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Mayors, Managers,
Administrators, TCC appointees and all others, The TCC ILA has been approved by the governing bodies of six cities including one from each of the three legal classifications and the county; therefore, the TCC is officially created as described in its ILA. I have reserved a room in the County Administration meeting for Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 6:30 PM to hold the first meeting of the Transportation Cooperation Council. Please reply to this e-mail confirming the names of your cities primary and alternate representative along with the appropriate contact information. Issues with the ILA: The cities which have not yet approved the ILA are continuing to discuss its content. Some cities which have yet to approve the ILA have raised concerns about the equal voting model in the ILA and also about the following section mentioning land use planning. These cities are concerned that the mention of "land use planning" could create a situation where the TCC could become a vehicle to comment on many development projects in various cities: This Agreement is not intended to create a separate or independent legal entity. It is intended to establish an advisory council which can and will provide consultation and make recommendations to the County and to individual cities on public investments in transportation, or plans and proposals related to transportation issues, and/or land use planning that impacts transportation issues. Nothing in this Agreement, however, is intended to limit or prevent, in any way, the authority or ability of the County or a City to plan, manage, approve, build or maintain any transportation route, resource, or project. While I totally understand the issues raised, I do not believe this land use meddling fear to be well founded because of the discussions that the TCC Charter committee had during its deliberations in drafting the charter and the common sense of the TCC membership. The land use discussion is critical to improving the performance and efficiency of mass public transportation (buses) in Johnson County. However, I suggest that these communities approve the TCC ILA in either its current form and then work to change the ILA from within the TCC or pass a modified version of the ILA with the following changes to the previous section: This Agreement is not intended to create a separate or independent legal entity. It is intended to establish an advisory council which can and will provide consultation and make recommendations to the County and to individual cities on public investments in transportation, or plans and proposals related to transportation issues. , and/or land use planning that impacts transportation issues. Nothing in this Agreement, however, is intended to limit or prevent, in any way, the authority or ability of the County or a City to plan, manage, approve, build or maintain any transportation route, resource, or project. The voting issue was extensively discussed at the charter committee and the consensus decision was that since the TCC had no real power a simple voting model would be recommended. It is my recommendation that this issue be addressed from within the TCC by its members and not through any ILA changes. Passing the ILA in its current form respects the extensive work of the TCC Charter Committee and the consideration of those cities which have already approved the ILA. Therefore, it is my preference that the ILA be passed by the remaining cities in its current form. The meeting: Although the TCC members will set the work agenda for the TCC I have taken the liberty of inviting K-DOT to attend our first meeting to brief us on a 5-county integrated approach to transportation planning that will impact future spending in the next transportation plan. http://www.ksdot.org/PDF_Files/FiveCountystudy.pdf This topic was among the five topics below I suggested in my February 21, 2008 e-mail to you. CARS funding – advise the BOCC on future direction on funding the program and its direction on projects. County Public Works Strategic Plan – Participate in this important project that will define the future of County Public Works activity. Transportation Council Strategic Plan – Provide a sounding board and implementation partnerships to the Transportation Council as it moves forward on its 5-year plan. This work will help build consensus on public transportation in Johnson County. Participate in the further development of the Kansas Long Range Transportation Plan which identifies expanded local consultation and the creation of a Kansas Transportation Advisory Panel. Participate studies of the transportation issues in the five county region comprised of Douglas, Johnson, Miami, Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties (see attached). I look forward to seeing you at the first TCC meeting on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 6:30 PM and supporting our work to maintain and enhance mobility in Johnson County using an integrated, collaborative approach to transportation planning. Sincerely, John |
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