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Scott County, Metropolitan Council officials focus on regional transportation issues

Council joins SCALE group for District Dialogue in Prior Lake

Contact: Bonnie Kollodge
(651) 602-1357

ST. PAUL – Oct. 14, 2009 – When Scott County officials met with members of the Metropolitan Council Oct. 9, they echoed the sentiments of other elected officials in the region: more investment in transit and transportation.

Council Chair Peter Bell and Council Member Craig Peterson joined the Scott County Association for Leadership and Efficiency (SCALE) for the fifth meeting in the Council’s District Dialogues series for 2009. The annual series provides an opportunity for Council officials to meet with city, county and state officials to discuss top local and regional concerns. Scott County comprises half of Council District 4.

In preparation for the meeting, the SCALE members put together a list of questions, primarily addressing transportation concerns, to set the agenda for the discussion. Bell provided a brief update on regional issues, addressed the questions submitted, and invited attendees to discuss the issues raised.

“I appreciate you giving us a heads up about what’s on your mind. Partnership doesn’t mean that there’ll always be agreement, but we always want to have a collegial, open, honest working relationship,” Bell said.

Bell explained strategies the Council used to address the projected $62 million deficit for the 2010-11 biennium. The deficit primarily resulted from the underperformance of the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax as a funding source.

Funds the Council received through the federal Recovery Act were used for planned bus purchases, which helped eliminate about $24 million of the projected deficit. Other shifts and short-term adjustments helped erase the remaining deficit without increases in transit fares or cuts in service.

In addition, the legislature provided authority for the Council to use some Livable Communities and Right-of-Way Acquisition Loan Fund (RALF) grant funds to cover the 2010-11 budget. However, only a portion of the Livable Communities funds will be needed. No RALF funds will be used, Bell said.

“We wanted the statutory authority to be able to do that only as a last resort,” Bell said. “We will not be going into that right-of-way fund. That was a very high priority for us to not to have to tap into that.”

Bell also addressed concerns related to transportation planning and transit planning and operations throughout the region.

Among questions raised were several related Highway 169 as a major commercial and commuter corridor and its designation in the region’s 2030 Transportation Policy Plan (TPP).

The most recent update to the plan, adopted by the Council in January 2009, outlines several strategies to reduce congestion on metro-area highways, such as high-occupancy toll lanes and bus-only shoulder lanes, as an alternative to expanding the current system. Highway 169 is identified as a significant regional travel route and a corridor where express bus service and development of transit advantages would be appropriate.

Prior Lake Mayor Jack Haugen said Scott County plays a significant role in the metropolitan area as a whole and that it isn’t as far “out there” as it was 30 years ago. He suggested that at least, Highway 169 should be recognized for its impact as a major transportation corridor.

Jon Ulrich, chair of the Scott County Board of Commissioners, asked how Highway 169 could be designated as a transit corridor, possibly for bus-rapid transit. He said one of the reasons the county chose not to join the Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) and levy the ¼-cent sales tax was because there weren’t any transitways identified in the TPP that would be eligible for those funds.

CTIB was created by the legislature in 2008 to allocate proceeds from the sales tax. Members include representatives from the counties who chose to levy the tax and the Metropolitan Council.

Arlene McCarthy, director of Metropolitan Transportation Services at the Council, encouraged the county to study whether other methods of transit might be appropriate.

In addition, Shakopee Mayor John Schmitt asked about removing the legislative prohibition on discussing development of the Dan Patch line, to allow communities to consider all the opportunities for the area. Bell noted that the Council supported legislation in the last session to remove the prohibition, but it was not successful.

Bell said he appreciated the feedback on elements in the policy plan, which will be revised and updated again in 2010. He said one of his primary concerns is creating realistic expectations of what can reasonably be accomplished in the regional plan, and that the plan must be financially constrained, in other words, supported by existing revenue streams. Bell said the plan  could possibly identify priorities should other revenues become available.

Officials also raised the concerns related to Transit Capital Levy Communities (including Prior Lake, Savage, and Shakopee). Levy communities support the Regional Transit Capital for purchasing buses, park-and-ride facilities, and other related capital assets.

Bell reiterated his support for expanding the levy communities to include the full metro area, because it’s difficult for local officials to choose to join the group unless there is a specific project that will benefit their area.

The question was raised in the context of the Urban Partnership Agreement project, which brought a competitive $133 million federal grant for congestion relief in the I-35W/Cedar Avenue corridors. New park-and-ride facilities and Lakeville express bus service, transit advantages in downtown Minneapolis, and high-occupancy toll lanes were all part of the project. Scott County officials raised the concern that Lakeville only recently joined the levy communities as part of that project, while  Scott County communities had been participating for many years.

Council Government Relations Director Judd Schetnan agreed the project brought Lakeville into the group of levy communities, but it also brought important investment to the region and will benefit Scott County residents.

“The region received $133 million of federal dollars that were going other places, if we didn’t pursue that,” Schetnan said. “I hope folks from Scott County will use those facilities, particularly the one on 35W. It’s a benefit to the whole region.”

Among other regional priorities discussed:

• Bell noted that the Council is supporting the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s application for discretionary stimulus funds to address the I-494/Highway 169 interchange.
• The regional dial-a-ride transit system is being restructured to create consistency among operating parameters, fares, and contract management. Scott County will experience minimal changes, and  the county will continue to manage its service in partnership with Carver County.
• The Council will make application to the Federal Transit Administration for preliminary engineering on the Southwest Corridor in early 2010.
• Non-metro area funding sources will supplement metro-area funds to support the new Northstar commuter line, which opens Nov. 16.
• The Council recently adjusted the formula for funding wastewater treatment. A task force, with representatives from the Council and communities throughout the region, will review the balance between flow charges and connection charges to assure a self-financed system.

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