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County Administrator's Report 12. 13.
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| BCC Regular Meeting |
Budget & Finance Consent |
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| RECOMMENDATION: |
Recommendation Concerning the State of Florida Department of Transportation Traffic Signal Maintenance and Compensation Agreement - Joy D. Blackmon, P.E., Public Works Department Director
That the Board take the following action concerning the State of Florida Department of Transportation Traffic Signal Maintenance and Compensation Agreement:
A. Approve the State of Florida Department of Transportation Traffic Signal Maintenance and Compensation Agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), that specifies a lump sum payment from FDOT to Escambia County, in the amount of $477,280, for FDOT's 2015-2016 Fiscal Year (July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016) to compensate the County for maintenance of traffic signals;
B. Adopt and Authorize the Chairman to sign a Resolution authorizing execution of the Agreement;
C. Establish three new positions; one Engineering Specialist and two Engineering Technicians, to be funded with monies from this Agreement, and to enable Escambia County to fulfill the requirements of the Agreement; and
D. Authorize the hiring of one Engineering Specialist and one Engineering Technician and either an additional Engineering Technician or the purchase of a vehicle for signal maintenance. |
| BACKGROUND: |
Since 2002, Escambia County has functioned as the Maintaining Agency for the FDOT’s signals throughout our County. This relationship is a very beneficial initiative for the County and the State. The State has, through the County, a local presence and immediate response maintenance. The County has benefited by having a measure of control over the signals to best address the transportation needs of Escambia County Citizens. Also, the partnership encourages FDOT to move forward with other project initiatives within our area. One example is the new Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)/Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) Traffic Management Center (TMC) station installed at the Central Office Complex (COC) building, the miles of fiber installation to connect State, City, and County TMC’s and the nine plus intersection improvements from which our area will benefit. This is only Phase One. State funding has provided operation and maintenance funds for only State System portions of an intersection (i.e. where a State road intersects a County Road, the State would only fund 50% of the operation and maintenance of that intersection).
This new contract will now include the FDOT funding the entirety of an intersection where they used to fund only a portion (see example above). This will also include funding for the operation and maintenance of the school beacons on the State system, which the State never funded before. The additional dollars provided by this new contract will allow the County to hire two or three new Signal Maintenance Employees (One Engineering Specialist and One or Two Engineering Technicians and/or a signal maintenance vehicle). These employees are needed to address the additional requirements of the new contract; Sunshine One signal utility locates, reporting, and preventative maintenance. These positions will be tied directly to the dollars from the FDOT. If the contract is canceled, the positions would be terminated as well. Currently Escambia County has two Signal Maintenance Technicians (one Engineering Specialist and one Engineering Technician), for the entirety of our County.
The National Transportation Operations Coalition – Executive Summary, U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, ITS America, ITE Institute of Transportation Engineers sites, as an example, a city with a population of 200,000 with approximately 200 signals would need a staff of four to seven traffic signal technicians for maintenance, plus one Signal Engineer devoted solely to signal timing. Through a Joint Participation Agreement (JPA) the County has recently hired Dyer, Riddle, Mills & Precourt, Inc. (DRMP) to function in the Signal Engineer position.
This type of agreement is typical across the State of Florida. Currently there are 56 maintaining agencies within FDOT district three alone, of which Escambia County is one.
The following is the total number of traffic signals, intersection control beacons and school/warning beacons per jurisdiction:
County/County = 106 locations not funded
State/County = 111 locations, funded 100%
State = 102 locations, funded 100%
Total: 319
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| BUDGETARY IMPACT: |
| There will be no additional expenses for the County. If the County enters into this Agreement, the FDOT will pay the County a lump sum amount of $477,280 which will cover three positions, capital purchases and operating expenses. |
| LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS/SIGN-OFF: |
| Kristin Hual, Assistant County Attorney has reviewed and approved the Agreement and the Resolution as to form and legal sufficiency. |
| PERSONNEL: |
| The work required under this Agreement will require the addition of one Engineering Specialist and one Engineering Specialist and either an additional Engineering Technician or a signal maintenance vehicle. These positions will be funded by a portion of the $477,280. If the Agreement with FDOT ends, the positions would have to be abolished. |
| POLICY/REQUIREMENT FOR BOARD ACTION: |
| N/A |
| IMPLEMENTATION/COORDINATION: |
| Upon the Board's approval, and after execution of the Agreement and Resolution, Traffic staff will transmit the Agreement and a certified copy of the Resolution to the FDOT for execution by June 2, 2015. |
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