The Utah Transportation Commission convened in a Staff Update Meeting with UDOT Staff on October 13, 2010, at the UDOT Rampton Complex – Admin Conference Room B, 4501 South 2700 West, Salt Lake City, Utah, at 4:25 p.m. In attendance were:

Commission Members: Jeff Holt, Jerry Lewis, Bevan Wilson, Meghan Holbrook, Wayne Barlow, and Dan McConkie.

UDOT Staff: John Njord, Carlos Braceras, Bill Lawrence, Nile Easton, Tania Mashburn, Linda Hull, Nathan Lee, and LeAnn Abegglen.

Others: Kimberlee Willette, Jamie Evans and Ed Cooper.

Welcome and Review Agenda

Director John Njord welcomed the group and reviewed the Staff Update meeting agenda.

U.S. 191/Moab Project Update

John Njord noted that this was a follow up discussion from the last Commission meeting, and that Moab City was being connected via conference call for this item. Nathan Lee, Region Four Director, distributed a handout and said he was asked to report back on the estimate cost of the U.S. 191/Moab project. There have been several meetings held in Moab with the city, county, business community, etc. Commission Wilson has been involved as well. Mr. Lee reviewed the information on the handout, which included information on work that has been done in the Moab area since 2004. The project from 400 North to S.R. 279 will cost $7.9 to $8 million of the $9.3 million that is programmed. That would also require cooperation from Grand County on their enhancement funded project, the bike/pedestrian trail component, for $600,000

Commissioner Wilson spoke in detail about the meetings that he recently attended and the questions that were asked by those attending. Some of the questions and concerns had to do with the “Phase 2” part of the project on U.S. 191, from S.R. 128 to 400 North, and right of way issues along that corridor. Commissioner Wilson stated that some of the questions just don’t have any answers to them yet. Other concerns that were discussed in the meetings were the importance of getting the bike/pedestrian trail completed as soon as possible and getting the drainage issue taken care of. Moab City has done a lot of work on their drainage, but there is still a lot yet to do to clear up that corridor. Also, it was suggested in the meetings that there be better, reliable communication with all of the stakeholders. Nathan Lee does plan to have regular meetings with the stakeholders to continue to address their concerns and to have open dialogue with UDOT. Commissioner Wilson noted that he thought there were some misconceptions about what the Phase 2 part of the project would be. He also said that when the bids are opened for Phase 1 of the project, he hopes there will be a fund balance, and that the Commission would leave the funds there for continuation of Phase 2 of the project.

Commissioner McConkie commented that he thought the Commission had made a commitment to redistribute any funds from favorable bids to go to projects with a higher priority, not just stay in the same area/region. Commissioner Wilson responded that the minutes from the last meeting state that Phase 2 of the project would have to go back through the process and compete for construction dollars, but would leave sufficient funding in the project for design, planning, etc. He also talked about the possibility of some the bike/pedestrian trail needing to be relocated and reconstructed with the second phase of the project. Commissioner Holt wondered if the Commission was getting into too much detail on this project. He also asked about who bears the risk of overruns and unknown factors and what are the people’s expectations? Is there clarity about who bears the risks? Carlos Braceras, Deputy Director, said that part of the problem is that there was money on the project that was taken away for use on the bridge project, and now money has come back on the project. So, it’s the region’s responsibility to make this work, and they are going to make this work. Representatives of Moab City, who were listening via conference call, were asked if they had any comments. They responded that they just wanted to make sure they were in the loop, so they could answer questions they were getting according to what was being said. They also said what they’ve heard today was consistent with what they’ve been hearing over the past week or so, and that was one of the main reasons they wanted to listen in today.

Open Discussion

Director Njord said he wanted to open up the discussion to allow the Commission to ask any questions and comment on what has been happening in the Department, as there has been a lot of media coverage recently. The discussion and questions centered mostly on the process the Department went through to award the I-15 Core contract, and the $13 million resolution of the bid protest to one of the losing bidders to avoid a possible lawsuit and delays to the project.

The meeting adjourned at 5:38 p.m.