Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 4/15/2014 'lp'' 0` GLENTIV1 MINUTES OF THE GLENDALE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP SESSION Council Chambers - Room B3 5850 West Glendale Avenue April 15, 2014 1:30 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Jerry P. Weiers,Vice Mayor Yvonne J. Knaack and Councilmembers Norma S.Alvarez, Ian Hugh, Manuel D. Martinez, Gary D. Sherwood, and Samuel U. Chavira ALSO PRESENT: Brenda Fischer, City Manager; Julie Frisoni,Assistant City Manager; Jennifer Campbell,Assistant City Manager; Michael Bailey, City Attorney; and Pamela Hanna, City Clerk CALL TO ORDER WORKSHOP SESSION 1. NORTH GLENDALE PARK-AND-RIDE/TRANSIT CENTER PROJECT UPDATE PRESENTED BY: Cathy Colbath, Interim Executive Director, Transportation Services The purpose of this presentation is to give an update on the progress of the North Glendale Park-and-Ride and Transit Center project and is for Council information only. Ms. Colbath provided some background on the transit services offered by the city. She spoke about the need for transit facilities in Glendale. She mentioned the park and ride location at 99th Avenue and Glendale. She said a study indicated that north Glendale was also in need of a transit center and a park and ride. She said this infrastructure is necessary to support several very busy bus routes in that area. She updated a study which started in 2013. She said a park and ride primarily serves express bus riders,who come from outlying areas in the valley and come into Glendale and take a bus downtown Phoenix to go to work. She also said park and ride is used by informal carpools and vanpools. She said parking is provided with security and is a safe place for people to leave their cars. Ms. Colbath next discussed a transit center, which is primarily used for local route bus riders and is located at major activity centers, such as Arrowhead Towne Center. She said riders look for transit centers that are safe and shaded places to wait,with restrooms and places to get food and beverages while waiting for a bus. The study is evaluating locations for the park and ride or transit center or a combination of both. 1 Ms.Albert discussed the various transit routes currently available to patrons in Glendale. She said residents are able to park their vehicles at the Home Depot at 59th Avenue and Behrend and at Arrowhead Towne Center and can catch express busses to go to downtown Phoenix. She said about 100 vehicles park at the park and ride lot at the Home Depot per day and about 25 vehicles use the parking at Arrowhead Towne Center every day. She said the Arrowhead Towne Center also serves as a transit center for three local routes that run along Union Hills, Bell Road and 67th Avenue. These local routes serve over 75,000 boarding's each year. She said improvements are needed at both facilities. Both are located on private property and are being operated under informal agreements. She said there are limitations to the amount of available parking and limited passenger amenities. She also said pedestrian and bicycle access to these facilities could be improved as well. The busses operating around the Arrowhead Towne Center also create congestion by parking in the lanes of travel around the Center. Transit demand has grown in Glendale over the last few years and these issues will become more pronounced. Ms.Albert said to address these issues, improvement projects were identified both locally and regionally. She also said funding for these projects was identified. She said most of the funding is federal and specific processes will have to be followed. She said the first step in the process was to conduct a needs analysis to determine project feasibility and to confirm the facilities are needed. The study also provided an estimate of future demand for this type of transportation system. She said site selection was also critical and the assessment criteria included accessibility, environmental concerns, and capital and ongoing costs. Public input is a key component to the federal process. There have been two public meetings to solicit feedback and to provide information. In addition to the public meetings,they have also done surveys, set up social media for public comment and provided a project link on the city's website. She said the public is looking for shade, security,ticket vending machines as well as other frequency and vehicle improvements. Ms.Albert provided potential sites for new facilities on a map. Seven potential transit sites were identified including the site at Arrowhead Towne Center. She said they have narrowed those down to two different sites near the Arrowhead Towne Center. The park and ride sites were narrowed down from 11 sites to three viable locations. Ms.Albert explained where each of those sites was located. She explained the criteria they used to choose the locations and explained the rankings they came up with. The first two park and ride sites being considered have declined the park and ride location at their site. They have renewed negotiations with the third choice to move forward with obtaining the land necessary. They have had further discussions with Arrowhead Towne Center about locating the transit center on that property. She said the Arrowhead Towne Center is open to this concept at this time. This arrangement would come with a formalized agreement. She said funding would be a combination of federal, local and regional funds. She said staff is working with their partners to schedule the timing of those funds. The timeframe for the transit center would be spring or summer of 2015 and the park and ride would be early 2016. The next steps include finalizing the design and construction of the project. Councilmember Sherwood said it was a good presentation. He asked if the Metro center Mall was a combined transit center and park and ride facility. 2 Ms. Colbath said the facility located at Metro center Mall was a combined use facility. Councilmember Sherwood asked if there was a preference for a combined facility. Ms. Colbath said that was correct and optimally it would be nice to have everything in one location. She said it is imperative that the local bus stays at the Arrowhead Towne Center due to cost concerns so the park and ride would be at a new location. Councilmember Chavira asked what mechanism is used to obtain the information as to how many people use the busses at a certain location. Ms. Colbath said they use a number of ways to determine ridership. They talk to people using the park and ride, and work with Valley Metro, and use demographics pulled from the people using the facilities. She also said they look at other facilities to determine the needs of the city. Councilmember Martinez said it was too bad that Arrowhead Towne Center was not willing to go along with both facilities. He said he attended the meetings and it was the preference of those in attendance. He asked about the site north of the water treatment plant and asked specifically where they were with that. He asked if an appraisal was being done. Ms.Albert said they have just reached out to the property owner. She said this property owner did indicate they would be willing to sell to the city for this type of use. She said they are now going back to them as a really interested party in this process. She said with the federal funding they have,there are specific steps and land acquisition is one they follow closely. She said at this time they are just reaching out to determine if the owner is interested in selling the property. If they are, they will move forward to appraisals and negotiations. Councilmember Martinez asked how the site worked out with the neighborhoods there. Ms.Albert said there is a river adjacent to the site. Across from this site is a commercial area and the residential area is north of that location. They are involved in the public meetings and they will continue to gauge any issues the public may have. Vice Mayor Knaack asked if the land purchase figured into the financials on the slide. Ms.Albert said the costs for land acquisitions are included. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT There is nothing at this time. 3 COUNCIL ITEMS OF SPECIAL INTEREST Councilmember Alvarez said she knew that urban irrigation is being tabled and she still thinks they need to discuss it as an item of special interest. She would like to learn a little more about it. Mayor Weiers said he was approached by business owners near the Loop 303 and Northern. He said they had concerns about entrance to Northern Avenue from the 303. He asked if staff could see if they can work on options to improve access. Councilmember Chavira said they have had several meetings on this and would like to be a part of this. He said they have addressed those concerns. Mayor Weiers said they needed to discuss it further so everyone knew what was going on. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 1:50 p.m. 4