HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/02/2010 04B Minutes 10-21-2010 Council Transit - Transportation Planning Committee Transit — Transportation Planning Committee
Meeting Minutes
Yakima City Hall Council Chambers, 129 North 2 " Street, Yakima, WA 98901
Thursday, October 21, 2010
1030am -12 Noon
City Council Members Staff Other
Rick Ensey, Chair Chris Waarvick, Public Works Director Paul Overby
Micah Cawley Joe Rosenlund, Streets & Traffic Operations Manager (City of Selah)
Dave Ettl Wayne Deason, Street Maintenance Supervisor
Transit Items
Five new 35 -foot buses were placed in service in September These buses replaced five aging buses
and were purchased through an ARRA grant.
Rich Lyons, Transit Operations Supervisor, retired in September The position will be under - filled in
2011
In December, Hope Source and Yakima Transit will submit a joint grant application for commuter
service between Yakima and Ellensburg The proposed bus route will serve Yakima Valley
Community College, Yakima Transit Center, downtown Ellensburg and Central Washington
University
• Transit service to Terrace Heights will end on December 4, 2010 when the funding grant expires
Transit is working with the Terrace Heights community to see what options are available to continue
the service
The committee gave staff permission to provide extended transit service on New Year's Eve as it has
in previous years The service would likely operate as a continuation to the already extended service
hours at minimal additional cost. Ridership is expected to be higher this year because New Year's
Eve falls on Friday this year
Sunday bus service is to begin in March 2011 An anticipated benefit of the Sunday service is a
reduction in Dial -A Ride service The City of Selah is considering participation in this program but
further discussions are needed
The committee gave their approval to continue providing Dial -A -Ride service to a retirement home for
an annual holiday event at West Valley High School Permission was necessary because West
Valley HS is outside of city limits The cost is about $600 from transit funds, not general funds The
decision on whether to provide this service will be made each year
Street and Traffic Operations
The Committee was presented with the Snow and Ice Control policy Discussion was focused on the
ability of the Street's crew to adequately respond to moderate to large storms given the work hour
restrictions in the policy and the number of available street maintenance workers Per the policy,
personnel are only allowed to work 16 hours continuously before they must take an 8 -hour minimum
break. Due to reductions in force and these work hour restrictions, it will take longer for streets to be
4, cleared of snow this year compared to previous years These limitations are for safety purposes for
the public and our employees Last year we had some employees working over 30 hours
continuously with only short meal breaks
This winter is predicted to be a La Nina year with above average precipitation and below average
temperatures We are anticipating three to four moderate to large storms this year compared to the
one or two that we have had in recent years
Funding for materials and contractor support is not an issue at this point as there are reserves in the
Streets funds for such emergencies Contractors are used to help clear residential streets after large
or extended storm events and could be used to help haul snow from the Central Business District
(CBD) They do not have the equipment or training to plow arterial roadways In 1996 when
contractors were last used for snow removal, there were 11 contractors available, this year there are
only 4 Most contractors no longer apply to be on the contract because of the bonding and insurance
costs without the assurance of getting work each year If the City Manager declares an emergency,
we can supplement streets crews with personnel from other departments that have CDL's and
experience operating dump trucks and graders
The CBD can only be plowed and cleared of snow at night. Heavy traffic and on street parking does
not allow us to operate the heavy equipment when most businesses are open downtown The work
hour limitation is likely to extend the time it takes to clear the CBD from one to two nights to up to four
nights after the initial storm hits, depending on the size of storm If we have series of storms it may
take longer for snow removal
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Transit/Transportation Planning Committee will be Thursday, November 18 at •
1130 am
Approved by grir SIO-{,(1
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