w / / / { Ç { Appendix A: Project Advisory Committee Project Advisory Committee City of Rochester • Erik Frisch, DES/Engineering Bureau (Project Manager) • Jim McIntosh, City Engineer • Susan Lindsay, Neighborhood and Business Development • Doug Benson, Neighborhood and Business Development • Susan Olley, Parking Director • Tony Hubbard, Finance/Parking Admisitration Genesee Transportation Council (GTC) • Rich Perrin, Executive Director Rochester Downtown Development Corporation (RDDC) • Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, President Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA) • Chuck Switzer, Vice President Monroe County Department of Transportation (MCDOT) • Scott Leathersich, Sr. Physical Services Planner City of Rochester Center City Circulator Study Meeting Minutes Project Advisory Committee Meeting #1 December 7, 2009 Project: Center City Circulator Study Date: December 21, 2009 Prepared by: Michael Nicolls, C&S Companies File: I93.001.001 Attendees: Erik Frisch (City of Rochester, Bureau of Arch. and Eng.) Jim McIntosh (City of Rochester, Bureau of Arch. and Eng.) Susan Lindsay (City of Rochester, Economic Development) Susan Olley (City of Rochester, Bureau of Parking) Bob Torzynski (Genesee Transportation Council) Chuck Switzer (RGRTA) Scott Leathersich (Monroe County DOT) Heidi Zimmer-Meyer, (Rochester Downtown Development Corp.) Aileen Maguire Meyer (C&S Companies, Project Manager) Michael Nicolls (C&S Companies) The kick-off and first Project Advisory Committee (PAC) meeting was held for the City of Rochester - Center City Circulator Study on December 7, 2009. The purpose of the meeting was to introduce the project team to the PAC and to review the project background, scope and schedule. Following is a summary of items discussed during that meeting as understood by the preparer. These draft minutes are open for comment and revision by attendees until January 15, 2010 after which they will be considered final and will be filed for the record. 1. Introductions Erik Frisch, City of Rochester, opened the meeting with introductions and a review of the purpose of the meeting. He then turned the meeting over to the project manager for this study, Aileen Maguire Meyer, C&S Companies. Aileen briefly discussed the purpose and goals of the PAC and the project team. a. Project Advisory Committee (PAC) • Identified meeting attendees and informed committee of their oversight role for this project. A handout with a preliminary scope and schedule was given to all in attendance. b. Project Team • C&S Companies will lead project and will coordinate with PAC and team for meetings and tasks. (Aileen Maguire Meyer and Michael Nicolls in attendance) • Resource Systems Group (RSG) will be handling the Workforce Transportation Survey (Task 3). (Not in attendance) • Martin/Alexiou/Bryson (MAB) will be conducting the Circulator Feasibility study (Task 4). (Not in attendance) 2. Best Practices As part of the Background exploration, current circulator systems for cities with comparable needs were discussed. A list of best practices in six cities is presented in handout. The PAC also identified additional cities: • Des Moines, IA • West Palm Beach, FL • Buffalo, NY As a result of the discussion of Best Practices, a number of questions were brought up with regard to project scope, these include: • What type of circulator vehicles are being looked at versus the type of route these vehicles will traverse? • Who will operate system and what type of operating costs should be expected? • What are the potential funding sources and user costs? • Are there any businesses or agencies that can subsidize operating costs? • What types of advertising will be acceptable and what kind of financial model will be followed? • What type/size of Vehicle will be used? Are there preferences for engine type? How many seats will be required? • How should the climate of Rochester affect the type of vehicle and service? • How will the users be identified? • What are the potential hours of operation and will this include late-night hours to support bar/entertainment venues? • What accommodations may be made for handicapped access? The review of Best Practices should document how the circulator systems being evaluated addressed these issues. 3. Project Scope The project scope was discussed and summarized below: Task 1: Project Management C&S Companies, as the prime consultant, will serve as project manager and will be the point of contact between the project team and the PAC including the City of Rochester project manager, Erik Frisch. Task 2: Background/Study Area Definition C&S Companies will gather background information and determine the study area to be considered. It was noted that the RFP assumes potential routes would be exclusively within the Inner Loop and extend beyond in a few areas (A study area map was provided). As part of the background definition, existing downtown parking conditions were discussed. Sue Olley (City – Parking Bureau) provided a brief update of City parking: 2 • As a result of past issues with parking enforcement, the existing parking system is undergoing consolidation. This has led to increased activity in enforcement including an increased action of the Warning Policy. • The current meter-bagging system including night-bagging is now being coordinated with the Parking office. • The Parking office has hired an engineering consultant to produce a baseline assessment of existing public parking garages. • The rate system is being re-evaluated with a comparison of user occupancy vs. sales and adjustment of rates is being assessed as well. The Mortimer Street Garage is one such garage that has reassessed rates and lowered them accordingly. • It was noted that the “First Hour Free” policy was not working as expected. • Existing public parking garages throughout downtown are being looked at for City operation. • In addition, the elimination of private contracts at surface lots and garages are being considered. The discussion of background information also included any changes to parking facilities since the Walker Parking study (2005) was completed. The following are some notable changes: • With the closure of the Midtown Garage, there has been a significant decrease in available parking spaces in that vicinity. It was noted that the Midtown parking garage will reopen with significantly less available spaces due to new development on-site. • The construction of the ESL building and adjoining parking lot will result in additional spaces for downtown, but until the project is complete, it has eliminated spaces. • The construction of the Monroe County Crime Lab has also eliminated spaces in a former surface parking lot. • It was noted that existing parking at the proposed Block F development will be lost once construction on the site begins. • The City is currently seeking development proposals for a public surface parking lot at the corner of West Main Street and Plymouth Avenue. Development of this site would remove hundreds of spaces. • The City of Rochester Parking Bureau is seeking additional on-street parking. It was noted that over 100 metered parking spots have been added downtown over the past six months. • Heidi Zimmer-Meyer explained that she is part of a RDDC task force that is studying occupancy versus usage to translate into parking demand. Data from this task force is being utilized to develop a downtown parking demand map. This group utilized a Downtown business database that she said could be available to the project team. Erik Frisch will document any additional changes and forward those to the project team. 3 The Study Area was also discussed. An aerial map was provided to all in attendance. Some areas, beyond the original Parking Study limits, were considered: • Corn Hill District • Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood • Kodak surface lots adjacent to Frontier Field and Kodak headquarters • Marina Auto Stadium • Amtrak Train Station • Church Parking Lots • Main Street Armory/Rochester Auditorium Center surface lots During the discussion it was determined that most of the additional sites, with the exception of the Kodak surface lots, would be pushing the limits of a circulator system and therefore would not be feasible to include. The Market was identified as the Downtown workforce. Some additional markets were suggested: • University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology and Monroe Community College (with potential for MCC Downtown campus) • SUNY- Brockport Shuttle • Visitor Service Parking – considering peripheral service • Juror Service • Entertainment Venues/Bars & Restaurants (service extending to 2:30am) • Special Events (Jazz Festival) • RTS Transfers Task 3: Workforce Transportation Survey This phase of the project will require a survey of the Downtown workforce. Resource Systems Group (RSG) will administer the survey. Aileen Maguire Meyer (C&S) provided an initial draft copy of the survey to all attendees with a goal of obtaining feedback for the final draft. The following are some initial comments: • The survey should acknowledge parking security/safety features including lighting issues. • The survey should also attempt to identify the meaning of downtown so as to help shape the study area. Heidi Zimmer-Meyer (RDDC) requested an electronic file of the survey draft. Erik Frisch distributed this to attendees subsequent to the meeting. Task 4: Circulator Feasibility Study It was noted that this project task involves the feasibility study for implementing a Downtown Circulator System. Martin/Alexiou/Bryson