COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE. May 18, 2017

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1 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE May 18, 2017 There was a meeting of the Community Development Committee of the Lima-Allen County Regional Planning Commission held on Thursday, May 18, 2017, at 3:30 p.m. in the Conference Room of the Commission office located at 130 West North Street, Lima, Ohio. The agenda was as follows: 1. Roll Call 2. Approval of CDC Minutes February 16, Comprehensive Plan Updates a. Auglaize Township b. Bath Township c. Richland Township 4. Safe Community Program Update 5. Intersection Spot Safety Improvement Study 6. Update Regional Transportation Coordination Plan 7. Bike/Ped Update 8. Other 9. Adjournment A quorum being present, Shane Coleman brought the meeting to order and proceeded with the agenda (due to a scheduling conflict, Rachael Gilroy could not be in attendance). 1. ROLL CALL Mr. Shane Coleman Ms. Susan Crotty Mr. Tom Ekleberry Mr. Steve Ewing Mr. Todd Gordon STAFF Mr. Thomas Mazur Ms. Evelyn Smith Ms. Dana Doubler Ms. LeeAnn Sypherd City of Delphos City of Lima Village of Harrod Auglaize Township City of Lima 2. APPROVAL OF CDC MINUTES February 16, 2017 Motion 09 ( ) CDC Todd Gordon made the motion to approve the CDC minutes of February 16, Seconded by Steve Ewing; motion carried COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATES Thomas Mazur reported that staff has been working on 3 Comprehensive Plans over the timeframe. a. Auglaize Township Thomas Mazur reported that an updated Auglaize Township 2040 Comprehensive Plan was approved by the Auglaize Township Zoning Commission in April. The Auglaize Township 1

2 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN UPDATES (Continued) a. Auglaize Township (Continued) Trustees have the approval of the 2040 Auglaize Township Comprehensive Plan on the agenda for their June 5 th meeting. b. Bath Township Thomas Mazur reported that of the three Comprehensive Plans staff has been working on, Bath has taken the longest. Bath Township Trustees approved the Bath Township 2040 Comprehensive Plan. c. Richland Township Thomas Mazur reported that with Auglaize and Bath townships completed the first draft of the Richland Township 2040 Comprehensive Plan is ready to be presented to the Township for their review and comment. Richland Township has experienced a lot less development than in Bath and Auglaize townships since their original Plan was adopted. Dana Doubler reported that staff will be meeting with Richland Township officials next week to deliver the 1 st draft of the Plan. The handout in the packets contains an overview of the Richland Township 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The first page reveals the population projections for the Township from and out to The population has been steadily increasing with a slight decline from The Township is expected to gain persons. The next page contains the population cohorts by age and the graph reveals a drastic drop on persons aged 5-19 years of age and if this projection is carried out to Dana Double reported that the Empty Nesters and Seniors aged 45 and up can be expected to increase. The housing stock in the Township is mainly single-family homes. The current household size in the Township is 2.7 persons per household and is expected to drop to 2.4 which will precipitate an increase of approximately 200 households based on these projections. The median home value is fairly high compared to the rest of the county with county home values at $111,000 and Richland Township home values at $146,589. Dana Doubler reported that staff reviewed roadways with deficiencies and according to the Ohio Department of Transportation s (ODOT) Roadway Design Manual, Augsburger Road and Snider Road are deficient by approximately 3 on either side. The Township has approximately 42 miles of roadway considered deficient; the county has approximately 22 miles of deficient roadways. Dana Doubler reported that staff reviewed the bridges in the Township and found one bridge deficient with a rating of 43 out of 100; with 2 other bridges reflecting less than optimal sufficiency ratings. All three bridges are included on the 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan (LRTP) at a total estimated cost of $1.7 million to repair. Staff reviewed environmental factors in the Township including waterways. The waterways found to be in non-attainment are highlighted in red and include Cranberry Run, Lower Riley, Little Riley Creek (Marsh Run), Little Riley Creek (Binkley Ditch) and Middle Riley Creek. Dana Doubler reported that Richland Township has a fairly high life expectancy of 86 years. The economic base of Richland Township is transitioning from manufacturing to service like much of the rest of the county. The highest employment increase is in finance, insurance and real estate with an increase of 130% while manufacturing decreased 47% from Currently, the only highway projects included in the 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan for Richland Township are the resurfacing of IR-75 which would take place in timeframe. Working with ODOT and AASHTO, the RPC has proposed two (2) US bike routes (USBR40 & USBR25) and both would traverse through Richland Township. The Village of Bluffton has several bike/ped projects on the works as well as a proposed bike facility connecting the Village of Beaverdam to the villages of Lafayette and Harrod. Dana Doubler reported that staff looked at the projected land use out to 2040; there are not many changes from the previous 2025 Plan. Staff still believes commercial development east of the Village of Beaverdam can be expected, industrial development along the US 30 and IR-75 interchange and residential development west of the Village of Bluffton. No action required. 2

3 4. SAFE COMMUNITY PROGRAM UPDATE Evelyn Smith reported that the FFY 2018 Safe Community Program Grant application is due at the Ohio Traffic Safety Office (OTSO) on Monday at midnight. The OTSO has a new system for submitting grant applications and there are several bugs in the system. Staff has spoken with the OTSO and been informed that the application due date may be pushed back due to the issues with the system. Evelyn Smith reported that the April update for the FFY 2017 Safe Community Program Grant is included in each Committee member s packets and stated that the current seat belt use rate according to Miami University is 84.8%. The current seat belt rate for the FFY 2018 Safe Community Grant will be 80.4%. The FFY 2018 Safe Community Grant will contain the same components of increasing seat belt use in the county, raising public awareness about seat belt usage, impaired driving, motorcycle safety and speed. Staff will also be required to partner with various stakeholders throughout the county and continue to have the Fatal Review Committee meetings. Evelyn Smith reported that summer is a busy time of year with several activities going on. The 4-Wheel Jamboree begins tomorrow and staff will be there conducting a media event to raise awareness pertaining to Overtime Enforcement for seat belt use. Overtime Enforcement is scheduled from May Staff has been involved with local Prom and Graduation activities. Staff received a call from Perry High School asking for an alcohol and drug awareness presentation. Evelyn Smith reported that several years ago, a young man named Christopher Blosser was killed in a crash on Old Wapak Road at the railroad tracks. Christopher and some of his friends were out joy-riding and alcohol was involved and Christopher died. The Blosser family put together a video presentation that can be used anywhere. The Blosser family is going to make a presentation at Perry High School on Friday. Evelyn Smith reported that she continues to work with Elida High School Driver s Education and conducting railroad grade crossing safety presentations as well as seat belt awareness. Staff conducted an Easter Egg Hunt at Rhodes State College. There were messages in the Easter eggs and as the students found the eggs, the eggs were turned in to the Student Activity Center for candy and a McFlurry coupon. Evelyn Smith reported that the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) Top Cop Banquet was held recently and was well attended. May is Motorcycle Safety Month and staff continues to work on motorcycle safety awareness. Russ Holly of Motorcycles Ohio has recorded a public service announcement (PSA) that can be heard on local radio stations. Staff participated in a media event at Lima Pallet. Staff is working with Lima Central Catholic (LCC) to develop a high school driver safety awareness program. Evelyn Smith reported that a social media outreach has been developed called Move Safe Allen County that targets active transportation but specifically pedestrian safety due to a number of pedestrian fatalities. Motion 10 ( ) CDC Steve Ewing made the motion to accept the Safe Community Program Update report. Seconded by Todd Gordon; motion carried. Motion 11 ( ) CDC Steve Ewing made the motion to approve and submit the FFY 2018 Safe Community Program Grant application to the Ohio Department of Public Safety. Seconded by Todd Gordon; motion carried. 5. INTERSECTION SPOT SAFETY IMPROVEMENT STUDY Thomas Mazur reported that the Crash Summary Report was issued in August 2016 which includes a table listing the high crash intersections. Staff selected six (6) intersections from that table for further study. Thomas Mazur reported that staff believes the number of crashes at Breese and Dixie Highway has increased due to construction on IR-75 and the diversion of traffic. The pavement conditions on the north side are not in good shape especially where the tractor trailers are rutting and cracking the pavement. The roadway appears to be slick and there are quite a few rear-end crashes. The recommended improvements are a pavement overlay for 3

4 5. INTERSECTION SPOT SAFETY IMPROVEMENT STUDY (Continued) friction improvement. Tom Ekleberry asked if Industrial Avenue that goes behind the Harley- Davidson dealership will be completed to McClain Road. Thomas Mazur replied that it was completed last year. Thomas Mazur reported that at the intersection of Eastown & Elm streets, the northbound leg of Eastown Road experiences many vehicles speeding. The intersection also experiences a number of red-light runners. The vehicles turning left onto Eastown Road from the Circle K crossing 3 lanes of traffic are another issue. Recommendations include installing delineators at the Circle K to prevent left turns, especially onto Eastown Road. Thomas Mazur reported the traffic light at Jackson & Market streets is non-warranted but staff is not recommending the signal be removed as there is quite a bit of southbound traffic on Jackson Street. Staff noticed that there is a large amount of traffic coming up Market Street in the left lane where the roadway narrows down to one-lane traveling east. Traffic would continue in the left lane and then realize that they needed to get over and make a quick lane change. Thomas Mazur reported that since the intersection was studied, the City of Lima has painted some large arrows on the roadway prior to the railroad tracks to inform traffic that it needs to move over. Staff recommends an overhead sign at Union Street indicating that the left lane(s) are ending. Staff recommends removing the left-turn bay as there really is not enough traffic to warrant the bay and widen the other two lanes. Thomas Mazur reported that Metcalf & North streets also experiences a higher number of red-light runners. The intersection was rebuilt with ADA ramps for the sidewalks in all quadrants but there are no crosswalks. Thomas Mazur reported that all of the turn lanes at Metcalf & North streets are 9 wide turn lanes with 12 through lanes. The southbound lanes are all 9 lanes. Staff recommends crosswalks and ped-heads. Thomas Mazur reported that the intersection of Metcalf & Spring streets experiences a high number of red-light offenses, some speed issues and the signals may need to be recalibrated for better progression. Thomas Mazur reported that the intersection of North (SR-81) & West (SR-65) streets experiences a very high number of red-light runners especially those traveling west on North Street. Approximately half of the signal changes to green on West would encounter no traffic but traffic would begin to back-up on North Street which leads to red-light runners. The draft report is on the website. Motion 12 ( ) CDC Susan Crotty made the motion to accept the Intersection Spot Safety Improvement Study. Seconded by Todd Gordon; motion carried. 6. UPDATE REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION COORDINATION PLAN Thomas Mazur reported that the public meetings for the Regional Transportation Coordination Plan have begun. Staff has met with the Allen County and Van Wert County Commissioners to begin the conversation. Staff has begun meeting with the required stakeholders such as the business and economic development professionals. Staff participated in a meeting Tuesday with Chamber representatives from Allen and Auglaize counties pertaining to how the Coordination Plan could have implications targeting workforce development. Thomas Mazur reported that next Thursday staff will be meeting with the economic development and Job and Family Services representatives Auglaize County. There are 4 surveys that are being distributed either in paper form or digital format for completion and submission. The Plan is currently on schedule. No action required. 7. BIKE/PED UPDATE Dana Doubler reported that this is bike/ped count week. Each packet contains a handout with tables presenting an update on the bike/ped counts. The tables reveal the locations, the number of counts, counts completed, etc. In the urbanized area (City of Lima, OSU, Metro Parks and 4

5 7. BIKE/PED UPDATE (Continued) Riverwalk) there were 32 locations, 160 counts, 4 during the weekdays and 1 on the weekend, 127 were assigned (80%) with 33 locations not assigned. The villages of Bluffton and Spencerville and the City of Delphos complete their own bike/ped counts. Thomas Mazur reported that the Village of Bluffton always completes their counts. The City of Delphos is new to the bike/ped counts this year. Shane Coleman reported that as of today, 19 of the 25 locations in Delphos have been assigned. Dana Doubler reported that the weekend counts are lacking volunteers with 70% not being assigned. Thomas Mazur reported that as an update the Johnny Appleseed Metropolitan Park District (JAMPD) submitted a Clean Ohio Program application through the Natural Resource Advisory Council (NRAC) for funds to complete the Miami-Erie Canal tow-path trail between Delphos to Spencerville. The application scored extremely well. The application was rejected as ineligible due enabling legislation that stipulates that the State could not be a beneficiary of Clean Ohio projects. And because the state wanted to retain ownership of the tow-path corridor, the project was rejected by the State. Susan Crotty stated that other areas of the tow-path have received funding. Thomas Mazur concurred and stated that those portions of the tow-path may have been purchased by the political subdivision. Susan Crotty reported that St. Marys has a Maintenance Agreement with the state. Thomas Mazur reported that a management agreement between the Park District and ODNR was something the state would not agree to. No action required. 8. OTHER a. Comprehensive Operational Analysis of RTA Thomas Mazur reported that the Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA) of the Allen County Regional Transit Authority (RTA) which contains detailed analyses of the route systems, funding, ridership, etc. has been in a draft status but staff has worked with RTA to complete the financial portion of the report. According to the financials, RTA s future does not look bright. RTA is looking at a deficit of $1.1 million in funding this coming year. RTA will be operating in the red beginning this year. In 2018, RTA will be operating in a $1.4 million deficit. Thomas Mazur reported that RTA will have to look at serious cutbacks in service or go out for a sales tax. RTA has already begun looking in to a sales tax; a 1/4% sales tax in Allen County generates approximately $4.2 million. Allen County currently has a sales tax of 6.75%; all of our neighbors are at 7.25% or above. The final Draft of the COA should be posted to the website late next week. No action required. 9. ADJOURNMENT Motion 13 ( ) CDC Steve Ewing made the motion that the meeting be adjourned. Seconded by Todd Gordon; motion carried. 5