BY KATHY WILLIAMS
HERALD DEMOCRAT
Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Planning Organization directors approved Wednesday the 2010-2035 Metropolitan Transportation Plan that sets priorities for highways, public transit, airports, railroads and even hike and bike trails. The plan, devised by the staff and state planners, has been vetted through a series of public hearings and meetings with stakeholders and minority groups. It will guide the area's government funded transportation for the next 25 years.The Board of Directors also learned that more projects than they previously believed possible could be funded next year.
Sherman Mayor Bill Magers asked Bobby Littlefield, Paris District engineer for Texas Department of Transportation, what the funding looked like for projects the board has listed as priorities. Littlefield said engineering is completed for the on-off ramp reversal project on U.S. Highway 75 in front of Sherman Town Center, and the project is awaiting funding.
"Right now, we're trying to squeeze it in as a stimulus (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) project," Littlefield said. "Most of our stimulus projects have under-run their budgets, so we are able to dip down into that and fund other projects. Every year we let more projects and as long as the economy continues to be on a downturn, we will be able to get good bids. (The ramp reversal project) ... with the city's commitment (of some funding,) we should be able to get there next year some time."
The Board also approved the Metropolitan Planning Organization's staff's suggestions to seek cost comparisons for its fiscal agent.
The Board of Directors comprises the mayors of Sherman, Denison and Pottsboro, a county commissioner and the Texas Department of Transportation district engineer. Currently, Magers serves as chairman, with other directors including Denison Mayor Robert Brady, Pottsboro Mayor Frank Budra, (representing the small cities,) Grayson County Commissioner Gene Short and Littlefield.
The Metropolitan Transportation Plan is the big picture statement of how highways, airports, public transportation and railways will work together in the future. The plan is designed according to detailed federal requirements to ensure that plans are disclosed to the public and that interests such as fair distribution of bids for projects among minority groups and environmental issues are attended to.
Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration and Texas Department of Transportation paid for development of the plan. Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Planning Organization updates the plan for immediate projects, such as those funded by American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus money that became available early last year and had to be rapidly spent in order to achieve the desired economic stimulus. And the organization creates specific work plans and Transportation Improvement Plans that outline projects as they move to top priority for completion. The Metropolitan Transportation Plan is updated every five years and TIP, which covers four years of spending, is updated every two years.
Robert Wood, transportation director, explained that Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Planning Organization pays about $45,000 a year, currently to Texoma Council of Governments, to be its fiscal agent and to house its operations. The board gave Wood permission to look for a cheaper solution because federal funding was cut by 30 percent this year. Sherman-Denison Metropolitan Planning Organization is the smallest in the state, so the cost and the cut are significant factors. Any fiscal agent must have resources to "float" costs such as payroll and bill payments in the $15,000 category. And there must be administrative support and space for operations.
A related issue is that the employees (Wood and Transportation Planner Wally Johnson) get Texoma Council of Governments benefits of sick leave and health insurance that they would lose if they changed fiscal agents.
The board approved the Metropolitan Transportation Organization's participation in a Web-based program called NEP Assist, a free but confidential service which alerts roadway planners to issues plotted on maps such as environmental damage and Native American tribal burial plots.
Littlefield presented TxDOT's "renewed strategic planning process" that the state agency is undertaking. TxDOT suffered image and public confidence problems during the last session of the State Legislature. Littlefield said that the agency will go through another sunset review process in the next legislative session, but has made some changes because of the last one. The changes address more than image, including working strategically and collaboratively with other agencies to relieve congested traffic areas, to enhance system connectivity and to enhance safety for users of all Texas transportation systems.
The board passed an ethics clause as an amendment to its bylaws. Most if not all of the board members already are covered by state ethics legislation because of their positions on city councils or the commissioners court. The new bylaw also covers staff and provides that they will not profit personally from any transportation projects they are involved with.
In an item left over from the board's last meeting, Budra reported that his research had showed that cities and the county already were funding Pictography (highly detailed overhead pictures of all land and property in the county) through their payments to Grayson Appraisal District. Pottsboro's Mayor Budra said that it didn't make sense for the cities and the county to pay again for the Texoma Council of Government's 911 program to purchase the same service. The Metropolitan Planning Organization has access, via a Web-based system, to all the Pictography covering the county.
Short pointed out that the Texoma Council of Government's 911 program's pictography is funded by the state, with the exception of the portion that covers Sherman and Denison, which have their own 911 emergency dispatch systems.