ADDISON COUNTY REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION FULL COMMISSION MINUTES

March 18, 1992

I . Roll Call

The meeting was called to order at 7:35 P.M. at the Kirk Alumni Center, Middlebury College. Chairman Gerry Gossens and Director Sandy Young determined that quorum requirements were met and the meeting proceeded.

BRISTOL TOWN BRISTOL VILLAGE FERRIS BURGH LINCOLN MIDDLEBURY

ORWELL SALISBURY STARKSBORO VERGENNES WEYBRIDGE OTTER CREEK AUDUBON SOCIETY A.C. COMMUNITY ACTION GROUP A.C. FARM BUREAU

William Sayre Doug Kingston Wendell Sessions Geoffrey smith Fred Dunnington Walter Keeler Noel smith Gerry Gossens Bertha Hanson, Tony Dominick Jerre Longfellow Richard Rosane

Heidi willis

Tom Plumb Harney smith

II. Approval of Minutes

Jerre Longfellow moved approval of the minutes of the meeting of February 12, 1992, seconded by Fred Dunnington. Fred Dunnington said that the parenthetical phrase at lines 9 and 10 from the top of page 4 described something that did not happen at the meeting itself. He did not suggest a change or correction to the minutes, but he said that later in the meeting he would have something to say on this matter; namely, whether a line on one of the maps is the proposed Middlebury easterly bypass or whether it is a "stray mark on the overhead slide" as imploied by the minutes . The motion was put to a vote and passed unanimously.

III. Treasurer's Report

Noel smith gave the Treasurer's Report, of which a summary is that accounts payable as of 3/18/92 were $4917.87; checkbook balance after payment of accounts is $2118.04; savings in Vanguard Account are $79,715.31; I-year CD is $11,070.53; accounts receivable total $590.75.

Chair Gossens told the members that a new budget procedure will be instituted and it is hoped that the new way of doing the budget

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will make it a more dynamic and living budget . If members have any ideas for the budget process, Mr. Gossens would like to receive them.

IV. committee Reports

Tom Plumb reported for the Population/Housing committee. He said the population section is almost finished; they are working on housing; and they are on schedule.

Chair Gossens said the deadline is November I, 1992, to have the Regional Plan done. At the next meeting of the steering committee they will set up a timeline for meeting this deadline.

Heidi Willis reported for the Natural/Cultural Resources by saying they are now dealing with general policies. somewhat behind schedule, she said.

committee They are

Doug Kingston reported for the Economic Base committee by saying that the committee had concluded its discussion and its thoughts are now in the hands of the Director, for preparation of a draft Economic Base section.

Fred Dunnington reported that the Council of Regional Commissions did not meet last month and there was nothing new to report tonight.

V. Director's Report

Director Young reported on her first three weeks on the job. She has begun negotiations on the new office lease for office space, since the present lease expires in May, 1992; reorganized the staffing of the Regional Plan committees with Dean Pierce responsible for Transportation, Housing/Population, and Natural Cultural Resources and herself responsible for Economic Base, Public Facilities/Energy, and Steering Committee--Land Use; entered into a 6-month contract for an in-house GIS technician to prepare town maps for which the Commission has contracts; prepared a Community Development Block Grant for Ferrisburgh/Monkton to expand opportunities for home/cottage industries and to look at adaptive reuse of vacant agricultural buildings; begun early negotiations with interested agencies on joint Community Development Block Grant implementation; rendered assistance to the Towns of Cornwall, Monkton, Orwell, and others as requested; prepared a framework fiscal year 1993 budget and work program for review by the Executive Board in March; prepared a project management tracking system to get a better overview of tasks, timelines and budget; and is working on a revision of the monthly financial report to track both project and line item expenses .

Tony Dominick, starksboro, came into the meeting.

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Chair Gossens reported that Dean Pierce, staff planner, has submitted his resignation. The only reasons he is resigning are that he · feels, after five years, it is time to move on and, opportunely, he has been offered another position, with pigher pay and a better title, at the Rutland Regional Planning Commision, which is within commuting distance of his home. Director Young said the Commission will miss Mr. Pierce, who is an integral part of the office.

Director Young said the DHCA newsletters are here and are on the refreshment table for people to pick up.

Mr. Rosane asked how many people the Commission is seeking to hire, and Chair Gossens said the Commission can afford to hire one full­time staff planner, in pursuit of which purpose Sandi Young is reviewing resumes. There will be some money left over, which can be used, if necessary, to contract for additional services.

Mr. Rosane asked if the Commission has to advertise the staff planner position. The Director said the Commission has been advertising for the past six months and the resumes that she is reviewing are all from people who have responded to the advertisements in that period that sought a staff planner. Mr. Rosane asked if he could be assured that someone would check the legal requirements as to whether the job as replacement for Mr. Pierce has to be currently advertised, and the Chair gave him that assurance.

Chair Gossens said the order of items on the agenda would be slightly altered, and at present the Commission would take up item VII, New Business (skipping temporarily over item VI, Old Business) .

VII. Election of Nominating Committee

Chair Gossens said the Executive Committee discussed having a 3-person Nominating committee, at a minimum, and he has such a slate to present. Any member wishing to make a nomination in addition to the names on the slate is welcome to do so. The Chair named the slate as follows: Bertha Hanson, Lance Phelps, and Fred Dunnington. Bill Sayre moved that Bertha Hanson, Lance Phelps, and Fred Dunnington be approved for the Nominating Committee, seconded by Mr. Rosane. The motion was approved unanimously. There were no nominations from the floor. Tom Plumb moved that the nominations be closed, and that the slate just approved be elected unanimously. Mr. Rosane seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

VI. Old Business

It is now appropriate to return to the agenda item which had been temporarily skipped, which has two items: Completion of Presentation and Discussion on Draft Transportation Element and TDP

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update.

The Director gave the TDP update, saying that it is now in the third of its three phases, which includes obtaining members from the municipalities in order to begin the process of setting up the Board to implement the transit plan, completed in Phase II, which she described as a ride brokering agency. Tom Plumb explained that this is an attempt to coordinate the services that already exist and to expand their use. Letters to municipalities will be sent within the week.

Mr . Longfellow set up the screen and projector so that he could proceed with the presentation and discussion of the Commission's Draft Transportation Element. The discussion picked up where it had left off at the last meeting; namely, with Goal 4: To reduce congestion within the regional transportation system and to plan for improvements so that new developments of regional impact will not overburden existing transportation facilities.

He projected a map of regionally significant transportation facilities, such as Routes 22A, 30, and 17 .

Mr . Dunnington said the report had been written last fall. Recent federal transportation legislation has introduced a new concept of "significant transportation facilities." There will be federal funds for towns that want to take advantage of them. These funds will be to review the functional transportation maps and to replace state Aid to Highways . This subject should be discussed at a future meeting when more information, such as the amount of money involved, is available.

At this time Mr. Dunnington returned to the subj ect of the Middlebury easterly bypass mapping to which he had referred earlier in this meeting when the minutes of February 12, 1992, were up for approval. He said that the line on the map is not a stray mark; it is the proposed Middlebury easterly bypass . He added that at their meeting last night, the Middlebury Selectmen voted to urge the Commission to generate a map that shows proposed projects for the future . The Selectmen also requested that some projects listed in the report be more clearly set forth.

Heidi willis said that in connection with the phrase "to reduce congestion," she wanted to be sure that the Commission didn't just automatically build more roads. Mr. Dunnington said that nothing about road building is automatic. Ms. will is said that this language is set forth as a goal and that it should provide for a system that serves people. She said that Route 116 is getting pretty crowded. Mr. Longfellow said that the Towns don't want to be in the position of merely reacting to situations but, rather, want to plan for situations that might arise. Mr. Kingston said this part of the draft treats two things: (1) reducing congestion and (2) planning for improvements. He said that planning for a

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presumed condition that hasn't come into existence yet is different from "reducing congestion." He said that there is considerable public opinion against new developments that might have regional impact on existing transportation systems.

Mr. Longfellow said that he believes there is pressure moving south from Burlington to make Vergennes a major shopping center. This is likely to happen, he said, if the Shelburne Road area erects more traffic lights. Mr. Kingston said the Commission should have a plan to receive development or a plan to deny development.

Mr. Dunnington said that new projects present difficulties for Middlebury. He said that last week end some 19,000 vehicles traveled on Court Street in Middlebury and more than 22,000 vehicles traveled on Main Street. The heavy traffic, he said, is already beginning to affect downtown Middlebury. There is not much prospect of a substantial movement to widen streets. The issue is, rather, how to use existing alternatives.

Ms. willis asked if the language "reduce congestion" could be changed. Mr. Dunnington said the Commission re-assesses the list each year. Ms. willis said she W04ld like to have the phrase read "reduce or manage congestion." She said reduction mayor may not be the answer. She said there is another goal that provides for increased use of alternative modes; therefore this goal, Goal 4, is not primarily concerned with the use of existing alternatives.

Mr. Dunnington said Middlebury is already at a competitive disadvantage because of its heavy downtown traffic and its effect on such issues as the delivery of materials and other items to downtown businesses.

Mr . Longfellow pointed out the difficulties of using alternative modes. A tentative plan for the possible expansion of the use of Route 17 is already evoking some organized opposition from people in Waltham.

Mr. Dominick asked if there is a discussion of a complete bypass of Vergennes, adding that "You're never going to get enough funds to expand Route 17."

The discussion moved on to Goal 5: To support changes to existing transportation funding and maintenance practices that will help local communities receive necessary transportation improvements.

Mr. Longfellow said that the State collects road use taxes but when vergennes wanted to tap some of those funds to repair the Route 22A bridge which is within the City of Vergennes, it could not obtain any such funds from the State. He wants to devise ways to get the State to pay for some of this type of expense. He and Mr. Dunnington agreed that such strategies are necessary to relieve the burden of the property tax.

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Mr. Longfellow showed a Sufficiency Rating Map. There was a discussion of what "sufficiency rating" means . Ms . Young explained that the State considers a number of factors, assigning a numerical value to each; it then adds up the numbers and arrives at a "sufficiency rating" for the locality being rated. Mr. Dunnington said that Route 7 through Middlebury is considered " sufficient" except for a short stretch of Route 7 just north of High Street where the shoulders are not very wide .

Mr. Kingston said that the maps are very bad, both graphically and with respect to the information they provide, which he thinks is often wrong . For example, he said, it is relevant to know the date of the data being mapped, but such dates do not appear on the maps . Ms. Young said the State produces large color maps, but they lose much of their impact when xeroxed in black and white in a size as small as a sheet of typing paper. She added that it is possible to make color Xeroxes, but that it is prohibitively expensive . The GIS consultant referred to earlier in these minutes, who is borrowed from Middlebury College, knows how to use the equipment and, although busy with other projects, could probably generate a few maps, which would be better maps.

The discussion went on to Goal 6 : To support and encourage the provision of transportation services for disadvantaged persons (such as the elderly or physically handicapped) in the Addison Region.

There was a discussion of what was intended by this goal . One purpose that can be inferred are providing people who do not have access to a vehicle with a means to get to work, to the store, to the doctor, etc. One member wondered if Objective B under Goal 6, "to reduce the number of establishments currently inaccessible to transportation disadvantaged persons," meant that the number of businesses in a community would be reduced. It was explained that the objective is not to reduce businesses but, rather, to reduce the · difficulties of disadvantaged people in getting to the businesses. It was agreed that the language is ambiguous and needs re-wording.

The discussion moved on to Goal 7: To promote the development of alternative transportation systems and encourage the diversification of the Regions's transportation system.

The objectives under this Goal include reducing truck traffic and increasing the amount of rail freight, assisting in establishing a model intra-regional passenger rail service, promoting the use of alternative modes of passenger transportation, to sponsor an annual " ride-out" of a week's duration wherein residents and workers are encouraged to use transportation other than private cars, and to assist communities in planning for land uses along railroad lines and at potential railroad siding sites.

Ms. willis asked if this item could be placed higher in priority

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because, she said, "When It's at the tail end people think they can forget about it . " iIn di~cussing how much higher up it could be moved, Mr. Dunnington said that the goals had already been placed in a prioritized order. The first arid second should remain as first and second, he said, since Goal 1 (To ensure that the regional transportation system will help further the ACRPC's goals and objectiyes) is plainly the most important ; and the second (To improve travel safety within the regi onal transportation system) is also plainly very important, second only to Goal 1. ,

Ms. willis said that ~oal 7 ties in with all the other goals and has the importance a;>signed to each of the other goals. Mr. Longfellow said Goal 7 may be the least cost/benefit productive. Goal 7 was re-numbered to Goal #4, with. other numbers changed to c'orr,espolild . , He l·thin~e , i ty.sl ~c;>nletllirlg tlhat' !tieeds t6 be driven f l om a natipnal, not a local'; l~vel . Mr. K'inqston said that in the objectives of Goal 4 the Bristol Selectmen 'would like to have mention made of park-'n":'ride parking lots . Mr '. Dunnington agreed and said the Cotmnit:t:ee. would figure out how to word this.

Some of the other objectives were discussed. For example, with respect to planning for land uses along railroad lines, Mr . Dunnington said there were already hundreds of acres in Middlebury which had sewer, power, water, and other services and were located along the rail line . Mr. Kingston said that the existing rail line is minimally acceptable for freight traffic but would have to be upgraded for passenger traffic . )'Ie believes that a light rail service to Burlington would be a wonderful thing, especially since Addison County is already a bedroom community for Burlington and will become more so; he believes this despite the fact he also believes "the cars would be pretty empty . " He and others expressed doubt that funding for increased rail usage, such as upgrading the trackage, would be forthcoming. '

The discussion went on to the draft's policy section . The first is to "encourage development within existing and proposed growth centers in the Addison Region." T.he second addresses strip development. Mr. Longfellow said it ,is reasonable to put facilities alongside highways, but that strip development impedes traffic movement. He said that one wants good traffic movement, but one does not want to discourage development . Mr. Dunnington said it is a matter of how the development is ' done . He said it is not realistic to remove existing uses, but their appearance can be improved .

The fourth policy supports scenic roads. There were questions about how this is done, and the ramifications of "scenic" designation . Ms. Young said one of the functions of the directorship is to hold training workshops . She thinks perhaps the members would like . to have a training workshop on " scenic roa ds," and she will be glad to conduct one early in the fall, as well as workshops on any other topics the members suggest- - all to be h e ld

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in the early fall, before the November 1 deadline for adoption. Mr. Rosane asked what the difference is between a "goal" and a "policy." A discussion of the meaning of "goal," "policy," and "objective" followed. Mr. Longfellow said policies are general; goals are specific.

Mr. Longfellow said that in the draft's discussion "Recreational" Vergennes would like to have boat otter Creek facilities covered, such as boat traffic.

Returning to the rail traffic item, Mr. Dominick said there .is no possibili ty of rail passenger service in the near future; why, therefore, should the Commission "encourage and promote" it? Mr. Longfellow said that actually freight traffic is already increasing. Mr. Dunnington said there has been a study of the feasibility of increasing rail usage and he has recently spent a day with a railroad official discussing this issue. The study is being reviewed. Ms. willis said she would like the language kept in the draft because rail traffic might become relevant in the future.

Mr. Longfellow called attention to the time, and it was decided that it was time to stop for tonight .

. ' Mr. Rosane moved to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Kingston, and the meeting adjourned at 9:20 P.M.

Submitted by Helen Reiff, Recorder (Pro Tern)

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