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TAMC Meeting Minutes December 7 2022

TAMC Meeting Minutes December 7 2022

TRANSPORTATION ASSET MANAGEMENT COUNCIL

MEETING

December 7, 2022 at 1:00 p.m.

MEETING MINUTES

 

  1. Welcome – Call-To-Order
    1. The meeting was called to order at 1:10 p.m.  Everyone was welcomed to the meeting.
  2. Changes or Additions to the Agenda
    1. None
  3. Public Comments on Non-Agenda Item
    1. None
  4. Announcements – J. Johnson
    1. State Transportation Commission November 10, 2022, Meeting Update – Reinstatements and Installation
      1. Robert Slattery, Michigan Municipal League (MML) (Term Expires 10/31/2025) –
      2. Jennifer Tubbs, Michigan Township Association (MTA) (Term Expires 12/31/2025)
      3. Kelly Jones, Michigan Association of Counties (MAC) (Term Expires 08/31/2025)
      4. Art Green will be replacing Brad Wieferich for MDOT. 
      5. J. Tubbs suggested to add terms and bios to the TAMC Website.  Terms are based on when the person was initially appointed.  J. Johnson will work with support staff to add the information to the TAMC website.  They are still working on the MDOT Council members term dates.  The term dates were determined by when each Council member was initially appointed.   
  5. Michigan Infrastructure Council (MIC) Update – Ryan Laruwe, MIC Interim Executive Director
    1. MIC Strategy – Transportation Asset Snapshot
      1. The MIC has held meetings with members and stakeholders who provided information on items such as workforce and affordability issues and plan to meet again to talk about next steps and how to merge asset areas.   If a person participated in the October workshops, they will be receiving an invitation to participate in the next meeting.  If anyone is interested in attending the next meeting or does not receive the meeting notification soon contact R. Laruwe. 
      2. Asset Management Champions
        1. The next Champions Program will begin January 10, 2023.  They are taking applications until December 30, 2022.  They currently have over 110 people registered for the program but can go up to 150 people.  If anyone is interested in participating in the program, contact R. Laruwe.  Approximately 40 percent of the participants are coming from peer recommendations.    
      3. 2023 MIC Work Plan
        1. Tomorrow the MIC will hold a Strategic Planning Session and Key Four meeting.  On the agenda is the proposed work plan for 2023 that has been developed by R. Laruwe and staff.  Within the work plan they are maintaining their three previous fillers which were:  Asset Management Training, the 30-year Strategy, and the Project Coordination Portal.  In addition, strategic partnerships and coordination’s between the MIC, TAMC, Water Asset Management Council (WAMC), Michigan Municipal League, Michigan Association of Regions, etc. will be one of R. Laruwe focuses in 2023 as the MIC Executive Director. The MIC plans to coordinate between the MIC, WAMC, and TAMC on things such as conferences and trainings in hopes that this will also minimize redundancies.  This will also improve relationships with stakeholders.    
      4. MIC Staffing
        1. This week they have been going through interviews for a management position within the MIC.  They have offered the position to one of the applicants and are currently awaiting a response.  This position will work with the coordination efforts between the MIC, TAMC, WAMC, and other stakeholders. 
        2. The MIC is meeting in-person as required by the Open Meetings Act. 
    2. J. Johnson had suggested in the past that TAMC and the MIC share a staff person, however it did not work out but may be possible in the future.  The TAMC has their own Strategic Work Plan and J. Johnson will be listening in on the MIC meeting tomorrow to see if the MIC and TAMC plans have any overlap that can potentially align together so everyone is moving in the same direction.  T. Colling sent an Implementation Survey Report and one of the things that came out of that is training for local elected officials, city councils, county boards, etc. on asset management. They are thinking of doing in-person, virtual, primary video, and documents on the website to assist with the training for elected officials.  Multi-trainings are felt to be a good idea because people learn in different ways.  It was also suggested to hold a two-day seminar.
    3. It is important for the MIC and TAMC to work together on this effort, so leaders continue to understand asset management.  The MIC has approval to develop an RFP for elected officials and that will be discussed at tomorrows MIC meeting.  R. Laruwe plans to reach out to TAMC on this subject. It was suggested that they also contact Michigan Technological University (MTU), MML and the Michigan Transportation Planning Association (MTPA).  MIC would prefer to attend other’s conferences to get their word out than hold a conference of their own.
  6. Consent Agenda (Action Items) – J. Johnson
    1. Approval of the November 7, 2022, Meeting Minutes
    2. TAMC Budget Update
      1. It looks as though there was over $500,000 left on the table from FY 2022 and the Council was not sure if the funds were rolled over into FY 2023 and who authorizes decisions to roll-over or not roll-over funds.  They would like to look at the budget at the region allocations and assuring the budget meets the plans in the TAMC Strategic Work Program.  The budget will need to be addressed with Council member Rob Green, MDOT/TAMC Support Staff, who handles the TAMC budget and discussed further with the TAMC ACE Committee.   
      2. It was discussed and agreed that once the budget for the year has been approved at the beginning of the year, the TAMC budget update does not need to be on the Consent Agenda unless there is a change that needs to be approved by the Council.  A budget update should just be updating the Council of where each line item currently stands.  The Council would like to know MDOT’s procedure and when to make budget changes. 
    3. TAMP Requests for Approval, Group C, PA 325
      1. 24 TAMPs received out of 40 required TAMPs
      2. Recommending Approval of 20 out of the 24 TAMPs received
      3. Motion:  R.  Slattery made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda items with the removal of item #2 – TAMC Budget Update; B. McEntee seconded the motion. The motion was approved by all members present. 
      4. Motion:  J. Tubbs made a motion to postpone action on the TAMC budget until further information is gathered pertaining to the special projects program and the dollar amount that either remains or is retained; James Hurt seconded the motion.  The motion was approved by all members present.  
  7. Old Business
    1. TAMC Coordinator Update – J. Johnson
      1. During the first RFP there were no bidders on the position.  The RFP was revised and reposted with a closing date of Monday, December 5, 2022.  Three bids were received from WSP, Hubbell, Roth and Clark, Inc. and the Michigan County Road Association.  J. Johnson sits on the CRA Board and she abstained on any conversations regarding the position with CRA.  MDOT will do interviews and then hopes to get someone started by February.  MDOT has asked that someone from TAMC sit on the interview panel however, many have a conflict of interest.  J. Johnson mentioned that TAMC did try to share a position with the MIC, but it did not work as they could not figure out how to fund the position as the MIC must have someone, per legislation from the Michigan Department of Treasury or contracted through the Michigan Department of Treasury.  It is a complicated process to get one staff person for both the MIC (who works with the Michigan Department of Treasury under legislation) and TAMC (who works with the Michigan Department of Transportation under legislation).   To do this, it would require a legislative change.   
    2. Revised PASER Data Collection Policy Review
    3. Revised Culvert Data Collection Policy Review
      1. The PASER and Culvert Data Collection Policies were discussed and reviewed by ACE and TAMC support staff and revisions were made.  A red-lined copy of both policies were provided to the TAMC for their review.  Approval by the Council of those changes are being requested.  T. Colling informed the Council that the major change for the PASER Data Collection Policy is the removal of the “Pilot” language that was added due to COVID. 
      2. Motion:  R. Buck made a motion to approve the revised PASER Data Collection Policy and revised Culvert Data Collection Policy; K. Jones seconded the motion.  The motion was approved by all members present.
    4. Committee Assignments
      1. ACE:  R. Buck, R. Green, Jacob Hurt, James Hurt, R. Surber
      2. DATA:  B. McEntee, J. Tubbs, R. Slattery, R. Surber
      3. BRIDGE:  K. Jones, Art Green
  8. New Business
    1. 2023 Meeting and Committee Schedules
      1. J. Johnson reminded the Council members about the importance of attending TAMC meetings in-person.  A Council member is not allowed to vote if attending a meeting virtually at full Council meetings.  The ACE Committee is considering changing to another day prior to the TAMC meetings to allow action items to be responded to by the Council in a timelier manner.  Therefore, the ACE Committee 2023 meeting schedule has been removed from today’s motion of approval of 2023 meeting dates and the Council will review the new schedule from ACE at a future meeting.  J. Tubbs is not available to meet on July 5, 2023.
      2. Motion:  R. Slattery made a motion to approve the 2023 meeting schedules for TAMC, Data Committee and Bridge Committee as presented with the understanding that ACE Committee will provide a revised proposed 2023 meeting schedule soon for consideration from the Council; K. Jones seconded the motion.  The motion was approved by all members present. 
    2. 2023 TAMC MTU Trainings Planning Update – T. Colling 
    3. 2023 trainings are tentatively scheduled and will be held February through August 2023. Last year’s training added in August 2022 was well attended with 70 attendees and MTU has added the additional August training in 2023.
    4. Request for TAMC Representation at the 12/13/2022 IRT Training – J. Johnson
      1. J. Johnson has agreed to do the TAMC Council member presentation at the 12/13/2022 IRT Training.  C. Granger will send her the presentation and they will work together to revise it. 
        1. Sign-up sheet will be provided in January 2023 by Dave Jennett, TAMC support staff, for Council Members to sign up for at least one training in 2023 to represent TAMC at the IRT trainings.
        2. All trainings are virtual:  9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
        3. Presentation is 20-30 minutes
        4. Slides will be provided to the Council member from TAMC support staff prior to the training.
    5. TAMC September 27 & 28, 2022 Pre-Conference Meet and Greet and 20-Year Celebration and Conference Survey Evaluation Results (Attachment 7) – T. Colling
      1. Overall, the evaluations of the conference were very positive. People enjoyed the conference and this year’s in-person conference survey responses were a little higher than in the past.  MTU struggles with getting people to fill out the surveys after the conference.  MTU received approximately 60 percent response from virtual conference attendees as they were directed during the conference to the survey to complete electronically.  There were approximately 125 attendees (not including TAMC presenters/TAMC support staff).   MTU received responses from approximately 22 percent of the participants.  The responses showed people want technical topics as presentations and are very interested in information that they can use in their everyday work.   TAMC will need to start looking at subjects for the 2023 TAMC conference.    
  9. Committee Review and Discussion Items
    1. Bridge Committee Update – K. Jones
      1. The Bridge Committee December 2022 meeting is cancelled.  The Bridge Committee will discuss a new chair and vice-chair at their January 2023 meeting.  At their last meeting they spent much of the meeting going over the Culvert Policy which was acted on today.  The annual report was also discussed, and the Committee wanted to keep the same format as last year and include Bridge Bundling in the report this year as the first pilot bridge bundling was done this year and starting up the full bridge bundling program. It would be interesting to see if the bridge bundling was cost effective.   The Bridge Committee had an Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) update on the Bridge Improvement Grant Program.  The update was focused on the MDOT program submissions.  The Committee would like to get more information regarding local bridge submissions and how they can be more competitive in the grant programs.     
      2. MTU has updated their Asset Management Guide and it was sent out to the Bridge Committee for their review and comment at their next meeting.
    2. ACE Committee Update – R. Buck
      1. No formal meeting was held last month.  However, there was a discussion on the MPO/RPA allocations in the TAMC budget.  The ACE Committee plans to do a thorough review of the TAMC budget to possibly open up the funds left on the table to the local agencies to use on other tasks, such as non-federal aid roads, as long as they are following their approved Unified Work Program and/or the TAMC Strategic Work Program.   The ACE Committee would like to review and possibly re-allocate funds to the MPO/RPA’s so that funds are not left on the table at the end of the fiscal year.  Those funds could possibly be reallocated to areas to assist the locals complete their required tasks without having to seek additional approval.  This will be discussed further at the next ACE Committee meeting.  R. Buck is hoping to put together a proposal for the ACE Committee’s consideration.  R. Green will be providing some information to assist in this discussion.  The Council feels it is a good idea as long as they do not go over their allotted allocations.  R. Buck also suggested to solicit ideas regarding the budget directly with the locals on how they could utilize additional funds.  The local agencies also need to be assured that they will get reimbursed for their efforts and approved tasks need to be specified in the original contract with the MPO/RPA.  Since there have been problems with locals getting reimbursed in the past, items that will be approved need to be clear.  This can also be discussed at the Regional Coordinators Call.   
    3. Data Committee Update – B. McEntee
      1. D. Jennett conducted a Regional Coordinators Call on November 29, 2022, and had approximately 20 participants.   The consensus was things were going well and they appreciated the use of the MDOT vans.  The last date for 2022 PASER data collection is December 2, 2022.  The last date to submit the data into the IRT is December 9, 2022.  As of December 1, 2022, 70,000 lane miles have been uploaded into the IRT.  The PASER review screen has been updated.
      2. The Committee discussed the Statewide Strategy with Lina Chapman.  Lots of questions were raised particularly with MDOT’s share of the federal aids system.  There were discussions that it may be confusing because the Federal Highway Administration requires ratings in a certain manner and the TAMC PASER ratings use good, fair, poor ratings.  Further discussions will be had on this subject.    
      3. The Data Committee discussed the 185 plan and are waiting on feedback from the ACE Committee.  Most believe it is a good plan, but there are questions on funding and who can get reimbursed for doing the ratings.     
      4. CSS has completed most of the Traffic Signal Inventory and it will be available in January 2023.  It is just a survey to try to decide what the Council wants to have in their inventory and to show the legislatures what share of the agencies budget goes towards traffic signals.  There is a big cost difference between agencies that have several and agencies that have none.  This will show the differentials.
      5. 2023 IRT training dates have been set for December 2022 – May 2023.  A sign-up sheet for Council members will go out in January 2023.  C. Granger requested that Council members sign up today for dates they know they will be available to participate. The training dates are:  December 13, 2022, January 17, 2023, February 21, 2023, March 21, 2023, April 18, 2023, and May 23, 2023.  C. Peterson will provide the slides to TAMC Support Staff to provide to Council members to do a brief presentation at the trainings.  C. Granger would like to update and shorten the TAMC presentation given at the trainings.  It was agreed by the Council to update the presentation and C. Granger will work with the Council on a new updated and condensed presentation. J. Johnson has agreed to do the TAMC Council member presentation at the 12/13/2022 IRT Training.  C. Granger will send her the presentation and they will work together to revise it.  She will also send J. Johnson the 2023 IRT Training Schedule to share with the Council members to see what date works best for them to participate in trainings.
      6. The Data Committee is beginning to think about the annual report preparation.  The data review process will begin in a few weeks.  The September 2022 TAMC Celebration and Conference will be included in the annual report.  The QA/QC rating page in the annual report was found not to get a lot of interest and will be discussed at the next full Council meeting to possibly be removed.    
  10. Public Comments
    1. M. Toth had address the Council about a year and a half ago about the need to update the PASER Quality Review (QR) software and wanted to let the Council know that it has been successfully transferred to Roadsoft.  He thanked the Council, Eric Costa, MTU, and CSS for their help with this great accomplishment.   The PASER QR is feedback where a vendor goes out and rates specific road segments and compares their findings with what was submitted.  This helps to assure that the ratings are consistent and good quality.  This was successfully used with the 2022 ratings.   
  11. Member Comments
    1. K. Jones would like to know why the acronyms list for the minutes were removed.  K. Jones would like to have the acronyms spelled out on the agenda and in the minutes.  J. Johnson agreed and will work with staff to have the acronyms defined on agendas and minutes going forward.  J. Johnson informed K. Jones that, as was discussed in the past and have been reflected in past meeting minutes, that when the website was transferred over to Michigan Department of Treasury, under the MIC, they have a different set of website standards and formats that they follow.  The acronyms list was removed by Treasury staff.
  12. Adjournment
    1. The meeting was adjourned at 3:00 p.m.  The next TAMC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, January 4, 2023, 1:00 p.m., at the MDOT Aeronautics Building, 1st Floor Auditorium, 2700 Port Lansing Road, Lansing, Michigan.

 

Roll Call:

Members Present:

  • Ryan Buck, MTPA, Lansing, MI
  • Art Green, MDOT, Lansing, MI
  • Jacob Hurt, MAR, Microsoft Teams
  • James Hurt, MML, Lansing, MI
  • Joanna Johnson, CRA, Lansing, MI – Chair
  • Kelly Jones, MAC, Lansing, MI
  • Bill McEntee, CRA, Lansing, MI – Vice-Chair
  • Robert Slattery, MML, Lansing, MI
  • Rob Surber, DTMB/CSS, Florida
  • Jennifer Tubbs, MTA, Lansing, MI

Support Staff Present:

  • Rebecca Bramblett
  • Tim Colling, MTU/LTAP
  • Chris Gilbertson, MTU/LTAP
  • Cheryl Granger, DTMB/CSS
  • Eric Mullen, MDOT
  • Courtney Peterson, DTMB/CSS
  • Mike Toth, MDOT

Public Present:

  • Heather Hoeve, MDOT
  • Ryan Laruwe, MIC/Treasury

Members Absent:

  • Rob Green, MDOT