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HomeMy Public PortalAbout2023.12.29 Special Meeting MinutesMINUTES McCall City Council Special Meeting McCall City Hall -- Legion Hall VIA TEAMS Virtual December 29, 2023 Call to Order and Roll Call Business Agenda Work Session Adjournment CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Council President Nielsen called the special meeting of the McCall City Council to order at 9:00 a.m. Council Member Maciaszek, Council Member Nelson, Council President Nielsen, and Council Member Thrower all answered roll call. Mayor Giles was absent. City staff members present were Anette Spickard, City Manager; BessieJo Wagner, City Clerk; Erin Greaves, Communications Manager; Michelle Groenevelt, Community Development Director; Brian Parker, City Planner; Nathan Stewart, Public Works Director; Sean Reilly, Network Administrator; Meredith Todd, Assistant City Planner; Morgan Stroud, City Staff Engineer; Traci Malvich, Human Resources Manager. Also, in attendance was Valley County Commissioner Sherry Maupin. BUSINESS AGENDA AB 23-266 Request to Approve Resolution 23-30 - Southeast McCall Buildout Transportation Recommendations City Staff Engineer Morgan Stroud presented to the City Council. Horrocks Engineers, in collaboration with City engineering and planning staff have developed the Southeast McCall Buildout Transportation Recommendations memorandum (McCall Buildout Memo). The McCall Buildout Memo evaluates various opportunities to expand existing transportation facilities throughout the southeast region of the City to meet anticipated future traffic volumes from both infill and new development. The results of the study conducted identify that extensions of Samson Trail, Floyde Street, Davis Street and Deinhard Lane will improve traffic to and from the study area. These extensions will also require significant intersection improvements at all major intersections. However, by building these transportation facilities, over time, and in collaboration with future developments, some mitigation of traffic congestion on 3rd Street, north of Deinhard Lane, can be achieved. Equally important, more efficient transportation routes, for both vehicle and multi -modal users, in the southeast area of town will be made. Staff presented the draft McCall Buildout Memo to the City Council on April 28, 2023. Council requested Staff to finalize the MCCALL CITY COUNCIL December 29, 2023 Special Meeting Page 1 of 6 report in preparation for formal adoption. Since then, Staff worked with Horrocks to finalize the McCall Buildout Memo. No significant changes were made from the April draft. Once adopted the report will serve as a planning tool to further support the goals in the Transportation Master Plan and the Comprehensive Plan. City Manager Anette Spickard asked for clarification on the planning horizon. Engineer Stroud noted that the planning horizon is out to 2040 assuming 60% development at full density in the area considering road and parks are not considered density. Public Works Director Nathan Stewart noted that the data for the study was collected using Street Light Data to utilize partnerships with cell phone companies to track the movement of devices through different zones of the City. Ultimately what the McCall Buildout Memo focuses in on is that 3rd Street and Lake Street and downtown cannot handle the expected increase in traffic but extending Davis Avenue and an extending Sampson Trail along with multimodal facilities improve the alternative routes to get through the community. The McCall Buildout Memo is a planning document and will always be vetted with the appropriateness and the proportionality of any development that comes in and it will give the City the ability to have a baseline to analyze traffic studies done by developers during the development application process. Council President Nielsen noted that the Summer 2023 road construction season was a good example of why the additional road connections are needed and asked if there will be a traffic study done on additional sections of the City. Director Stewart noted that staff looked at where growth is likely to happen in the near future to determine the study area and there are no additional studies planned for in the budget. City Planner Brian Parker gave an overview of potential large scale development areas in the McCall Buildout Memo study area. Council Member Nelson noted that the south side of McCall has seen higher growth than anticipated in the 2018 Comprehensive Plan. The area included in the study seems to be the most logical place to have conducted the study with the increased traffic on Hwy 55. Additionally, it is crucial for the City to anticipate how the State 80 land development will impact the community and traffic. Council Member Nelson also praised the amount of planning the City has done to include alternative modes of travel throughout the community. Director Stewart noted that the study did not look at Boydstun Lane or Hwy 55 and instead focused on the traffic patterns east of Hwy 55. There are limited ways to get from the east side of town and head south which creates a potential for the intersection of Deinhard Lane and Hwy 55 to become a bottleneck in the future. Engineer Stroud and Director Stewart gave an overview of future buildout scenarios including intersection improvements. Director Stewart noted that increased traffic on Floyde Street may be initially perceived negatively but it is an appropriate step to take in order to disperse traffic from 3rd Street and other roads that are already reaching capacity. Floyde Street would be updated and designed appropriately to handle the additional traffic volume. Council President Nielsen inquired as to the possibility of utilizing a roundabout at the intersection of Floyde Street and 3rd Street instead of a traffic signal. Director Stewart noted that a roundabout would be considerably more expensive than putting in a traffic signal and the Idaho Transportation Department has indicated that roundabouts are less desirable on Hwy 55. The City Council and Staff additionally discussed managing traffic flow with traffic signals, roundabouts and four-way stops. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 2 of 6 December 29, 2023 Special Meeting Council President Nielsen asked about the private undeveloped land at the end of Davis Avenue. Director Stewart noted that the 40 -acre parcel is not platted at this time and if the owner were to go through development the City would want to fully vet the development and work to obtain any easements necessary to extend the roadway in the future. Manager Spickard noted that the landowner is aware of the potential road extension in the future and understands the processes involved. Community and Economic Development Director Michelle Groenevelt noted that the parcel in question is in the Area of Impact but is surrounded by City limits. Staff had previously brought several parcels to the City Council that were eligible for annexation and the City Council at that time decided not to annex the parcel in question until there was a time that development was expected to occur. Council Member Nelson expressed the importance of public and private entity relationships when it comes to development and infrastructure. Additionally, Council Member Nelson asked if there are specific triggers, or a timeline expected for the buildout scenarios to occur. Planner Parker noted that typically the timeline or trigger would be dependent on when development occurs. Alternatively, the City could decide to extend a roadway preemptively. Council Member Thrower noted that with the potential of switching Hwy 55 with Boydstun there might not need to be stoplights or roundabouts through town for at least a little longer. Council President Nielsen asked if there would be any possibility of connecting Davis Avenue to Deinhard Lane in a straight line. Director Stewart noted that decision would come down to the City working with any developer on the State 80 land on the placement of any roadway easements. Manager Spickard noted that if the City Council adopts Resolution 23-30, staff can present the information at the next quarterly meeting with Idaho Department of Lands. Council Member Thrower asked about the timeframe in which the data was collected for the study. Engineer Stroud noted that the Street Lights data was collected in 2021 from all traffic, not a specific group such as full-time residents or visitors. Additionally, staff did traffic counts in 2022 during the fall and summer to ensure representation of peak travel times. Council Member Thrower moved to approve Resolution 23-30 adopting the Southeast McCall Buildout Transportation Recommendations Memorandum, dated September 5, 2023 as a supplemental document to the City's Transportation Master Plan. Council Member Nelson seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Council Member Thrower, Council Member Nelson, Council President Nielsen, and Council Member Maciaszek all voted aye, and the motion carried. AB 23-265 Request to Approve Resolution 23-29 — Adopting a Revised Roadways Functional Classifications Map and Update the Transportation Master Plan City Staff Engineer Morgan Stroud and Public Works Director Nathan Stewart presented to the City Council. The Transportation Master Plan was adopted in 2017 and defines a mission, vision, and goal for the community for the transportation networks in McCall. It is standard for reports and plans to be periodically updated as conditions change, or minor edits need to occur. The proposed updates to the Transportation Master Plan would be classified as minor edits and include upgrading four local roadway sections to the Minor Collector classification. These roadways are currently listed as Local roadway but function as Minor Collectors in relationship to their adjoining MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 3 of 6 December 29, 2023 Special Meeting road networks. These roadways collect adjacent Local roadways and connect surrounding residential traffic to the higher capacity roadway network (Major Collectors or Arterial roadways). The following roadway sections will be upgraded to a Minor Collector: 1. Pinedale Street - from Boydstun Street to Rio Vista Boulevard 2. Carico Road - from Lick Creek Road to Flynn Lane 3. Pilgrim Cove Road — from Lick Creek Road to Southern intersection of John Alden Road 4. Majestic View — from Spring Mountain Boulevard to the end of the roadway. Ongoing coordination with Idaho Transportation Department (ITD) will continue to implement these changes to the Federal Functional Classification designations, which will allow these newly classified Collector roadways to be eligible for grant funding. Council President Nielsen asked why Bitterroot Rd was not considered to be upgraded to a Minor Collector. Director Stewart explained that Bitterroot Road is platted as a local road and Bitterroot Road does not serve as a minor collector. Council Member Thrower moved to approve Resolution 23-29 to adopt revised to the Functional Classification map and update the Transportation Master Plan and authorize the Mayor to sign all necessary documents. Council Member Nelson seconded the motion. In a roll call vote Council Member Thrower, Council Member Nelson, Council President Nielsen, and Council Member Maciaszek all voted aye, and the motion carried. WORK SESSION AB 23-267 Transportation and Land Use City Planner Brian Parker and City Staff Engineer Morgan Stroud presented to the City Council. City Engineering and Planning Staff have identified areas within the City Code that need more definition and direction as it relates to transportation and traffic impact studies. The current practice includes staff guiding applicants to show compliance with traffic -related code findings, without any specific standards for traffic analysis as defined by the City Code. The City has relied on industry standards and the expertise of consultants to provide feedback on applications to determine appropriate and proportional mitigations for traffic impacts predicted in these studies. As Staff and consultants have worked through many traffic impact analyses of various projects, it has become apparent that there are issues with industry standards being applied within McCall. There are various methods available to analyze traffic and impacts and each have strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, Staff would like to work towards utilizing a methodology that better reflects the traffic patterns and transportation needs of McCall. Goals included creating standards for when a traffic analysis is required, establishing a methodology that is McCall specific, working towards a more holistic evaluation, and establishing a method for proportional transportation mitigations. Specific challenges noted by Engineer stroud include the City's traffic patterns, street payout and vehicle mix are not typical, perceived impact of development is larger due to being a smaller community, staff cannot always predict community perception of traffic impacts, mitigation for peak hours is not always consistent with community needs or the comprehensive plan, and focusing on vehicular capacity leads to lower prioritization of other impacts such as pedestrian traffic. Director Stewart noted that transportation impact studies focus on vehicle MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 4 of 6 December 29, 2023 Special Meeting movements and are not necessarily suitable for communicating impact mitigation for other modes of transportation. Council Member Thrower expressed appreciation for staff efforts to clarify a process better suited for the City. Transportation planning usually focuses on vehicles and money is put into roads rather than public transportation or pathways. Engineer Stroud reviewed the Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Model which takes into consideration where the project is located, where the amenities and destinations are and includes data on pedestrian and bicycle pathways and connections in addition to roadways. While the TDM model is not widely used, it is beneficial because it can be tailored to community specific needs. Additionally, the data used in the TDM model can cleanly translate into other planning documents and databases. Planner Parker noted that using the TDM model provides greater information on the impact differences a development on the edges of town may have compared to a development in downtown. Director Stewart expressed the added benefit the TDM model has for managing street assets. The TDM model also offers more quantifiable data for implementing impact fees equitably if the City Council decides to go that direction in the future. Assistant City Planner Meredith Todd noted that the TDM model is also beneficial in the data collection for Greenhouse Gas Inventories and can also be used to provide recommendations and directions for the Climate Action Planning process. Planner Parker added that one of the benefits of having zoning codes and standards is the certainty provided during the development process. The City's current process leaves a lot of questions in the early stages of development. Manager Spickard asked how soon staff would expect to bring a code amendment to the City Council. Planner Parker noted that staff expect to bring recommended code amendments to the City Council in the next few months before a new development season starts. Council Member Nelson asked where electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure fits into the City planning documents. Engineer Stroud noted that EV infrastructure fits into multiple plans including the Transportation Master Plan and the Climate Action Plan. Council President Nielsen asked if the TDM model has any overlap to the possible code amendments the City Council will see in the future. Director Stewart noted that having a reliable set of requirements and standards available to staff is important. The current City Code does not clearly state traffic mitigation measures. The mitigation measures will be put in place to have a constructive, intelligent dialogue between staff and developers during the application process. Without the mitigation measures, requirements and standards for traffic studies, development application processes have been slowed down which impacts the City staff and the developers applying. Staff plans to bring back the minimum requirement suggestions in the next few months. Council President Nielsen additionally asked if the code amendment would affect the Area of Impact. Planner Parker noted that a work session with Valley County Commissioners would be needed to address traffic study requirements in the Area of Impact. The City Council expressed appreciation for staff and agreement with the direction proposed changes are going. Council Member Nelson expressed that the City does not want to be difficult for developers but rather have a clear expectation and guidelines that benefit the community and for developers to have a better understanding of requirements before starting the application process. MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 5 of 6 December 29, 2023 Special Meeting ADJOURNMENT 1 Without further business, Mayor Giles adjourned the meeting at 10:36 a.m. ATTEST: BessieJo T r, City lilllll/►t% Robert S. Giles, Mayor MCCALL CITY COUNCIL Page 6 of 6 December 29, 2023 Special Meeting