-Chair,
Tompkins County Board of Representatives
-Mayor,
City of Ithaca
-Supervisor,
Town of Ithaca
-Supervisor,
Town of Dryden
-Mayor,
Village of Lansing
-Mayor,
Village of Cayuga Heights
-Regional
Director, New York State Department of Transportation
Non-Voting
Representatives of:
-Cornell
University
-Federal
Highway Administration
-Federal
Transit Administration
-TCAT,
Board Chair
-One
representative from each of the following groupings, selected jointly on a
biennial and rotating basis:
a)
the Towns of Ulysses, Enfield, and Newfield
b)
the Towns of Danby and Caroline
c)
the Towns of Lansing and Groton
Recording of
appointments to the Policy Committee will be made by the Chairperson. Members may designate alternates to
represent them in their absence. Policy Committee membership must adapt to
changes in governmental or organizational structures within the region. It must
also be ensured that the socially, economically, and physically disadvantaged
have their views adequately represented in the planning process.
New organizations may be
nominated for membership by current members and approved by the unanimous vote
of all voting members. New voting members must become signatories to the Memorandum of Understanding to establish
responsibilities and cooperative procedures of the
Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council.
2. Meetings
Meetings are to be held
no less than twice a year, subject to needs and priorities as they develop. The
Chairperson, at the request of any member, may call special meetings. Written
notice of each meeting, with its place, time and tentative agenda will be sent
to each Committee member no less than two weeks prior to the meeting unless
agreed to by the Policy Committee members. Briefing of the Policy Committee
members will be the responsibility of the Director. Meetings are open to the
public, but may be closed following the rules of the Open Meeting Law.
3. Decision Making
Actions taken by the
Policy Committee requires a consensus of the affected voting members of the
Policy Committee. As detailed in the
Memorandum of Understanding, the New York State Department of
Transportation, City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca and Tompkins County are defined
as affected parties for all Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation
Council decisions. The
Chairperson and Secretary will determine if the other voting members are
affected parties on a case-by-case basis.
Consensus
means no negative vote is cast by an affected voting member present at the
meeting. An abstention is not counted as a negative vote.
For actions to be taken
by the Policy Committee during the scheduled meeting, a quorum consisting of at
least four voting members or their officially designated representatives must
be present. Designation of official
representatives must be made in writing to the Policy Committee Chairperson,
and may be made either on a standing basis or for specific meetings.
4. Officers
The officers of the
Policy Committee will be a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and a Secretary. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the
Policy Committee will be elected by the Committee from among the voting
members. The terms of these offices
shall be one year. There shall be no
limit on the number of terms a member may hold an office. Elections should be
held at the last meeting of the calendar year.
If the Chairperson position becomes vacant, the Vice-Chairperson will
assume the office of Chairperson. The Chairperson will delegate their function
to the Vice-Chairperson in the event of their absence, or at any other time of
their choosing.
The
Secretary will be appointed by the New York State Department of Transportation.
5. Public Information
The
Chairperson, or Director, if designated, will be the official spokesperson of
the Policy Committee as a whole in reporting action taken by the Committee to
the general public and to public and private agencies. Individual members represent the viewpoints
of their respective agencies.
6. Subcommittees
The
Policy Committee may establish and abolish subcommittees as needed. The Chairperson will make subcommittee
appointments.
An Administrative Oversight Committee (AOC), created per Resolution
93-12, meets periodically to provide guidance to staff in the areas of
budgetary amendments and revisions, personnel issues, staff director
evaluations and salary recommendations, review of travel expenditures and other
administrative policies and procedures as needed. The AOC is composed of the
chairs of the Policy and Planning Committees, the secretary of the Policy
Committee (NYSDOT representative) and the host agency administrator (County
Planning Commissioner).
7. Other Procedures
Other
procedures necessary to conduct the business of the Policy Committee or its
subcommittees shall be determined by
Robert's Rules of Order or by the Policy Committee.
8. Non-Discrimination
The Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council, in accordance with the Civil Rights
Law of 1991, encourages all people regardless of sex, age, color, nationality,
ethnicity, mental or physical ability, political or religious beliefs,
affection preference, or sexual orientation to participate in all of the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council’s planning and policy-making
activities and in reaching the Ithaca-Tompkins
County Transportation Council's transportation goals.
B.
Planning Committee
1. Membership
The
Planning Committee provides professional expertise in the development of
regional transportation plans and programs and in making policy recommendations
to the Policy Committee. Thus, the Planning Committee is composed of up to two
representatives of each Policy Committee member (usually planning and public works
administrators), as well as representatives of other agencies whose
participation is deemed appropriate by the Policy Committee. Planning Committee
members are appointed by each Policy Committee member.
The
following member entities shall be entitled to two voting seats each on the
Planning Committee: Tompkins County, City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca,
Town of Dryden, Village of Cayuga Heights, Village of Lansing, New York
State Department of Transportation, TCAT and Cornell University.
The following member
entities shall be entitled to one voting seat each on the Planning Committee:
Town of Caroline, Town of Danby, Town of Enfield, Town of Groton, Town of
Lansing, Town of Newfield, Town of Ulysses.
Although
the appointments of individuals to the Planning Committee are made at the
discretion of the respective Policy Committee members and parent agencies, the
Planning Committee membership will typically consist of representatives of:
-Tompkins
County Department of Public Works
-Tompkins
County Department of Planning
-City
of Ithaca Planning Department
-City
of Ithaca Department of Public Works
-Town
Planning, Town of Ithaca
-Town
Engineering, Town of Ithaca
-Department
of Public Works, Village of Cayuga Heights
-Department
of Public Works, Village of Lansing
-Cornell
University
-TCAT
-New
York State Department of Transportation
-Federal
Highway Administration
-Federal
Transit Administration
-Town
of Caroline
-Town
of Danby
-Town
of Dryden
-Town
of Enfield
-Town
of Groton
-Town
of Lansing
-Town
of Newfield
-Town
of Ulysses
The
voting and non-voting members are listed below.
Voting
Members:
Tompkins
County Cornell
University
City
of Ithaca Village
of Cayuga Heights
Town
of Ithaca Village
of Lansing
NYSDOT TCAT
Town
of Caroline Town of
Danby
Town
of Dryden Town of
Enfield
Town
of Groton Town of
Lansing
Town
of Newfield Town of
Ulysses
Non-Voting
Members:
Federal
Highway Administration
Federal Transit Administration
Planning
Committee membership should adapt to changing conditions within the region. New
organizations may be granted Planning Committee membership by the Policy
Committee.
2. Meetings
Meetings are to be held
at least quarterly, subject to needs and priorities as they develop. Other
meetings may be called by the Chairperson at the request of any member. Written
notice of each meeting, with its place, time, and tentative agenda will be sent
to each committee member no less than two weeks prior to the meeting or at a
time convenient to the membership. Individuals or agencies placing items on the
agenda are responsible for making written briefings on those items available to
all members in advance of the meeting.
Meetings will be open to the public but may be closed per the
regulations and guidelines in the Open Meetings Law.
3. Decision Making
Recommendations
to the Policy Committee will require a simple affirmative majority of all votes
casts. Actions taken pursuant to Sections 7.2 and 7.4 to make minor changes in
the Unified Planning Work Program
(UPWP), Transportation Improvement
Program (TIP), and Central Staff budget, will require a two-thirds majority
of all votes cast.
A
quorum, consisting of eight voting members or their officially designated
representatives, must be present in order for the Planning Committee to take
formal action. Designation of official representatives must be made in writing
to the Planning Committee Chairperson and may be made on either a standing
basis or for specific meetings. Voting by proxy is permitted with written
documentation.
4.
Officers
The
Chairperson of the Planning Committee will be elected by simple majority of all
votes cast. The Chairperson will serve
a term of one year. The Director will
provide administrative support for the Planning Committee including
notification of members and recording minutes.
5.
Public Information
The Chairperson, or
Director, if designated, will be the official spokesperson of the Planning
Committee as a whole in reporting actions taken by the Committee to the general
public and to public and private agencies.
Individual members represent the viewpoints of their respective
agencies.
6.
Subcommittees
The
Planning Committee may establish and abolish subcommittees as needed. Subcommittee appointments shall be made by
the Chairperson.
7.
Planning Committee Responsibilities
a. Prepare and administer Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP).
b. Exercise authority to make and
approve the UPWP budget revisions for the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation
Council if the revisions total no more than 10% of the total UPWP budget. The
Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council Policy Committee shall be
notified of such budget revisions within one week. (An amendment is defined as an amount
greater than 10% of the budget and requires Policy Committee approval. Adding a new task to the UPWP is an
amendment.).
c. Oversee
the fiscal status of the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council by
reviewing grant closeouts and applications, final audit statements, or other
special fiscal assignments with the host agency.
d.
Develop
the 5-year Transportation Improvement
Program for submission to the Policy Committee. This document will be developed in close cooperation with NYSDOT
(for highway and bridge projects) and Tompkins County (for transit projects).
Any municipality may submit potential projects for consideration. Decisions on placing projects on the TIP
will be constrained by available funding as well as Ithaca-Tompkins County
Transportation Council Policy Committee policies on project programming.
Exercise authority to make and approve minor
revisions to the TIP during the program year.
Minor revisions are defined as changes that impact less than 10% of an
individual project or less than 5% of available funding for the TIP, whichever
is greater.
e. Coordinate planning for preliminary project
development for TIP project selection.
Monitor progress on TIP project implementation.
f. Develop the Long-Range Comprehensive Transportation Plan. Coordinate planning resources of Policy
Committee members.
g. Make minor revisions to the Transportation Improvement Program
during the year.
8. Other Procedures
Other
procedures necessary to conduct the business of the Planning Committee shall be
determined by Robert's Rules of Order
or as determined by the Committee.
C. Central Staff
The
professional planning and support services needed to execute the
Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council Unified Planning Work Program (UPWP) shall be provided by a Central
Staff plus New York State Department of Transportation Regional staff, and
other members of the Planning and Policy Committees. Services to be provided by NYSDOT and local agencies are
specified in the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council annual Unified Planning Work Program. The following discussion addresses issues of
the Central Staff.
The
New York State Department of Transportation is the direct recipient and
administrator of FHWA-PL and FTA-Section 5303 planning funds. Since the Ithaca-Tompkins County
Transportation Council is not a corporate entity, it cannot contract with
NYSDOT to receive federal funds.
Therefore, Tompkins County, as the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation
Council host agency, will contract with NYSDOT to receive federal
transportation planning funds.
The
role of the host agency is important but strictly circumscribed. The Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation
Council Policy Committee adopts the annual Unified
Planning Work Program (UPWP) to specify the program tasks and budget using
the federal transportation planning funds.
The host will create and maintain staff positions necessary to
accomplish the work within UPWP budgetary constraints. The primary responsibility of the host agency
is to insure that all monies spent in support of Central Staff are reimbursable
and are reimbursed under the terms of the
Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council grants. The
host will exercise the degree of administrative oversight necessary to carry
out these responsibilities.
The
Policy Committee shall determine which job descriptions, classifications,
salary grading, and candidate qualifications are necessary in order to ensure
staffing levels, titles, and salaries appropriate for accomplishment of the
UPWP. It is understood that Central
Staff will fall under the purview of the host agency's personnel rules, labor
contracts, and so forth. However, the Staff Director’s salary shall be reviewed
and modified periodically by the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council
Policy Committee. Personnel decisions of the Policy Committee will be reported
directly to the County Board of Representatives. The fringe benefits of the Central Staff will be those of the
host agency.
It
is understood that the Ithaca-Tompkins
County Transportation Council Policy Committee and Tompkins County, as host agency, share the same
objective in regard to staff; that is, the timely completion of the UPWP in a
highly professional manner within the constraints imposed by the grant budgets.
Any
disciplinary action regarding the Staff Director, including dismissal, shall be
initiated either by the Policy Committee or the Planning Committee. Final determination of such disciplinary
action shall be vested in the Policy Committee.
Civil
rights and affirmative action objectives shall be pursued in all personnel
matters.
Day-to-day
administration and supervision of the Central Staff will be the responsibility
of the Staff Director. The Director
will periodically report to the Planning Committee on task completion for the Unified Planning Work Program and
funding matters. The Planning Committee
shall be responsible for reviewing all final reports for UPWP tasks on which
Central Staff is designated lead agency.
D. Public
Participation
The
citizens of the Ithaca metropolitan area have a substantial interest in the
transportation facilities and services provided. The transportation planning process must be responsive to these
interests. Therefore, the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council is committed to the establishment and
maintenance of a program of meaningful and timely public participation in the
transportation planning process as required by federal law, and federal, state,
and local regulations.
The Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council’s public participation program will
have two basic objectives: 1) to disseminate the maximum amount of information
about the transportation planning process to as many interested members of the
general public as possible; 2) to actively seek informed responses from the
community regarding transportation problems and priorities and elicit potential
solutions to provide a variety of ways for various community interest groups
and individuals to participate in the transportation planning process with the
degrees of involvement they desire.
<return to table of contents>
III. POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
A. Travel
Policy:
This section pertains to the costs
associated with official business conducted on behalf of the Ithaca-Tompkins
County Transportation Council. All
expenditures, including conference registration, travel expense, lodging and
meals, shall be applicable to these requirements.
1. Authorizations
a. The
Staff of the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council must receive prior
approval from the Staff Director before undertaking preparations for travel
outside the boundaries of Tompkins County.
b. The
Staff Director must receive prior approval from the Chair of the Transportation
Policy Committee before undertaking preparations for travel that may involve
expenditure of more than $500. In the
absence of the Policy Committee Chair, such travel may be approved by any
member of the Administrative Oversight Committee. Members of the Administrative
Oversight Committee shall be informed of all approvals granted under this
section.
2. Reimbursements
a. Mileage
reimbursement for the use of a personal vehicle on Council business shall be
made at the same rate as established by the Host Agency. This rate will automatically be adjusted in
conjunction with the Host Agency’s rate.
b. Reimbursement
for authorized costs personally incurred by Council Staff or Members shall be
made based upon Host Agency policies and are subject to appropriate documentation;
however, reimbursement for amounts exceeding Host Agency limits but within the
limits established by the New York State Department of Transportation Travel
Policy may be made. Such requests must
be approved in writing by the Policy Committee Chair.
B. Financial
Procedures
1. Budget
a. The
Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council shall be advised, through the
Chair of the Transportation Policy Committee, of the Staff's intent to make
application for grants or to seek funds prior to said application to the
proposed grantor. All such requests
will require prior affirmative action on the part of the Ithaca-Tompkins County
Transportation Council to adopt any necessary amendments to the operating
budget and/or the Unified Planning Work Program.
b. "Revisions"
and "Amendments" to the Unified Planning Work Program are defined in
section II.B.7.2 of this document.
c. The
following sections pertain to the Operating Budget of the Ithaca-Tompkins
County Transportation Council.
i. The Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation
Council shall annually prepare an Operating Budget to be utilized by the Host
Agency to govern the revenues and expenditures associated with the operation of
the Council.
ii. The Operating Budget shall initially be
prepared by the Director and submitted to and approved by the Transportation
Policy Committee via formal resolution prior to April 1. The Operating Budget should be prepared and
adopted in conjunction with the annual Unified Planning Work Program.
iii. The fiscal year governing the Operating
Budget will coincide with the fiscal year of New York State, commencing April
1, and ending on March 31. Recognizing
that the Host Agency operates on a different fiscal year (i.e., currently a
calendar year), the Director is authorized to take all necessary actions to
ensure that the Council has access to its remaining operating funds at the
commencement of each Host Agency fiscal year.
iv. Budgetary amendments that do not affect the
overall expenditure level of the approved Operating Budget shall be referred to
as "budgetary revisions". The
implementations of budgetary revisions are subject to the following provisions:
• Less than $500: Approval and signature of the Director. A Budget Administrator, designated in
writing by the Director, may make such approvals in the absence of the
Director. All such transactions will be
reflected in the financial reports to the Transportation Policy Committee.
• Greater than $500 and less than
$2,500: Approval of the Director
and the Planning Committee Chair. All
such transactions will be reported to the Transportation Policy Committee at
the next regular meeting subsequent to final processing of said revision.
• Greater than $2,500: The formal approval of the Transportation
Policy Committee is required prior to processing. The signatures of the Director and the Chair of the
Transportation Policy Committee will be required on the appropriate processing
documents. All such transactions will
be reported to the Transportation Policy Committee at the next regular meeting
subsequent to final processing of said revision.
v. Budgetary amendments that affect the
overall expenditure level of the approved Operating Budget shall be referred to
as "budgetary amendments" and require the approval of the
Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council Policy Committee by formal
resolution.
d. The
Director is authorized and will be responsible for representing the Council's
budgetary information and requests to the Host Agency, its various Committees
and to the appropriate staff. While the
Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council will make every effort to conform
to the Host Agency's fiscal and budgetary processes, it is understood and agreed
that final decision-making authority regarding the affairs of the
Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council rests with the Transportation
Policy Committee.
2.
Purchasing
a. All
purchases of materials, services, or goods shall be made in accordance with the
following provisions:
• Less than $500: Approval and signature of the Director. A Budget Administrator, designated in
writing by the Director, may make such approvals in the absence of the
Director.
• Greater than $500 and less than $2,500: Approval of the Director and Planning
Committee Chair. All such transactions
will be reported to the Transportation Policy Committee at its next regular
meeting.
• Greater than $2,500: The formal approval of the Transportation
Policy Committee is required. Such
approval must be granted through a specific authorizing resolution or must be
specifically identified in the approved
Unified Planning Work Program. The
signatures of the Director and the Chair of the Transportation Policy Committee
will be required on the appropriate processing documents.
b. Requests
for purchasing shall be submitted to the appropriate Host Agency representative
in the Host Agency's format. The Host Agency will ensure compliance with all
applicable state laws and goals pertaining to the use of Minority Business/Disadvantaged
Business Enterprises.
C. Federal
Certifications
1.
Regulatory Compliance
Reference
Resolution 93-7. Also note that the Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council conducts an annual Self-Certification
process in conformance with 23 CFR part 450.334. Annual resolutions are available.
2. Drug Free Work Place
Reference
Resolution 93-8.
3.
Restrictions on Federal Lobbying
Reference
Resolution 93-9.
4. Title VI Compliance
Reference
Resolution 93-10. The Ithaca-Tompkins
County Transportation Council, in accordance with the Civil Rights Law of 1964,
encourages all people regardless of sex, age, color, nationality, ethnicity,
mental or physical ability, political or religious beliefs, affection
preference, or sexual orientation to participate in all Ithaca-Tompkins County
Transportation Council's planning and policy-making activities and in reaching
Ithaca-Tompkins County Transportation Council's transportation goals.
<return to table of contents>
APPENDICES
A. ITHACA-TOMPKINS
COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COUNCIL
MEMBERSHIP (March 1, 2000 ) >>for
current membership list click here <<
TRANSPORTATION POLICY COMMITTEE
Stuart W. Stein, AICP, Chair Chair,
Tompkins County Board of Representatives
Ronald Anderson, Vice Chair Mayor,
Village of Cayuga Heights
Jon P. Edinger, P.E., Secretary New
York State Department of Transportation
Donald Hartill Mayor,
Village of Lansing
Deborah Grantham Town
Council, Town of Dryden
Catherine Valentino Supervisor,
Town of Ithaca
Alan J. Cohen Mayor,
City of Ithaca
Douglas Austic Supervisor,
Town of Ulysses
Don Barber Supervisor,
Town of Caroline
Charles Berggren Supervisor,
Town of Newfield
Steve Farkas Supervisor,
Town of Lansing
Edward Inman Supervisor,
Town of Danby
Glenn Morey Supervisor,
Town of Groton
Jean Owens Supervisor,
Town of Enfield
Hal Craft Board
Chair, TCAT
Henrik Dullea Vice
President, University Relations, Cornell University
James A. Goveia Federal
Transit Administration
Jonathan D. McDade Chief,
Planning and Program Management, Federal Highway Administration
TRANSPORTATION PLANNING COMMITTEE
John Gutenberger, Chair Assistant
Director of Community Relations, Cornell University
James W. Hanson, Jr., Vice Chair Commissioner
of Planning, Tompkins County
Brent A. Cross, P.E. Superintendent
of Public Works, Village of Cayuga Heights
Michael Zona Public
Works Supervisor, Village of Cayuga Heights
David Herrick Village
of Lansing
Dennis Reinhart Superintendent
of Public Works, Village of Lansing
Jonathan Kanter, AICP Town
Planner, Town of Ithaca
Fred Noteboom Highway
Superintendent, Town of Ithaca
Kate Kelley-MacKenzie Representative,
Town of Caroline
Edward Inman Supervisor,
Town of Danby
Susan Ashdown Representative,
Town of Dryden
Ronald Updike Superintendent
of Highways, Town of Enfield
Donald Palmer Town
of Groton
Steve Farkas Supervisor,
Town of Lansing
Charles Berggren Town
of Newfield
Sue Poelvoorde Town
of Ulysses
William Gray, P.E. Superintendent
of Public Works, City of Ithaca
H. Matthys Van Cort Director
of Planning, City of Ithaca
Ward Hungerford Public
Works Department, Tompkins County
Rod Ghearing General
Manager, TCAT
William Wendt Director
of Transportation Services, Cornell University
Albert S. Vetter, P.E. Regional
Planning and Program Manager, NYSDOT
Janis Gross Associate
Transportation Analyst, NYSDOT
Alicia Nolan Federal
Highway Administration
James A. Goveia Federal
Transit Administration
To be named Town
of Dryden
To be named TCAT
STAFF (March 1, 2000)
Fernando de Aragón, AICP, Director Victor A. Jorrin,
Transportation Analyst
Teresa L. Linde, Administrative
Assistant Kimberley L. Triggs,
Transportation Analyst
B. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING
(Hard copies on file and can be viewed at ITCTC
Office)
(Including Addendum A, adding the Town of Dryden as a signatory)
C. USDOT DESIGNATION LETTERS
(Hard copies on file
and can be viewed at ITCTC Office)
>return to table of contents>
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