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2018 06 14 CC & P&Z MinutesMINUTES OF THE JOINT MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE PLANNING AND ZONING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BAYTOWN June 14, 2018 The City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission of the City of Baytown, Texas, met in a Joint Meeting on Thursday, June 14, 2018, at 6:36 P.M. in the Council Chamber of the Baytown City Hall, 2401 Market Street, Baytown, Texas with the following in attendance: Laura Alvarado Mayor Pro Tem Robert Hoskins Council Member Charles Johnson Council Member David Himsel Council Member Chris Presley Council Member Heather Betancourth Council Member Stephen H. DonCarlos Mayor Gilbert Chamber PZ Commissioner Spencer Carnes PZ Commissioner Pete Cote PZ Commissioner Donna Winfrey -Varner PZ Commissioner Oscar Chapa, Jr. PZ Commissioner Agustin Loredo PZ Commissioner Mayor DonCarlos convened the June 14, 2018, City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission Joint Meeting with a quorum present at 6:36 P.M., all members were present with the exception of Commissioners Foxworth, Wheeler and Boul, who were absent. 1. REPORTS a. Receive and discuss the findings and proposed recommendations of the State Highway 146 Subregional Study that was produced by the Houston -Galveston Area Council (H -GAC). Mayor DonCarlos presented the item and noted that this is a joint meeting between the Baytown City Council, and the Baytown Planning and Zoning Commission in order to jointly receive the Houston -Galveston Area Council (H -GAC) State Highway 146 Subregional Study. Mayor DonCarlos thanked the Planning and Zoning Commissioners present for the meeting as he is very aware that they are all extremely busy and have one of the most interesting jobs in the city. Director of Planning and Development Services Tiffany Foster welcomed those present and noted that staff and members from H -GAC would be going over the State Highway 146 Corridor Plan. She stated that about a year and a half ago, this project was started in coordination with H - GAC, the City of Mont Belvieu, the City of Liberty, Chambers County and Liberty County. She City Council & Planning and Zoning Joint Meeting Minutes June 14, 2018 Page 2 of 7 noted that the area in the study spans about a ten (10) mile area around SH 146 that goes all the way up to the Liberty County line. H -GAC engaged with Kimley-Horn to undertake this study and it took about a year and a half with several steering committee meetings and an open house in order to have this completed study before the Council and Commission. The study is the large book before each of the election/appointed officials and includes an executive summary of the study and supporting details, of which Mr. Michael Finney of Kimley-Horn will elaborate further. Kimley-Horn Project Manager Michael Finney introduced himself and Ms. Caroline Malves the H -GAC project manager on this study. Mr. Finney noted that this was really an interesting study to work on and as Mrs. Foster noted, it took about fifteen (15) months to complete it. Mr. Finney noted that he would quickly go through the study with the Council Members and Commissioners, which included all the proposed improvements and information on how to further engage the community on these items. Mr. Finney showed a map to outline the geographic area of the study. He noted that in the past, H -GAC has typically done a lot of linear studies called axis management, but in this study, they chose to go east and west to get more into the communities, which is a very nice feature to this study because it looks we are resolving issues that are not necessarily just along SH 146. The vision for this study was to improve mobility and safety for all users in the area. Mr. Finney noted that initially this study had a twelve (12) month schedule, which began three (3) months before Hurricane Harvey, so they wanted to thank the community and actually, Mrs. Foster and Mr. Pastrana and their respective staffs for all of their support and work during this process. Mr. Finney noted that they held five (5) steering committee meetings, four (4) sets of stakeholder meetings, two (2) public meetings, and other communication via websites, and emailed surveys for people to give input throughout the entire study. He noted that they had a great steering committee that included the City Engineer Jose Pastrana, the Planning and Development Service Director Tiffany Foster, Principal Planning Manager Christopher Chavis and other representatives from the other entities and jurisdictions. Mr. Finney noted that they received a lot of direct feedback and comments throughout these five (5) sets of meetings that helped them develop the proposed improvements. Other members of the steering committee included: TxDOT representatives from the Beaumont and Houston Districts, Chambers County, Harris County, Baytown Chamber of Commerce, Baytown West Chambers County EDF, Harris County Transit, Baytown PD and Mont Belvieu PD. Mr. Finney noted that they were very keen on giving other stakeholders that were not a part of the steering committee opportunities to give their input and through four (4) sets of meeting they were able to collect comments from over 42 participants from Baytown and Mont Belvieu that included the local industry, agency/elected officials, churches, schools, EMS, etc. Mr. Finney noted that the report includes a summary of both short-term and long-term projects. The short-term projects were those that could be completed in five (5) years or less, while the long-term projects were all those that would take six (6) years or more to complete. He noted that this was not an easy area to study as it is very complex and diverse in its uses to include pipeline City Council & Planning and Zoning Joint Meeting Minutes June 14, 2018 Page 3 of 7 routes, water features, major roadways, etc. Mr. Finney noted that sometimes these complexities made certain projects cost -prohibitive; such as a project that would have to re -locate an existing pipeline, which can get very expansive. Mr. Finney summarized the short-term improvement along SH 146 itself. He noted they were recommending adding seven and a half (7.5) miles of medians down the middle of SH 146, which has a five (5) lane section for the most part. He further noted that SH 146 has varied speeds that are high enough; there are some safety crash features along there, so that should help that a bit. Mr. Finney also stated that in order to preserve access, they recommend the addition of a large number of left turn lanes; some right turn lanes; acceleration lanes; and the changing of a few signals. Mr. Finney noted that in the study they looked at some peripheral intersection for the northern half of the area and recommended some modifications of twelve (12) left -turn lanes and twelve (12) right -turn lanes, with four (4) signal installations. Similar, on the southern half, they recommended some beefing up various intersections; the addition of four (4) left -turn lanes, five (5) right -turn lanes and six (6) signal installations. Mr. Finney noted that these recommendations are short-term projects that could be completed over the next five (5) years as they are more easily constructed and fundable. In summary, the report contains quite a number of improvements in the short-term recommendations to the study area that are smaller in scope and easier to fund; everything from signals and intersections, medians, alternative intersection designs, driveway closures, and a couple of roadway closures. Mr. Finney noted that the study also contains some transit recommendations that include participation from the Harris County Transit, in addition to some potential transit services for Baytown, Mont Belvieu and some large area employers in order to help take a number of cars off the road. Other short-term transit recommendations include the implementation of general para - transit, which is like a demand response, the analyzing of flexible routing in Baytown and Mont Belvieu, and the development of an action plan to determine the strategy for implementing service in Chambers County, among others. Mr. Finney stated that the long-term plans in the study are for about twenty (20) years or so and noted that these include some big ticket items that are meant to have a large impact on the movement of traffic in this area. These long-term projects include five (5) bridges, twelve (12) railroad grade separations, the installation of eight (8) signals and the addition of eight (8) turn lanes at certain intersections to name a few. One of the items identified that the study includes the addition of roadways, marked in blue on the map that are a part of the City's existing thoroughfare plan. He noted that the study includes some additional roadway expansions in order help deal with the tremendous amount of growth in this area that is going to occur over the next 20 years with the expansion of the area's petrochemical and plastics industry along with other associated businesses. He further noted that the study includes new roadway connections that will move the traffic more effectively and efficiently north to I-10, which again will help with the growth of this area that will be brought on with the completion of the Grand Parkway. Mr. Finney noted that another item that was studied was additional crossings over Cedar Bayou. He noted that currently people are forced to travel either to I-10, Massey Tompkins to cross City Council & Planning and Zoning Joint Meeting Minutes June 14, 2018 Page 4 of 7 Cedar Bayou and/or traffic is forced up and down Garth Road and down SH 146, which just adds to the traffic on that road and thus increases safety issues in these areas. Mr. Finney noted that they received a large number of comments from people about their kids walking to school, the need for longer-term bicycle connections from the neighborhoods to the roadways. Mr. Finney noted that the study came up with five (5) potential east to west crossing over Cedar Bayou. He noted that the steering committee looked at different options while trying to minimize the impacts to properties, pipelines, railroads, and other large infrastructure, and ended up eliminating two (2) out of the five (5) and were left with three (3) viable options. The three options that the steering committee recommended for further studies are the following: Alternative A — creates a road intersecting at Kilgore Road, comes across Cedar Bayou and connects to E. Archer Road. Alternative B — is the shortest road with the lowest impact as it is an extension of the existing Cedar Bayou Lynchburg, but then traffic would have to move north or south to continue their trajectory to get to I-10 or SH 99. Alternative C — comes off of SH146 and connects over to Blue Heron Parkway through FM 1405, and would then provide a connection through FM 565 to SH 99. This last option was also a recommendation from some City studies that included some east -west connection over the bayou. Mr. Finney stated that another big ticket item relates to some intersection changes and/or redesigns that will be needed in order to accommodate growth of the area and the completion of the Grand Parkway and include the following key intersections: • SH 146 at 1-10 • SH 147 at Kilgore Road • SH 146 at FM 1405/N Twisted Oak • 1-10 at SH 99 • FM 565 at I-10 • FM 565 at FM 1405 and • SH 146 at SH 99 Mr. Finney noted that given the volume of traffic and trucks, the City may down the line need connections at SH 146 and I-10. He also noted that that at the intersection of FM 565 and FM 1405, the study recommends the construction over an overpass on FM 565 to pass over the intersection and come down past the railroad crossing, a redesign for an at -grade signal and the addition of a right -turn lane. This overpass will help to keep traffic moving because sometimes traffic comes to a complete stop when the trains are on the tracks and block the intersection. He noted that he had met with Union Pacific (UP) and they said this is their number one complaint in the state as they receive more calls about this rail -crossing, which is fairly impressive considering the number of miles they have throughout the state. City Council & Planning and Zoning Joint Meeting Minutes June 14, 2018 Page 5 of 7 Mr. Finney noted that there are some other recommendations in the report regarding the number of trucks on the road and made some recommendations in the study regarding some land use policies and ordinances that could be put in place to mitigate that issue; however, part of this study was in Harris County, so Chambers County should discuss whatever changes they implement with Harris County to ensure that there is continuity at their border. The study also has some transit policy recommendations in addition to the autonomous vehicle solutions that should be in place by 2025, and the development of a complementary commuter rail service. Mr. Finney noted that as it relates to the cost when using 2018 dollars are the following: • Short-term projects are estimated to be between $15-20 million; and • Long-term projects are estimated at $725-825 million; for a • Total of anywhere between $740-845 million. Mr. Finney noted that benefits of the short -plan include the enhancement of traffic operations in the area by reducing travel times by 22% in peak periods, improving speeds by 32% in peak periods and an estimated $5.5 million savings in annual peak period travel. This plan would also reduce the number of crashes with an estimated annual crash costs savings of $4.2 million while also improving air quality with a reduction of 16% of emissions As it related to the benefits of the long-term plan, they did not worry so about the numbers as they are very hard to quantify, and instead want to focus on providing new connectivity with the expanded roads, a new east west crossing, a couple of new connections, and then the railroad overpasses, which are going to help get rid of some bottle necks that have been around for quite some time. Mr. Finney noted that there is a fair amount of traffic along and across SH 146 predicted in the near future so, doing some of the recommendations sooner or later, is going to prevent Baytown from getting gridlocked. Mr. Finney noted that this completed his report, but for more information in this study people can visit the project website at: www.hgacmpo.com/SH146. Mayor DonCarlos opened the discussion to questions. Council Member Betancourth asked if the recommended physical improvements noted on the map were just recommendations or if they were planned and funded projects. Mr. Finney noted that at this time, they are only asking that the presented study be received by the Council and the Commission and these projects were only recommendations without any necessary agreement to undertake and/or fund any of the projects noted in the report. Mr. Finney further noted that there are some monies available from different entities for some of these projects. The TxDOT Beaumont District has some safety funds for the placement of the medians along SH 146 and for some of the other smaller short-term projects, but other than that there is no set funding source for these recommended projects. Mr. Finney stated that they were happy to work with the City and come back at a later date to talk about potential funding sources. Council Member Betancourth noted that there are consistent complaints about the area with the railroad crossing over by the intersection of FM 1405 and FM 565. Mr. Finney noted that UP City Council & Planning and Zoning Joint Meeting Minutes June 14, 2018 Page 6 of 7 did mention that they would be willing to chip in a little to help with the FM 1405 and FM 565 flyover project as this is also a safety risk and liability for them as well. Mayor DonCarlos inquired if the TxDOT Beaumont District had any monies for this particular overpass, which is probably the City's number one headache right now. Mr. Finney stated that at this time, they do not have money budgeted for that project; however, they have started looking at a recommendation in the study to straighten out FM 565. At this time they are looking at the mitigation of an environmental issue in this area, but they have been looking at FM 565, and while they do not have anything funded yet, they have discussed some solutions and will be taking into consideration the recommendations listed in the study. Council Member Hoskins asked if the study was recommending the placement of three (3) crossings for Cedar Bayou. Mr. Finney stated that the study is recommending one (1) crossing over Cedar Bayou, but listed three (3) possibilities. Commissioner Chambers stated that some of the issues in the area are human behavior problems and not necessarily engineering problems. He noted that there is a lot of truck traffic and container traffic on SH 146. He further noted that container traffic and commercial truck traffic are expected to increase due to the commercialization that is occurring in the area. Commissioner Chambers noted that a lot of the citizen frustration is in response to the traffic issues and accidents that these types of trucks are creating. Has anyone ever considered just doing nothing else, but removing the tolls on 99. Mr. Finney noted that the removal of the tolls for 99 is one of the recommendation listed in the report. He further noted that he did toll financing for years, and when a toll road is created there are covenants and agreements that have to be abided. So, the idea is that if they can get an FHWA grant in order to make the toll way whole by paying for the loss of revenue, then, a pilot project can be put in place to lower or eliminate the tolls for the trucks and then be able to do a count of the number of trucks using the tollway and then do the same count when the tolls are put in place in order to see which trucks stayed on and how much were shifted onto the other public streets. Mr. Finney noted that this type of pilot project was recommended, but the toll people have to be made whole from the money side as they have to honor the bond covenants that they are going to have, but this is the kind of item that can be a part of the grant and financial discussions that still need to take place in order to identify funding sources for these projects. Council Member Hoskins noted that the City had requested this type of pilot project from the State and were told that the City would have to the $4 million dollars a year to remove the toll on SH 99. Council Member Alvarado asked if there is an opportunity for the toll to be removed once the cost of the toll has been collected; similar to what happened in Georgia with what they call the Georgia 400. City Council & Planning and Zoning Joint Meeting Minutes June 14, 2018 Page 7 of 7 Mr. Finney noted that tolls are not removed that often on toll roads. He noted that TxDOT would have to feel confident that they would have another money source to keep the future maintenance and improvements on that roadway. Commissioner Winfrey -Varner inquired is there was a map of the proposed bike and pedestrian trails in the study. Mr. Finney noted that there is a map with those recommendations in the study and pointed out some potential routes on the main roads and some connections between neighborhoods and major artilleries to create what he calls a spine system for these trails. Mayor DonCarlos thanked everyone for their hard work on this long and overdue study that has now given the City a ground zero for traffic congestion on SH 146, which is at times worse than Garth Road, and while the City is actively working on alleviating some traffic issues on Garth Road in the next year, the traffic issues on SH 146 are going to take a long-term commitment to fix these issues that may include grade separation. Mr. Finney thanked everyone for their attentions and stated that if anyone had any further questions, they could always come back and discuss individual projects and/or potential funding sources. 8. ADJOURN With there being no further business to discuss, Mayor DonCarlos adjourned the June 14, 2018, City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission Joint Meeting at 7:05 P.M. City of Baytown