August 18, 2003
BOARD OF FRANKLIN COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
The Board of Commissioners met in a regular session with Chairman John E. Taylor and Commissioners Fred E. Ferguson, Donald R. Stottlemire and Donald E. Waymire present.
The meeting was called to order by Chairman Taylor at 8:30.
Clint Stewart and Todd Burroughs with Taylor Design Group in with presentation for 26 mile plan for gravel road upgrade.
Introduction: Determine improvements needed surveying, design of new road sections, storm drainage, and construction documents. Project Approach: Understand project and observations. Project Understanding: Goals – 26 miles chip & seal, using existing right of way, using existing structures, shoulder width, design speed 45 mile an hour. Project Route: Section corners, right of way, utilities and complete survey. Observations: Existing Road Issues – Road base width, road base thickness, road base condition, road alignment, vertical alignment/sight distance and intersections. Storm Water Drainage Issues: New ditches grade & clean out existing ditches, drainage structures. Right of Way Issues: Width and acquisition, fence encroachment, trees and other encroachments. New Road Design Issues: Where to stop chip & seal (intersections, driveways & mailboxes), existing chip & seal on proposed roads, design tie-in on existing hard surface. Misc. Issues: Utilities, Historical sites and structures, signage, pavement striping and guardrails. Scope of Services: Project definition, surveying, engineering/design, construction drawings/specifications, bid phase, construction phase and right of way. Costs: Construction costs – general and preliminary and engineering cost. Schedule: Engineering complete in late spring, early summer of 2004.
Terry Henry of 823 N. 300 Rd. said he has concerns about North and South bridges on Thomas Rd. North of Shawnee Rd. The North bridge is not wide enough for farm equipment and he has to use South bridge. He asked that the county keep that in mind when replacing or closing the road.
Scott Williams with Martin Tractor back in about motor grader. Board agreed to solicit bids for the purchase of a new motor grader.
Commissioner Stottlemire moved and Commissioner Ferguson seconded to sign a lease between Reece Nichols and Franklin County for space at the Franklin County Annex. All voted “yes.”
David Hamby and Dan Harden with BG Consultants in with presentation for 26 mile plan for gravel road upgrade. Project approach is to use current engineering standards. Scope of guidelines: 1) Risk assessment on which the guidelines are based shows that these less restrictive design criteria can be applied on very low-volume local roads without compromising safety. The guidelines discourage widening of lanes and shoulders, changes in horizontal and vertical alignment, and roadside improvements except in situations where such improvements are likely to provide substantial safety benefits, 2) Designers are provided substantial flexibility to retain the existing roadway and roadside design, where that existing design is performing well, but are also provided flexibility to recommend improved designs, even designs that exceed the guidelines presented here, where necessary to correct documented safety problems, 3) Design guidelines may be applied in place of Chapter 5 (Local Roads and Streets) of the AASHTO Policy on Geometric Design of Highways and Streets (1) to local roads that serve traffic volumes of 400 vehicles per day or less, 4) Rural major access roads serve a dual function of providing access to abutting properties as well as providing through or connecting service between other local roads or higher type facilities, 5) Low speed – 0 to 45 mph, 6) 100 to 250 vehicles per day, 7) The traffic volumes of such roads are, by definition, very low, these very low traffic volumes mean that encounters between vehicles that represent opportunities for crashed to occur are rare events and that multiple-vehicle collisions of any kind are rare events and the local nature of the road means that most motorists using the road have traveled it before and are familiar with its features, 8) An important component of the design guidelines for very low-volume local roads is the incorporation of substantial design flexibility based on the exercise of judgment by qualified engineering professionals who are familiar with site conditions and local experience, 9) Use of risk assessment as a basis for the design guidelines is intended to focus public spending for very low-volume local roads on safety improvements at locations where it can be expected to provide substantial safety benefits and to discourage spending at locations where little or no safety benefit would be expected, 10) Projects on existing very low-volume local roads may involved reconstruction, resurfacing, rehabilitation, restoration, or other types of improvements. Changes to roadway or roadside geometrics during such projects are generally recommended only where there is a documentable site-specific safety problem that can potentially be corrected by a roadway or roadside improvement. Where documentable site-specific safety problems do not exist, it is unlikely that any roadway or roadside improvement would provide substantial safety benefits, 11) When 5 to 10 years of crash data are available, these data will often be so sparse that other indicators of safety of problems should be considered, as well. Such other indicators may include field reviews to note skid marks or roadside damage, speed data (which may indicate whether speeds are substantially higher than the intended design speed), or concerns raised by police or local residents, 12) Cross section widths of existing roads need not be modified except in those cases where there is evidence of a site-specific safety problem, 13) Existing bridges can remain in place without widening unless there is evidence of a site-specific safety problem related to the width of the bridge, 14) For improvement projects on existing very low-volume local roads, the existing horizontal curve geometry should generally be considered acceptable unless there is evidence of a site-specific safety problem related to horizontal curvature, 15) Given the geometry of stopping sight distance on horizontal and crest vertical curves, the costs for even marginal or incremental improvements make reconstruction of very low-volume local roads to increase stopping sight distance not cost-effective except in unusual cases, 16) Because sight distance improvements are unlikely to be cost-effective under most circumstances, the existing sight distance on a very low-volume local road may be allowed to remain in place unless there is evidence of a site-specific safety problem attributable to inadequate sight distance, 17) For improvement projects at existing intersections between very low-volume local roads, the existing intersection sight distance may generally remain in place unless there is evidence of a site-specific safety problem related to intersection sight distance, 18) Two key aspects of roadside design are clear zone width and traffic barrier warrants, 19) Both the safety literature and the risk assessment conducted by Neuman (3) indicate that run-off-road crashes on roads with very low traffic volumes occur so infrequently as to make any minimum clear zone width demonstrably not cost-effective and 20) The roadside design guidelines for existing very low-volume local roads are the same as those for newly constructed roads. Roadside clear zones and traffic barriers are not generally cost effective and need not generally be provided, except in situations where the engineering judgment of the designer identifies a need for the provision of a roadside clear zone or a guardrail. They also discussed design proposal and project schedule.
Commissioner Waymire moved and Commissioner Stottlemire seconded to approve payroll change 03-345 for Robert Garrison with the Ambulance Department. All voted “yes.”
Board discussed a payroll change for Pam Sheffield with the Ambulance Department.
Commissioner Waymire moved and Commissioner Stottlemire seconded to publish a solicitation of bids for a motor grader. All voted “yes.”
Wayne Westerman, Mel Chapman and Kevin Beck with Cook, Flatt & Strobel in with presentation for 26 mile plan for gravel upgrade. They discussed project approach, preliminary engineering report, field check, final plans, bid letting and construction engineering inspection. The design consideration would give you the pavement structure, grading, design speed and estimated costs.
Chairman Taylor closed for lunch at 12:04.
Chairman Taylor opened at 1:00. Chairman Taylor, Commissioner Ferguson, Stottlemire and Waymire present.
Commissioner Ferguson moved and Commissioner Waymire seconded to approve the minutes for August 13, 2003. All voted “yes.”
Board discussed payroll dates. Board agreed to set a meeting with department heads for August 25.
Bill Grey with the Ottawa Herald in about advertising in a history book that they are putting together. Cost for a one page ad is $300. Board asked if the courthouse picture could be on the front page of the book.
Commissioner Waymire moved and Commissioner Stottlemire seconded to advertise in the history book at a cost of $300. All voted “yes.”
John Dowell said he has filed tax sale #31 on 15 tracts of property.
Commissioner Stottlemire moved and Commissioner Waymire seconded to go into an executive session for 10 minutes at 1:40 with Board, Shari Perry and John Dowell present. All voted “yes.” Chairman Taylor opened the meeting at 1:45 and reported no action taken, no decisions made.
Keith Clark in about hiring Mike Medina as a contract employee.
Commissioner Ferguson moved and Commissioner Waymire seconded to approve payroll change 03-320 for Michael Medina with Community Corrections. All voted “yes.”
Commissioner Stottlemire moved and Commissioner Ferguson seconded to contract for services with Mike Medina with Community Corrections. All voted “yes.”
With no further discussion the meeting was adjourned at 2:10.
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Clerk Chairman