, Paul E. Brandenburg - General Manager, Micki Rundell - Finance Director Board Members Absent: Staff Present: Jim Briggs, Jana Kern, Laura Wilkins, Laurie Brewer, Ed Polasek, Bill Dryden, Mark Miller, Mark Thomas Others Present: Gary Gemar - HDR Engineering Minutes Regular Meeting Meeting was called to order by Paul Brandenburg on Wednesday, March 17, 2010 at 2:01 PM Moved immediately to Item F, G, & H Board may, at any time, recess the Regular Session to convene in Executive Session at the request of the Chair, a Board Member, the City Manager, Assistant City Manager, City Council Member, or legal counsel for any purpose authorized by the Open Meetings Act, Texas Government Code Chapter 551, and are subject to action in the Regular Session that follows. I. STAFF BOARD COMMENTS/QUESTIONS: (This is a short informational time regarding items where specific actions are not requested or needed) A. Introduction of City Staff and GTEC Board members. B. Project Progress Reports - Dryden asked if there were any questions concerning the reports. Armour asked if the appraisals have come in on project 14A (Wolf Ranch Pkwy Extension)? Dryden stated that they have not come in yet. Ross asked for clarification – Dryden explained we will take the appraisal and visit with the Wolf Family and based on the Wolf family choice we will choose the alignment. C. Monthly Financial Report - given by Brewer D. Meeting Process - Briggs explained the process and the items for discussion E. Industry/CAMPO/Updates - Polasek – gave update on CAMPO 2035 Plan. Plan to go to Council Workshop April 13, 2010. CAMPO is also in the process of revisiting the Joint Powers Agreement- which is the organizational shell that helps CAMPO operate. This agreement is between the County, TxDOT, and the transit providers. The revised agreement shows that Georgetown has 50K people, therefore, Georgetown automatically has a seat on the CAMPO policy board. If this is approved, City Council will vote for a voting member and an alternate. Ross – when will this go into effect – Polasek as soon as all five parties sign the agreement. Ross – how will the City select those two persons. Polasek – depends on the Mayor. Polasek – we have been working with TxDOT on 1460 project – pass through funding available. Should we apply for pass through funding or how do we move forward with our Bond money? Briggs - DB Wood came in half a million under what was budgeted – those savings can be allocated to the bond projects – this is the proposal to take to Council. II. LEGISLATIVE REGULAR AGENDA: (This is for specific action items considered by the Board – greater than $50,000 in value) F. Board nominations and election of President of the GTEC Board. -- Paul E. Brandenburg Discussion: None Action: Motion by Ross, seconded by Armour to nominate Gabe Sansing as President Approves 5-0-2 (Sansing abstained, Oliver absent for this vote only) G. Board nominations and election of Vice -President of the GTEC Board. -- Paul E. Brandenburg Discussion: None Action: Motion by Armour, seconded by Anderson to nominate Dale Ross as Vice President. Approved 6-0-1 (Ross abstained) H. Board nominations and election of Secretary of the GTEC Board. -- Paul E. Brandenburg Discussion: None Action: Motion by Ross, seconded by Oliver to nominate Ray Armour for Secretary. Approved 6-0-1 (Armour abstained) Moved back to Item A I. Review and possible action to approve the minutes from the regular GTEC Board meeting held on February 17, 2010. --Laura Wilkins Discussion: None Action: Motion by Ross, seconded by Painter to approve minutes as presented Approved 7-0 J. Consideration and possible recommendation to approve an amendment to Task Order No. 1 with HDR Engineering, Inc., of Austin, for professional engineering services for further environmental investigations to determine the impact of the project to endangered species for the Southwest Bypass between State Highway 29 (SH 29) and Leander Road (FM 2243) in the amount of $94,802.00 – Bill Dryden, Tom Benz Discussion: Dryden explained the item. He stated that additional work needs to be done due to karst features and the golden cheeked warbler habitat issues. Additional fees depend upon whether karst features show that there are endangered species present. Plan to do an on ground study to determine if there are endangered species is in this area, and to see if there are any heritage trees present. Sansing – several studies have already been done why are we doing these additional studies? Dryden – with in the past year Williamson County Conservation Foundation (WCCF) was form. Briggs – no one has gone this far in the project, and because of the environmental factors we have to do this. If we did not ha ve the WCCF plan, we will not be able to move forward on this project. Ross – The 400K who pays and to whom? Briggs - City pays to the plan. Ross - Best case $400K worst case $1.6 MIL? Briggs – yes. Oliver what things are we doing? Dryden – First - Connectivity of the 4 cave entrances (prove that they are connected – to pay less money) second is the golden cheeked warbler, third is the heritage trees. Ross – did we not anticipate this before? Answered by Gemar – originally Wilco conservation society was not formed – we went with US Fish and Wildlife criteria. Now with the society being formed (about a year ago) and requires approval of US Fish and Wildlife. Subconsultant – was working with Wilco - they have a unique program. Ross – anymore surprises going forward? Gemar – had meeting with representative for Williamson County on this. Unless they change something with this, which at this point we do not feel that this would happen. We are comfortable with what we are doing now. Ross – are there contingency fees built in? Gemar – none expected – unless they change the rules. Oliver – what if they find birds. Gemar – don’t have to find birds nesting – just pay to mitigate. Additional discussion on worst case scenario costs. Ross – question about the location of the subcontractors and if any local firms exist to do these functions. No – except for Diamond Surveying who is from Georgetown. Painter – explain about negotiations. Gemar – make case to conservation found- ation that we cannot prove caves are not connected – through scientific data we collect – that is how we negotiate. Gray areas involved, etc. However, we neg otiate for the lowest fee and feel we can make a very good case for minimal amount. Painter – what happens if we can not agree – what is our recourse? Gemar – only two have happened – but they have not gotten out of hand and they have not shown any tendency to be unreasonable. Briggs - could end up in federal court. So part of the reason the plan was developed is to allow roads to continue to be developed and appease Conservation groups – this is the best way to reach middle ground. ACTION: Motion by Armour, second by Kelly to approve amendment to Task Order #1 in the amount of $94,802.00. Approved 6-1-0 (Ross opposed) Regular Session ended at 3:05 PM Ross left meeting at 3:05 PM III. STRATEGIC PLANNING/ISSUES: EXECUTIVE SESSION CALLED TO ORDER by Gabe Sansing at 3:07 PM In compliance with the Open Meetings Act, Chapter 551, Government Code, Vernon ’s Texas Codes, Annotated, the items listed below will be discussed in closed session and are subject to action in the regular session that follows. Section 551.087 Economic Development Negotiations K. Discussion and possible action regarding Infrastructure Strategies -- Mark Thomas Executive Session adjourned at 3:48 PM RETURN TO REGULAR SESSION call back to order at 3:49 PM L. Action from Executive session if necessary Item K Action: Motion by Oliver seconded by Painter to authorize staff to proceed with negotiations for project infrastructure, entertain final proposal, and begin finding process that is a GTEC eligible project. Friendly amendment by Armour - finding process on both tracts as long as it is separable from decision to actually build. Amendment accepted. Approved 6-0-1 (Ross absent) Motion by Oliver, seconded by everyone to adjourn. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 03:51 PM. Approved : Attest: _______________________ ________________________ Gabe Sansing - President Ray Armour - Secretary