NPRPO Meeting Minutes

September 6, 2006

Fechin Inn

Taos, NM

 

 

Member’s attendance:

Ted Martinez –Chair                  Danny Garcia – Rio Arriba County

Francisco “French” Espinoza – Town of Taos                  Cathy Martinez – Rio Arriba County

Ted Garcia – Los Alamos County                  Bob Perry – Town of Red River                                      

Brent Jaramillo – Vice Chair/Questa                  Adrian Notsinneh – Jicarilla Apache Nation                         

Sandra Sue Richardson – Picuris Pueblo                  Rob Straebel – Village of Taos Ski Valley

Shabih Rizvi – Santa Fe County                  Dennis Wells – Village of Chama

Sean Hughes – Santa Clara Pueblo                  Sherriff Pat Naranjo – Santa Clara Pueblo

Councilman Raymond Martinez – San Ildefonso                  Victor Robles – Taos County

Paul Martinez – Sangre de Cristo Land Grant

 

Affiliate Member attendance:

Sandra Maes – NPRPO Planner                  Bob Widoe – NMDOT – Planning                   

Chris Moquino – Senator Bingaman’s Office                  Ron Shutiva – NMDOT – Native American Liaison

Roy Cornelius – NMDOT LRPlanning                  Benny Martinez – NMDOT –Project Dev.                

 

Guests in attendance:

 

Citizen’s in attendance:

 

 

I.                    Call to order at 9:40 by Ted Martinez, Chair

Ø     Thanked Taos County and Fechin Inn staff for the meeting location and provision of treats.

 

II.                 Welcome and Introductions –

 

III.               Approval of Agenda –

Ø     Brent Jaramillo, Village of Questa made a motion to approve the agenda as presented, seconded by Rob Straebel, Village of Taos Ski Valley.  No Discussions/Passed unanimously

 

IV.              Approval of Minutes for August 2, 2006

Ø     French stated that on David Martinez – D-5 report; it should read Taos on Placitas N. to city limits.

Ø     Brent Jaramillo, Village of Questa made a motion to approve the meeting minutes as amended, seconded by Ted Garcia, Los Alamos County.

 

V.                 Presentation by Hugh Louch, Cambridge Systematic’s

Ø     Cambridge Systematic’s has been contracted by NMDOT to conduct a multi-modal study

·              Three components of the study include purpose/need/study on various transportation modes

·              Purpose – identifies NM strategic multi-modal plans

1.      Include transit, aviation, rail, etc. with a special focus on rural area needs

2.      Prioritize needs with performance data and analytical tools

3.      Are using the best tools for funding

4.      Will provide database tools that NMDOT can use

·        Task 1 included needs analysis for multimodal with focus on growth, existing modes and employee centers

·        Task 1 identified 3 key aspects

1.      System inventory – systems already out there

2.      Demand on system – rider ship/usage

3.      Future demands – additional services

·        Compiled information from existing data sources

1.      State – projections, population and employment

2.      Federal

3.      County and municipality comprehensive plans

4.      Existing Long Range Plans

5.      Proprietary data bases

·        Cambridge is presenting to all RPOs to ensure consistency and individuality of regions

·        Thus far, the data is addressing

1.      Population growth increases into the future

2.      Employment comparison areas

3.      Rural transit future demands and needs

§         Program – head starts/senior centers

§         Non-program – general services/no restrictions

·        Looked at statewide rural transit relations between needs and provisions

1.      Intercity bus mode connections

2.      Intercity rail connectivity with bus systems

3.      Rail freight

4.      Aviation

Ø     Discussion by group members:

·        Is this a tool that can be used by NMDOT to gain federal funding?

Ans:            Hugh stated that is could be information to support and identify cost investments

Roy added that we could think of this as the first step that will justify needs for    communities when going to the Legislature for funding.

Bob W. added that information gathering can contribute towards leveraging funds for combining services.

·        Paul stated that for land grants; working on existing services such as the existing railroad in Colorado that borders the Sangre de Cristo LG in NM; having to look at future development or improvements of highways is becoming a critical identifier for economic development.

 

VI.              Long Range Plan – Work study II

Ø     Visioning - Bob Widoe, NMDOT

·        In lieu of time, a full study session was not conducted.

·  Bob asked the group to start thinking of how to take identified information – key features and describe as part of future

ü            Clear focus on individual entity plan

ü            Dynamic future progress identifiers

ü            Take each identifier and identify “the story of your future, as if it was going on right now”.

·        Asked that each entity prepare this for the next meeting – will need to move right into discussion next time.

 

VII.            NMDOT update

a.      District V – no one present – Ted Martinez stated that the rock fall project in Taos Canyon was working very well and that NMDOT staff needed to be commended.

b.      Government to Government

Ø                  GRIP II – Bob W.

a.       Will submit list as provided by NMDOT to the NPRPO

b.      If an entity wants an individual change of project – money cannot change

                                                                     i.                        Must go through RPO process

                                                                   ii.                        Deadline to do so is October 1st

 

Discussion from group:

·        Can an entity still submit projects for GRIP II?

Ans:  The total funding of GRIP II was set by Governor at $250M for the State.  In order for a new submittal to come in, a project must be taken out or amount lessened.  NMDOT separated projects by RPO’s submittals with total amounts identified for submitted projects.  Additional changes/submittals must go through RPO review and ranking to keep the identified total amount as it exists.

 

c.      Project Development – Benny Martinez

Ø      Caution all entities on monies being received for next fiscal year, planning process should start immediately.

Ø                  Start identifying the need for an EA/EIS/CE.

Ø                  Implement into budget as soon as award is received.

Ø                  Track all project milestones.

Ø      Continue to ask for help.  Contact information for Benny is 827-5531/490-2623 or email is  benny.martinez@state.nm.us

                                               

VIII.         New Business

a.       Introduction/Discussion of new project proposals

1.      No submittals.

b.   Public Transit changes to evaluation process from RPO’s

1.      Has been changed by Department to simplify evaluation of proposal.

2.      Have created a guide to evaluate each proposal

3.      Evaluation measures have eliminated the number score

4.      Sandra to provide information at next meeting.

           

X.            Next meeting will be

Ø     October 4th at Ohkay Owingeh – 8- Northern Indian Pueblos Arts & Crafts/Visitor Center

Ø     November 1, 2006 – Village of Questa – Municipal Hall – 2500 Old Hwy 3

Ø     December 6, 2006 – Town of Taos – Location TBA

 

X.      Miscellaneous/Announcements

Ø     Nambe Pueblo Feast Day – Nov 4th

Ø     Walk to School Day – October 4th – http://www.walktoschool.org

Ø     Bikes Belong Grant RFP deadline 11/27/06 – www.bikesbelong.org

Ø     Accessible America Awards Program deadline 10/31/06 – http://www.nod.org

Ø     EPA Grants application deadline 10/15/06 – capacity building

Ø     EPA Grants application deadline 11/15/06 – implementation on-the-ground preservation/protection

 

XI.              Ted thanked Taos County and the Fechin Inn for the meeting location/treats. Asked for a motion to adjourn; Dennis Wells, Village of Chama motioned, seconded by Paul Martinez.  Unanimous agreement.