LAREDO & WEBB COUNTY AREA METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION POLICY COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES October 18, 2023 LIVE WEB MeMP/Aessatss PUBLIC ACCESS CHANNEL: Spectrum TV channel 1300 I. CHAIRPERSON TO CALL MEETING TO ORDER Judge Tano E. Tijerina, called the meeting to order at 1:37 P.M. II. CHAIRPERSON TO CALL ROLL Graciela Briones, MPO Staff, called roll and verified: a quorum existed. Regular members present: Honorable Tano E. Tijerina, Webb County Judge and LWCAMPO Chairperson Honorable Dr. Victor D. Trevino, Mayor and LWCAMPO Vice-Chairperson: (joined meeting at: 1:39 PM) Honorable Vanessa Perez, Mayor Pro Tempore, City Councimember, District VII Honorable Melissa R. Cigarroa, City Councilmember, Districtlll Honorable John Galo, Webb County Commissioner, Pct. 3 Mr. Epigmenio "Epi" Gonzalez, P.E., TxDOT District Engineer Mr. Jed A. Brown, Member-At-large Regular members not present: Honorable Ruben Gutierrez Jr., City Councilmember, DistrictV Honorable Jesse Gonzalez, Webb County Commissioner, Pct. 1 (Listened-in and participated via Zoom) CM. Perez, made a motion to excuse members not present. Second: CM. Galo For: 6 Against: 0 Abstained: 0 Motion carried unanimously. Ex-Officio members not present: Honorable JudithZaffirini, State Senator, District 21 Honorable Richard Raymond, State Representative, District 42 Honorable Tracy O. King, State Representative, District 80 LWCAMPO Staff present: Juan S. Mendive, LWCAMPO Director Graciela S. Briones, LWCAMPO Plannerlll JulioA. Nino, LWCAMPO Plannerlll Eduardo Bernal, LWCAMPO Planner III Adriana A. Vigil, LWCAMPO Administrative Assistant Others: Ramon Chavez, COL Engineering ChiefN Miguel Rodriguez, COL LPD Gerardo Gonzalez, COL LPD Rene R. Alvarado, COL LPD Eloisa Mascorro, El Metro Transit Sara Garza, TxDOT Roberto Rodriguez, TxDOT Ana Duncan, TxDOT Luis M. Villarreal, TxDOT Fernando Martinez, TxDOT Angel Martinez, TxDOT Adelaido Uribe, Webb County. Judge'sOffice Guillermo Cuellar, Webb County Engineering Anthony Garza, Webb County Consultant Melissa Montemayor, WC-CL RMA/UA Blasita Lopez, WC-CL RMA/UJA Jason Rodriguez, WC-CL RMA/UJA Ignacio Hinojosa, Ardurra Jose L. Ceballos, Fasken Development Edward Ruiz III. CITIZEN COMMENTS Speakersare requiredto fill out witness cards, which must be submitted to MPO Staffno later than 1:45 P.M. the day of the meeting. Speakers shall identify themselves at the microphone. Comments are limited to three (3) minutes per speaker. No more than three (3) persons will be allowedto speak on any side of an issue. Should there be more than three (3) people who wish to speakon a specificissue, they should select not more than three (3) eplesentalvestospeaon theirbehalf. The presiding officerr mayfurther limit public on the interest of order or time. Speakers may not transfer their minutes to any other speaker. Comments should be relevant to MPO business and delivered in a professional manner. No derogatory remarks shall be permitted. No citizen comments were received. IV. ITEMS REQUIRING POLICY COMMITTEE ACTION: A. Approval of the minutes for the meeting held on September 20, 2023. CM. Galo, made a motion to approve the minutes of September20, 2023. Second: CM. Perez For: 7 Against: 0 Abstained: 0 Motion carried unanimously. B. Motion to award and execute a professional services contract with WSP USA, Inc. in the amount of $376,504.25 for the 2025-2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) Update. Juan Mendive, MPO Director, stated that an RFQ had beenopened on July 19th 2023 for the MTP Update whichisa a Federal required document. He further stated that the Policy Committee allowed them to enter into negotiations with WSP USA, Inc. and a contract was negotiatedin the amount of $376,504.25. Mr. Mendive, also stated that the funding was available in their Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP), and that the project will take approximately 15 months. Judge Tijerina, asked how oftenthe MTP Update is required. Mr. Mendive, stated that MTP Update is required every 5 years. CM. Galo, made a motionto approve the awarding and executionof. a professional service contract with WSP USA, Inc. for the 2025-2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP) Update. Second: CM. Perez For: 7 Against: 0 Abstained: 0 Motion carried unanimously. C. Discussion with possible action on transportation planning activities and initiatives to improve the safety of the regional transportation network. Mr. Mendive, stated that the item had been briefly discussedon the last Policy Committee meeting as per Commissioner Gonzalez and Mayor Pro Temp Council Member, Vanessa Perezrequest, because of the numerous incidents offatalities thathad recently occurred on the local roadways. Mr. Mendive, stated that the RMA had started working on their Safety Action Plan, and they wereinvitedto provide an overviewofthe plan to see what work would be relatedto planningin collaboration with the RMA. Mr. Brown, RMA, statedthat Jason Rodriguez would be the keynote speaker on the RMA's Safety Action Plan. He also stated that a $2 million grant was awarded to the community and the RMA to study and create a Safety Action Plan for all ofl Laredo and Webb County. Mr. Brown furtherstated that between February and septembertneywere being trained on how to administerthe grant and with an 18-month period to finish. He continuedby stating that the goal of the grant was implementation of dollars through the study and, to be able to attract more monies to the community in order to implement aspects of what comes out of the study. Mr. Jason Rodriguez, UA Engineering, representing the RMA, briefly presented how the grant was obtainedand described the Vision Zero Webb Laredo Action Plan process. He also explained whatthe Safety Action Plan was about with three major goals of the study are to make a public commitment to zero fatalities on roadways by certain year, and presentedthree different examplesofp publics statements. He further: showed the eight (8) Key Milestones for the Safety Action Plan, and explained that a couple of advisory committees will be in place. One could be a working group that will consist of City staff that will be responsible for implementing the plan. He further stated the discussions would begin in November or December, 2023 and to have the public commitment by February 2024. Mr. Rodriguez continued presenting the rest of the milestones for the Safety Action Plan with proposed datesfor these milestonesto be completedby. Mr. Brown, asked Mr. Rodriguez if the public commitment would be provided through the MPO, the City, the County, or all three separate entities. Mr. Rodriguez, answered that even though the RMA and the City were being funding partners, theywould! be the governing odiest that wouldprovide a commitment but, the invite wouldbe for all the governing bodies in the community to make the commitment or pledge. Mr. Brown, also asked how the members for the advisory committee would be selected. Mr. Rodriguez, stated that for being a partner, the City would definitely have some representationint the advisory committee. He also stated that the invite would also be for TxDOT, Webb County and others from the community to provide input. He further stated that the City would be taking the lead on the working side and on the advocacy side of the advisory committee. Mr. Brown, asked Mayor Trevino and Judge Tijerina if they had certain people in mind that they would like them to be participants, to provide their names to add them to the committee. CM. Galo, asked ifthe pledge was something mandatory part of the grant. Mr. Rodriguez, answered that a date of by whento reduce fatalities to zero is needed in order to develop the plan. This would help to establish the steps to follow to reach the goal. CM. Cigarroa, commented that the idea of having a written down goal is to create the stepsto see how you get to your, goal. CM. Galo, asked ifthe $2 million were toimplement the steps. Mr. Brown, answered that they werei to study all the problem areas inthe Cityand Webb County to address them and fix them. He further stated that itis to engage everyone in the community that has data that is measurable to figure out were the problem areas are. Mr. Mendive, stated that a safety report had been included in their packet that TxDOT and TTI had helped put together. Mr. Brown, mentionedthati it was a very competitive grant and they were very excited to have gottenit, he also mentionedi thatthey were in the top 4 in Texas. Judge Tijerina, asked ifeveryone receivedthe same equal amount of $1.6 million. Mr. Brown, answered that the numbervaried depending on how much they had applied for. He stated that they had originally applied for the $2 million as they felt that was a reasonable figure to generate a good study that will help make the streets safer. He explainedthati ifthey had appliedfor more they would have had to come up witha a larger amount for the 20% match. CM. Perez, asked ifi it had costed them any money to initiate the study. Mr. Brown, explained that it will cost the City and the RMA each $200,000.00 and they had already started spending the money. He also stated that it is a pay as you go, each month they will be billed and in orderi to get their money back they have to apply to the federal government. He also stated that there was a $25,000.00 application fee for the grant which was split by the City of Laredo and the RMA, approximately $12, 500.00 each. Mr. Mendive presented the safety report to the committee. He presented a chart that showed the fatalities from 2018 to 2022. He stated that most of the accidents were speed and intersection related. Mr. Mendive, stated that the report was put togetherbased on that CRIS data but there are a lot more details behind the safety report. Mr. Epigmenio "Epi" Gonzalez, TxDOT stated that they have a highway safety improvement program where they are identifying locations ontheironsystemroads: He alsostated that theyhave moniesavailablet foroff-system roadsi in orderto identify some of the projects. Mr. Mike Rodriguez, COL Police Chiefexplainedthat the report provides where the gaps are at. He stated that the more data they collect the better they understand where the gaps are. He stated that the category of Young Driverinvolvedi lis veryimportant because ithelpsthem provide visibility to the community as far as the dangers that Young Drivers go through. Chief Rodriguez, explained the three major contributing factors on Young Drivers. He stated that the lack of scanning, speeding, and distractions were the top three factors they have identified. He also stated that a lot of the recent accidents occurred have involvedyoung drivers. CM. Perez, asked if they can offer high school students a little crash course similar to driver'sed. Chief Rodriguez, stated that LPD is working with LISD to create a curriculum for one day where the officers can go and talk about different dangers and they want to incorporates the numberone reason why teenagers get hurt, which is driving a motor vehicle. He also stated that they will be bring back the program Shattered Dreams whichis a concept that simulates whathappens when an accident occurs. Chief Rodriguez, shared some new data they collected of where they have given the most traffic citations. That data helped decreasedfrom 710 accidents a month in average to 554 accidents a month, he stated it is about 20% decrease. Chief Rodriguez, stated that they are enforcing the Cuatro Vientos area, he also stated that in the next weeks they will be doing a big operation involving LPD and DPS in several parts of the city. He also stated that they need more signage to constantly remind people that texting and drivingis an offense. Mr. Mendive, stated that there are monies available for implementation, but a requirementfor that implementation grant is to have a Safety Action Plan in orderto be eligiblef for additional safetyfunding. D. Discussion with possible action to program Category 7 funds for the Mangana-Hein Roadway Expansion Project and the Vallecillo Road Project, and receive public testimony to initiate a 10-day comment period to include the proposed programming revisions to the 2020-2045 Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP): CM. Galo, made a motion to initiate a 10-day public comment period. Second: CM. Cigarroa For: 7 Against: 0 Abstained: 0 Motion carried unanimously. Judge Tijerina, asked if there was anyone in the audience that would like to speak For or Against the following 5revisions. 1. Addition of the Mangana-Hein Roadway Expansion Project Segment 1 ROW/ preliminary engineering phase in FY 2025 with an estimated project cost of $926,980. Category 7 funds int the amount of$100,000 are proposed for this project phase. The project sponsor is Webb County. 2. Addition of the Mangana-Hein Roadway Expansion Project Segment 2 ROW/ preliminary engineering phase in FY 2025 with an estimated project cost of $1,012,816. Category 7 fundsi in the amount of $100,000 are proposedfor this project phase. The project sponsor is Webb County. 3. Addition of the Mangana-Hein Roadway Expansion Project Segment 1 Construction Phase in FY 2033 with an estimated project cost of $13,562,500. Category 71 funds in the amount of $13,562,500 are proposed for this project phase. The project sponsor is Webb County. 4. Addition of the Mangana-Hein Roadway Expansion Project Segment 2 Construction Phase in FY 2034 with an estimated project cost of $7,160,000. Category 7 funds in the amount of $7,160,000 are proposed fori this project phase. The projectsponsoris Webb County. 5. Programming of an additional $1,312,592 in Category 7 funds for the Vallecillo Road Projectintendedto provide forthe construction ofa new 4 lane [off-system] highway with a continuous turn lane. The project sponsor is the Webb County-City of Laredo Regional Mobility Authority and the proposed letting date is FY 2026. CM. Galo, made a motion to approve the programing of Category 7 funds for the Mangana-Hein Roadway Expansion and the Vallecillo Road Project. Second: CM. Cigarroa For: 7 Against: 0 Abstained: 0 Motion carried unanimously. CM. Perez, asked if the programing of Category 7 funds for these projects will cause a depletion in their Category 7 dollars. CM. Perez, also asked about the proposed letting dates, if some oft the projects were ready to go soonerthan the proposedletting dates. Anthony Garza, Webb County Consultant, explained thatt the Category 71 funds get refilled every year, he further stated that the Category 7 funds need to be used because TxDOT can take back if you have unallocated or unspent funds. He further stated that itis very important toi tie up money on paper soit won'tbe taken away from them and sO they can do project development. Mr. Garza, also stated that they are anticipating to deliver the project in about 24 months, because there is no right-of-way acquisition and no major issuesto encounter. CM. Perez, commentedthatthey: needto start allocating the Category 7 dollars as quickly as possible. Judge Tijerina, commentedthatithatitisimportant for themto use the monies, in orderto ask for more. He further commented that these are the types of projects TxDOT like to see that are shovelready. Mr. Mendive, stated that they request came in through Webb County and the RMA, he alsostated that in orderto make it work theyaddedthe estimate of 2034, know that they wouldget at least another $8.1 million to make the funding work. He further stated that the UTP was aboutto start being developedforthe next 10years which would be FY 2024 through FY 2034 sO it works with the monies they have and it doesn't affect the other projects for Category 7 like MacharReuthinger."Mr. Mendive also stated that he likedto incorporate the River Road through the MTP since they have also awarded the contract to start that MTP their long-range plan and start looking at the funding that will be available through 2050 to start programing that. CM. Galo, asked why isthere one that has the construction phase date of FY 2033. Mr. Garza, stated that they have 10 years to program projects and be given an AFA by TxDOT. He also stated that all the years are committed SO they had to go to FY 2033, but they are lookingto complete it before that time. Judge Tijerina, stated that CM. Gonzalezi is in support of programing of Category 7 funds for the Mangana-Hein Roadway Expansion Project and the Vallecilio Road Project. E. Discussion with possible action to approve Resolution No. MPO 2023-12 supporting the functional classification of Hachar-Reuthinger Road (SH 84), a new roadway location, as "Other Principal Arterial". CM. Galo, made a motion to approve Resolution No. MPO 2023-12 supporting the functional classification of Hachar-Reuthinger Road (SH 84), a new roadway location, as "Other Principal Arterial". Second: Judge Tijerina For: 7 Against: 0 Abstained: 0 Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Mendive, stated that this Resolution is a requirement since iti is a new construction of a roadway that needs to be functionally classified before the letting date in order to get the Federal approval. He commented that the Mangana-Hein project was already Functionally Classified as an Arterial for Federal purposes. He also mentioned that since Hachar-Reuthingeris: a new roadway it needsto have that Functional Classification prior to letting. He stated, that part of the process was getting a Resolution from the Policy Committee and that they are working with TxDOT District to forward it to the State Planningteam to forward it to FHWA. CM. Perez, asked to confirm with the City of Laredo Planning Director ifthe Roadway was already classified as a Principal Arterial. Mr. Orlando Navarro, COL Planning Director, stated that the City's classification is differentfromthe Federal Classification. F. Discussion with possible action on the Hachar-Reuthinger Road project. CM. Perez, stated that they have been meeting with Representative Raymondeverytwo weeksfor the last six weeks. Ramon Chavez, COL Engineer, stated that he had the latest update on the Hachar- Reuthiner Road project, he stated they had been working with TxDOT, and they were waiting on TxDOT to receive the final approval for the draft offerlettersinorderfor them to send them out. CM. Perez, asked ift there was a reappraisal need on parcel 2. Mr. Chavez, stated that it hadn't happened yet, that they were waiting on the utility company to send them the estimate so they could amend the appraisal. He further stated that theyhave 6 of the 8 parcels offerlettersr ready to be send out. CM. Perez, commented that the problem with parcel 2 was that it'sa huge portion of the total roadway sO in order to move forward they need to acquire parcel 2. CM. Galo, asked who the owner of parcel 2 was. Mr. Chavez, answered that it was in the Hachar trust. He stated that itis an abandoned gas line that had to be removed, he further stated that they were just waiting for the estimate in order to amend the appraisal. CM. Galo, asked what kind of gas line itwas. Mr. Chavez, stated that it was a 10-inch enterprise gas line that is abandoned andi it isnot within easement. Mr. Chavez, continued by stating that the next one was parcel 6 which there was an issue withi the language. He further statedt that 7 ofthe 8 parcels will be sent out the following day. Ms. Ana Duncan, TxDOT, stated that the letters have to be reviewed and approved by TxDOT, sO they were just pending that information. She further stated that the informationfor6 of the 8 parcels had already! been received. She also statedthat the City had beenwaiting on title commitments and until theyr received all that information they had not submittedanything to TxDOT. Shefurther stated they there were some issuesin respect to language that the City wanted to include in the offerletters. CM. Perez, stated that in order to get into details on that matter it would be best to go into Executive Session to discuss it. She further stated that they were trying to get everything done by Decemberin orderi to keepthe same letting date of May 2024. V. REPORT(S) AND PRESENTATIONS (No action required). A. Status report by the Regional Mobility Authority (RMA). Mr. Jed Brown, RMA presented the following report: WC-CL RMA October 2023 Status Report to LWCAMPO 1. FM 1472 and Killam Industrial Blvd. Turn Lanes Project is pending final walk- through, and TDLR inspection and final Close-out Construction Change Order. Project is 99+% complete. 2. Springfield Phase III = Project is complete. Ribbon cutting held on August 8, 2023. Final Invoice received. 3. Webb County Fair Grounds TIA - The TIA report is complete. The WC-CL RMA (RMA) stands ready to provide a presentation to the County at their request. 4. River Road Corridor Study - The studyis complete. The study'st findings were presented to the MPO Policy Committee at the June meeting and to City of Laredo City Council on August 7, 2023. 5. Vision Zero Webb Laredo Action Plan - Development of the Action Plan began in September2023. Activities! performedinSeptemberindlude mobilizing the team, data collection, and some preliminaryanalysis. Activities anticipated forOctober include assembling action team and advisory committee and preparing project website. Analysis andi initial committee meetings will begin through the end of the year, with the first publicengagement. occurring in February 2024. 6. Vallecillo Road - Data collection operations are ongoing. Currently, survey flight operations have completed, and field survey crews willl be returningin Novemberfor final data collection. Existing utilities data collectionis ongoing. ROW survey collection will commence is October. Field utility data collection will commence in November. The utility coordination will commence with the City Utility Coordination Committeein November. The RMA is projecting a Fall 2025 Letting of the project. As the project sponsor, the executed Advanced! Funding Agreement (AFA)i is solely between the TxDOT Laredo District and the RMA. Per the details of the AFA, the RMA is financially responsibleforitems beyond the RMA's committed $5,363,964 (Category 12 Strategic Partnership monies). It should also be noted that the RMA invested.335,990.08 in VRF monies fori financial planningand preliminary engineering on Vallecillo Roadforthe purpose of obtainingfundingfor the implementation oft the project. 7. Concord Hills (Wormser Road/ Lomas Del Sur to Los Presidentes) - The RMA will sponsor and lead the design and construction of a new location 1.3 mile, 2-lane minor arterial roadway extension from Los Presidentes to Wormser Road/ Lomas Del Sur within: a nominal ROW width of 90' in partnership with the City. The RMA has committed$1 million to the development of the project. The project will provide a parallel route to Cuatro Vientos and provide additional access to the new Laredo Sports Complexand the Municipal Water Park. The sponsorshipand implementation are subject to the negotiation of an Inter Local Agreement/ILA)betweenthe City and the RMA. The RMA is working with the City to finalize the construction cost estimate for the project and complete the ILA for the project. 8. Springfield Phase 1, II, and IV - Similarto Springfield Phase III, the RMA has committed up to $1 million to the Cityto assist with the funding of the construction of the next Phase of the project. The sponsorship and implementation: are subjectto the negotiation of an Interl Local Agreementbetween: the City and the RMA. The RMA is working with the City to finalize the construction cost estimate forthe project and complete the Interl Local Agreementfor the project. 9. The WCCL RMA hosted a TRZ workshop on July 19, 2023, to review the TRZ study and implementation process with the City.A second workshop was conducted on 8/28/23. The RMA is awaiting execution ofthe ILA withi the City to commence the North Laredo TRZ Study. Concurrently, the City is consderng.mplementing the Cuatro Vientos TRZ. 10. Other Items: RMA will have their next board meeting on October 24, 2023. B. Update by TxDOT on the US 59 Feasibility Study Roberto Rodriguez, TxDOT, gave a presentation on the US59 Feasibility Study. Mr. Rodriguez stated that they had a Stakeholder meeting on September 21st, and that hey were going to have a public meeting the following day. He stated that during that Stakeholders meeting they had several members form the City of Laredo, the MPO, the Webb County and property owners. He continued by giving a brief summary of what it was covered and the purpose of the workshop. He stated that it was to provide informationon the study, to engage stakeholders: and gather theirinput on the proposed concepts and analysis, and to discuss strategies to engage those most potentially impacted. He stated that the purpose of the study was to enhance regional mobility connectivity and safety, alsoi to accommodate the future growth and to support economic development to facilitate thei freight movementin Laredo. Mr. Rodriguez showed a segment of US 59 that had a 6-lane road with main lanes and then it went to 2 lanes one in each direction. He stated what was proposed with that project was the Eastbound and Westbound frontage roads, making it 4-lane divideda and mentionedi thatinthe future the state would build the middle lanes or what they call the main lanes of a freeway. Mr. Rodriguez, aiso stated that in Fall 2022 there were initially 46 freeway concepts developed, and by Spring 2023 of the 46 only 13 were chosen for detail evaluation. He continued stating that by Summer 2023 they had the concept that includedthe substantial residential orbusiness displacement, the routing of freighttraffic too far away from the existing US 59, in Fall 2023 they narrowed it down to 4 concepts and the No-Build concept for future evaluation. He also stated that the consultant was still compiling some of the comments they got from the Stakeholders meeting. He presented a time line of the steps they were taking. He also presentedi dthe public notice that was published aboutthe meeting they were having the following day. CM. Perez, asked if Mr. Rodriguez could provide a link for the meeting. Mr. Rodriguez, stated that they can find the link at TxDOT.gov and search US 59 feasibility study virtual public meeting, they would find the videos and the comment forms by the following day after 5:00 PM. VI. DIRECTOR's COMMENTS Mr. Mendive, presented the following Director' S comments: 1. MPO planners willl be attending two upcoming conferences: Esri Gulf Coast User Conference to learn more about best practices in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and the American Planning Association (APA) State Conference. 2. MPO staff continuesto collaborate and coordinate with TxDOT Laredo District and sponsors of Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside (TASA - Category 9) funded projects to support project delivery. We anticipate issuing another TASA Call for Projects in 2024. 3. MPO staff isi in the process of updating the Congestion Management Process (CMP) as per 23 CFR 450.322. We will be working with our Technical Committee and engaging stakeholders to update our CMP network and identify congestion management strategies. 4. Upcoming regularly scheduled meetings: Active Transportation Committee = October 25, 2023 Technical Committee - November7, 2023 Policy Committee - November 15, 2023 5. We will likely not have a Policy Committee meetingi in December unless necessary. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Judge Tijerina, made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 2:54 PM. Second: CM. Perez For: 7 Against: 0 Abstained: 0 Motion carried unanimously. - Juan S. Mendive, AICP Webb County Judge Tang E. Tijerina LWCAMPO Director WCAMPOChairperson