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BCC Minutes 01/27/1987 W (A) .. .. .. t If ?t i¡~' . l·', . ~:' ',n ~';:: ~' ~'j" Naples, Florida, January 27, 1987 LET IT BE REMEMBERED, that the Board of County Commissioners in and for the County of Collier, and also acting as the Board of Zoning Appeals and as the governing board(s) of such special districts as have been created according to law and having conducted business herein, met on this date at 2:00 P.M. in WORKSHOP SESSION in Building "F" of the Courthouse Complex, East Naples, Florida, with the following members present: CHAIRMAN: Max A. Hasse, Jr. VICE-CHAIRI.IN: Arnold Lee Glass , I ,,' John A. Pistor Burt L¡ Saunders Anne Goodnight ALSO PRESENT: Maureen Kenyon, Deputy Clerk; Donald B. Lusk, County Manager; Né"il Don '.11, Assistant County Manager; George Archibald, Public Works Administrator; and Jeff Perry, MPO Director. AGENDA Presentation by Ylorida Department of Transportation on the creation of a 7th District, the redistricting of FDOT District 1 boundaries and the redistricting of FOOT District 4 boundaries to address transportation needs due to growth in the state. PRESBNTATION BY FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Mr. William Fowler, Assistant Secretary of District 4 of FOOT, stated that a few years ago, FOOT was concerned about the geographical structure, the way districts were defined, adding that they were aligned with the Congressional Districts boundaries in 1939 that existed at that time. He noted that this is not aligned with how i ~ , , ,.' Page 1 &OOK 101PAGc114 If \ 1,,', ; t.1 , I:) J . \., <"_'.""..,.,-"-,"--~,...,,,,,_.,,,..__._. __w__e...._·' mx 101 PAr.C 115 January 27, 1987 development has taken place and growth has occurred in the State throughout the years and they started looking at the workload distri- bution ~mong the various districts and the service that was being pro- vided to the people and the local governments. He noted that before District 4 was split, it included Dade, ":'I Monroe Counties, which con- sisted of 36% of the State's population and from a workload and ser- vice standpoint this was not the proper alignment to do the job that is required. He noted that District 4 was then split into District 4 and 6 and since that time, District 4 now has only 20t of the State population. He stated t:at this kind of thinking was expanded to the rest of the State and ti.ey looked further into studying this situation. He stated that it is being recommended that over a period of time, there will be 8 districts within the state, as well as realignment of counties into certain districts in order to split the workload and provide better service. He stated that they are in the ... process of establishing a 7th distrièt in the Tampa Bay area and it is also being recommended that a southwest coast district be created in the early 1990's which would primarily consist of the coastal counties in the southwest part of the State. He noted that along with all the recommendations, there is also a recommendation to shift Okeechobee County from District 4 to District 1, assuming that a 7th district is implemented and also shifting Collier County to District 1 as an interim step moving toward an 8th district. He noted that Collier 'County has more common interest with the west coast counties than t'''' Vi'if 'J:; '; Page 2 .ì .. .. .. .. January 27, 1987 there is ~ith the east coast counties. He noted that the proposal that has becn made by FDOT is not to proceed with the full implemen- tation of switching these two counties until there has been a chance to have more formal dialogue with the local governments and to get a legislative blessing. tl'. Mr. Fowler stated that it was an abs",lute criteria of DOT top management that if these changes are made, there would be no interrup- tion to the work program, adding that they would preserve and protect what exists in the adopted work program in the way of building pro- jects, doing studies, bu~Lng right"-of-way, etc. He'stated that there would be a long transitlon period of coordination between the two districts involv~9 to be sure that there is a smoot~ transition so that services are maintained and there would be no noticeable interruption to the public during the changeover. He stated that with regards to funding and equity, there would be no change in that either, adding that each county will now get back in services and pro- jects, its pro-rata share of its contribution to the taxes which fund these services and these projects. He stated that some counties are more inclined to help themselves than other counties, and they will not be penalized as a result of making a direct contribution of gas tax dollars or assistance to DOT through impact fees. Commissioner Pistor questioned when Collier County is going to catch up with all the money that should have been spent in Collier County that has not been spent, to which Mr. Fowler stated that this ; , aODK 101 PAGC 116 Page 3 ; J ,. . i \; i lOOK 101 PAGt 117. January 27, 1987 not the case, adding that every county feels that this is the case. Mr. Bill Trefz, Assistant Secretary of FDOT District 1, stated that District 1 is a l4-county district on the west coast of Florida from Hernando County on the north through Lee County on the south and has about 25% of the work program. He stated th3t the idea is to align this district better with regards to a work program by splitting out some of the urban are~s around Tam~. Bay. He noted that a study was done addressing the five counties of Pasco, Hernando, Manatee, Hillsborough and Pine11e~ which is over 60% of the work program, adding that by splitting this out, the remainder of District 1 would have approximately 40% of the workload. He stated that the plan also addresses the idea of h~vin9 Collier County and Okeechobee County become part of District 1 and with this type of split, District 1 would have 11 counties, about l2t of the work program; District 7, which is the urban area of Tampa Bay would also have about 12% of the work program and, therefore, this would be a reasonabl~·good split. He stated that there are presently two urban offices, one in Tampa and the other is in Fort Myers run b~' Mr. Norm Feeder. He noted that if :this split comes about, he would like to explain how Collier County would relate to that function, adding that Mr. Feeder will have about three things to do; 1) will be operational where he will be involved with the construction and maintenance; 2) would be involvement with traffic operations which performs two functions; surveillance of the system to be Bure that it functions correctly and identifies the ~ .f Page 4 "4,'","_'"""_''''"","",,,~__.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,____,,,._,,,,,,C . .. .. January 27, 1987 problem areas and also addresses safety aspects of, the system; and 3)· would be the planning effort which would relate mostly to Collier County. He stated that the planning effort would be involved in reviewing DRI's and working closely with counties and MPO's in deve- loping and working with the counties' plan in order to prioritize - DOT's money to tract the priorities th~t are established by the MPO's and the counties. He not~d that Mr. F~ '~r will ~ave a program unit that will actua~ly program projects that will be accomplished by the department as well as ha 'ingan information offic,. He noted that all of the production for the work throughout the remain~ng part of District 1 will still be accomplished in the Bartow District office. He noted that Co~!.ier County will '1ave an office in, Fort Myers that will be working ërosely with them. He stated that 'this smooth tran- sition,from one district to the other may take 6 months to a year to accomplish. He indicated that any funds that relate to the allocation that would have come to Collier County will be switched from District 4to District 1 and over a period of years,:there will be equity throughout the counties in District 1. Commissioner Pistor questioned if the maintenance shop that belongs to DOT that is on Davis Blvd. will bè moved, to which Mr. Fowler stated that they have l00ked at alternative sites and there is no problem in moving the building, but there is going to be a cost ""..1,-\ factor involved. He stated that their studies indicate that they have , ", , ,', ~ (I \' ',.. . to stay in operation until they get a new location and then they can . . , ~ &OOK 101 PA~r 118 Page 5 " (O~. I j d i ('j ,. ;,U ....-",.,'....-...~",.......,....-.".".".,...............~--,..."_......,---",.-..-.,-""..", .-.,."';'^',..,',--"',.,.--,-..-.....,.;,_.,..,,.~ ~ '\ 101 PAr.C 119 ~;~, January 27, 1987 ~t ~~'8ell the old site. He stated that it can be done, but it is not going fi;.:; 1" i ~ : ~ ~ ; . . ~!r"to happen quickly or easily. .¥.... :'1~) .", Mr. Fowler stated that from 1982 to 1985, about $10.3 million was ....., "'". .~.~.:.~ :::::t::n::l~~::.:O;::Yt::. t::.:t::'.::::W::.:Y:~::;o:d:~::.:::: ::: about SOt of that money goes for interstate construction and another 25t of the budget goes for operation, maintenance and administration which leaves 25t of the budget for new " '~struction other than interstate. He stated that this amounts to about $350 million and Collier County's distric~ consists of about 20% of the population which would mean about $',0 million for the district. He stated that Collier County is about 1% of the State's population, adding that population and gas tax collections tract each other very closely. He noted that if there is $350 million statewide to spend on new fl· >;: . construction, it means tha t Collier's fair share would be about $3.5 ....£\.J,.' million a year which means that the $}.O. 3 million trad.;': very closely . for a 3-year period for expending that money in Collier County. He ~" "4,. ~:. . noted that on the Interstate System, (1-75 and Alligator Alley) in Collier County, there hàs been over $300 million spent. He stated that the studies show thRt to tak~ care of all the identified needs that come out of the transportation studies in the urban area and the non-urbanized area would require about 25 cents a gallon increase in the ga~ tax, adding that this is not realistic. He stated that the study determined that 10 cents a gallon would be realistic and would G··· )1 . bi.:-vp Page 6 . ¡., .' """,. .. .. "'.""~"""'''''''''''''''~''"'''''_''''''''''~'''~-'_____'''~'_._1>1''''''''''''',"''''_ ,'''~ -- .... .. .. January 27, 1987 be split with 5 cents going to the State and 5 cents to the local governments and would makw a significant impact in the large backlog of needs that exist and the needs that are accruing on an annual basis and for new construction. MPO Director Perry stated that some of the projects that are in the five year program are presently in their design phase and right-of- way phases with construcL.on not being :n the five year program yet. He questioned if the construction funds "at are seven years from now are protected, to which Mr. Fowler stated that what is there now ~ill be protected as a line item in the adopted work program, adding that he will work with the County as to what the additional year that is being added on should include. He indicated that by changing districts, the að~pted work program would be protected, which includes this year plus the one that wOuld be adopted on June 30th, which is the next year that is added on. He noted that beyond that, the allo- cation would change between District 1 and District 4. He stated that after this transition period, Collier County would be dealing with District 1 in the future. He noted that unless the funding shortfall can be solved, everyone is going to be behind from now on. He stated that the infrastructure is not only roads, but sewers and the whole gammit of infrastructure that fuels the economic machine that drives the economy and way of life. Assistant County Manager Dorrill stated that he appreciates the rèpresentatives from FOOT coming to Collier County to spend some time &ODX 101 PAGC 120 Page 7 t ",', Î! \' "', d ¡ . ",,,,",,,,,~;,,,,,,,~''',,''''h.·,,,,__,,,,,.,,,,,,,,.,,,.,;,,,,,,,,",_,,,","._;,,,,_,__.,_fl<i"_........._."'''Jj.........,,;..''''''".,,.,,;_.....+. ,., " . . ..~. .,'/ IODK 101 PAce 121 January 27, 1987 and he looks forward to working wit~ them. There being no furthpr business, the meeting was adjourned by Order of the Chair - Ti~~: 2:45 P.M. , , ' ¡"p. .. r" ' ~'t. f ( : , " {: ç~ ~. i..'''' , i . ~ ~ ~..~ Pi:~ .~ . i ~-: \ ¡; I"¡" y.. ", P" ,,~, / :' I" :......-... . " .' ¿J:) , þ(, ,. .. - - , ......,".....'"''''''''''''........-.-_~_, - "",""_,,,..,,L"_,._ , .' , ' Page 8