CVTPO Agendas & Minutes - FY20

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Office of the Central Virginia Planning District Commission
828 Main Street, 12th Floor
Lynchburg, VA 24504

Large Conference Room | 4:00 pm

Agenda 

1. Call to Order, John Sharp, Chair 

2. Election of 2019-2020 Officers, John Sharp, Chair 

At the April meeting, the board directed the chair to identify individuals who would be willing to serve as chair and vice chair for the upcoming year (2019-2020) and to propose an informal rotation for future years.

The following slate is proposed:
Chair Turner Perrow City of LynchburgVice Chair
Charlie Watts Campbell County

The following informal rotation is proposed:

3. Approval of Minutes: April 18, 2018 Meeting | Attachment | John Sharp, Chair

The minutes of the April 18, 2018 meeting of the CVMPO are attached for your review and approval.

Recommendation:  Staff recommends approval.

4. Opportunity for Public Comment, John Sharp, Chair

5. Adoption of Resolution of Support for Riveredge Trail Extension Project | Attachment | Scott Smith, Transportation Planning Director, CVPDC

One locality within the MPO is submitting an application for VDOT’s Transportation Alternatives Program for the FY 21/22 cycle. VDOT requires MPO approval of these applications. The proposed project is:

County of Amherst
Riveredge Trail Extension

Amherst County will submit a VDOT TA Set-Aside FY21/22 application to fund construction of an approximate 6,200’ long 10’wide trail that will connect the existing 2,000’ Riveredge Trail to the existing James River Heritage Trail (JRHT).

Creating the linkage between Riveredge Park and the JRHT is an expressed trail/alternative transportation priority in the Region 2000 Greenways, Blueways, and Trails Plan, the Region 2000 Bike Plan, the 2018 Virginia Outdoors Plan, and the Amherst County Comprehensive Plan. Amherst County is fully funding the $123,130 engineering and design of the trail.

The TA application, estimated at $1,347,680 VDOT with a $336,920 local match, is to fund construction of the full 6,200’ extension which consists of three sections. Section 1 consists of a 60’ multiuse bridge. Section 2, approximately 3,700’, is a flat section within the CVTC property. Section 3 is the final 2,000’ section to connect to the JRHT and traverses along private property. 4,200’ or 68%, of the trail is within property controlled by Amherst County.

The CVMPO Transportation Technical Committee met on July 11, 2019 and recommended this project for approval by the MPO Policy Board.

Recommendation:  Staff recommends adoption of the resolutions.

6. Adoption of Resolution of Appreciation for Will Mays | Attachment | Scott Smith, Transportation Planning Director, CVPDC

7. Adoption of CVMPO Bylaws Amendments | Attachment 7a | Attachment 7b | Attachment 7c | Scott Smith, Transportation Planning Director, CVPDC

At the April 2019 MPO meeting, the Bylaws Subcommittee presented the findings of a comprehensive review of the organization’s bylaws, which had not been updated since 1999. The findings included proposed amendments to the organization’s bylaws, and the Policy Board voted to accept the proposed changes with the understanding that final ratification would occur at the July meeting (to allow the 30-day review period to expire).

Attachment 7a shows the current bylaws with markup and comments (words that are struckthrough are proposed to be deleted, and words that are underlined are proposed to be added), while attachment 7b shows a “clean” version of the bylaws with all proposed changes incorporated. Many of the proposed changes are simply intended to clarify the mission and purpose of the organization or to update language. Some proposed changes, however, are substantive. Those are outlined below.

• Article I, Section 1 – Name. To reduce confusion and better reflect the specific mission of MPOs, some organizations around the country are re-designating themselves as Transportation Planning Organizations, or TPOs. Three of the larger Virginia MPOs (Roanoke, Richmond, and Hampton Roads) took the opportunity to change their name when they were recently classified as Transportation Management Areas (TMAs). Examples of TPOs that are not classified as TMAs (having an urbanized area population of greater than 50,000 but under 200,000) include Kingsport, TN, Gainesville, FL, and Sebring, FL. Staff has communicated with FHWA and VDOT Lynchburg District staff who are supportive of the change. A review of the federal regulations has found no prohibitions to an MPO of our size calling itself something other than an MPO. We would still function as the MPO for the Lynchburg urbanized area in the eyes of the federal regulations and state code but would be outwardly known as a TPO.
• Article III, Section 1 – Voting Members. By acknowledging as a voting member the appointee of the Secretary of Transportation, we are putting into writing what has been practiced for years and are bringing the bylaws language in line with the MOU between the MPO, GLTC, and the Secretary of Transportation (the current MOU is dated 6/1/18 and is located in tab 2 of your MPO notebook). In the recent past, the Secretary’s appointee has been the VDOT Lynchburg District Administrator.
• Article III, Section 2 – Non-Voting Members. This adds a representative of the Planning District Commission to the board (this supports existing language in Article V, Section 1 that names the executive director (or designee) of the PDC as the secretary of the board). Additionally, this change officially adds a representative of Liberty University to the board as a non-voting member. This has been normal practice for a number of years but was not added to the bylaws.
• Article III, Section 3 – Alternate Members. Deleted. See Article IV, Section 4 below.
• Article IV, Section 4 – Proxy Votes. In the past, proxy voting was not allowed, but alternate members could be officially designated by the members’ respective boards or councils (this required a vote at a meeting of the governing body). By discontinuing the alternate member policy and instead allowing proxies, the process is streamlined and now agrees with the bylaws of the CVPDC.
• Article V, Section 2 – Terms of Office: The chair and vice chair may now only serve two consecutive terms.
• Article VIII, Section 1 – Transportation Technical Committee. Proposed changes in this section 1) remove the shared vote between Lynchburg City Planning and Engineering representatives (they would each now have a vote), 2) allows a representative from each town, 3) allows up to one citizen representative from each locality, but does not require that one be appointed, 4) adds a Liberty University representative, 5) reduces the quorum from a simple majority to 25% of the seated members (the large membership makes it very difficult for a quorum to currently be achieved), 6) establishes the annual election of a committee chair.
• Article VIII, Section 2 – Community Transportation Advisory Committee. A committee consisting of representatives of various community organizations has been included in the bylaws since the beginning but has not been seated in at least 15 years. With increased ability to gather public input through technology and the existence of groups like the Lynchburg Region Transportation Advocacy Group (LRTAG) (a program of the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance), it is likely that this committee is no longer necessary. Relevant organizations will continue to be engaged for specific projects, especially updates to the LRTP. These include the LRTAG and GLTC’s customer and ADA committees. Removing the Community Advisory Committee will in no way hamper the organization’s efforts or ability to interface with the general public through meetings and workshops, surveys, and other methods.
• Article VIII, Section 1 – Regular Meetings. This changes the meeting schedule from monthly to quarterly, as has been the usual practice. Special meetings may still be called if needed.
• Article VIII, Section 5 – Quorum. This reduces the quorum from a simple majority of voting members (6) to 5 in order to increase the likelihood that business can be conducted if attendance is lower than usual. While the number required for the quorum is different, the idea of a quorum that is less than a majority is in keeping with the PDC’s bylaws.

MPO staff is still working with our attorney (Ted Craddock) and VDOT Central Office to outline the proper course of action for the bylaws amendment and name change. In order to expedite the process with VDOT and to show them that the organization is behind these changes, staff is requesting that the amended bylaws in attachment 7b and the resolution in attachment 7c be adopted with the understanding that the new bylaws will not go into effect until all procedural hurdles have been cleared. This matter will likely return to the MPO’s agenda in upcoming meetings.

Recommendation:  Adopt the resolution and amended bylaws.

8. Update on Smart Scale Round 3, Chris Winstead, VDOT

Chris Winstead of VDOT will give a breif update on the results of the Samrt Scale Round 3.

9. Central Virginia Long-Range Transportation Plan Kick-Off, EPR, PC

EPR, PC of Charlottesville was selected by the MPO’s interview team (consisting of representatives from Campbell an Bedford Counties, GLTC, VDOT, and MPO staff) to support the 2045 update of the Central Virginia Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP). The update process will be occurring over the upcoming year.

Staff from EPR will present an overview of the LRTP update timeline and the MPO Policy Board’s important role in the process.

Recommendation: Participate in the discussion.

10. Matters from the Members

11. Adjournment

12. Informational Items

The CVMPO will be meeting at 4:00 p.m. on the following dates, unless otherwise noted or notified.

• September 19, 2019 (special meeting for LRTP activities)
• October 17, 2019
• January 16, 2020
• April 16, 2020
• July 16, 2020

Please mark your calendars for August 13th (9:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.) for the Lynchburg Regional Business Alliance’s Merge 2019 Transportation Summit – Presented by RIDE Solutions.

Ideal for contractors, planners, and concerned business citizens and transportation advocates, this Summit will bring together experts and champions for high level discussions on our transportation infrastructure. We’ll explore the latest innovations and planning for our region concerning air, rail, roads and alternative modes of transportation.

List of invited speakers:

• State Sec. of Transportation, Shannon Valentine
• Dep. State Sec. of Transportation, Nick Donohue
• Virginia Tech Smart Road, Anne Deekens
• Central Virginia MPO, Scott Smith
• Bill Swelbar (consultant)

Topics will include Innovation and Technology in Transportation, How Transportation Impacts Workforce, Funding Transportation Projects in the Future, Air Service Expansion in Lynchburg, and a 2045 Long-Term Transportation Outlook for the region.  For more information, visit: https://business.lynchburgregion.org/events/details/merge-2019-transportation-summit-5737

The CVMPO ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  If you have questions or concerns about your civil rights in regards to this project or need special assistance for persons with disabilities or limited English proficiency, please contact the CVMPO.  Sign language or non-English language interpreters will be provided if needed and requested in advance of this meeting.  Please contact the CVMPO at 434-845-3491 to request an interpreter.