MPO Meeting Minutes
Draft Memorandum for the Record
Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization Meeting
August 19, 2021, Meeting
10:00 AM–11:15 AM, Zoom Video Conferencing Platform
David Mohler, Chair, representing Jamey Tesler, Secretary of Transportation and Chief Executive Officer of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT)
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) agreed to the following:
See attendance on pages 7–9.
There was none.
T. Teich announced
two staffing changes: Barbara
Rutman, CTPS Office Manager, has retired and Kate White, Public Outreach
Coordinator, would be leaving. T. Teich stated that these positions will be
recruited for in the coming weeks.
T. Teich also announced the success of the recent MetroWest Regional
Collaborative’s Trail Summit event
held on August 12, 2021.
There were none.
Derek Shooster (MassDOT, Chair, UPWP Committee) stated that the UPWP Committee voted to recommend the MPO board vote to endorse the draft FFY 2022 UPWP. The committee met immediately prior to the MPO board meeting.
Eric Bourassa (Metropolitan Area Planning Council [MAPC]), Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) Project Cost Ad Hoc Committee Chair, stated that there would be a committee meeting after the MPO meeting.
L. Diggins said that the August meeting was cancelled. The Regional Transportation Advisory Council (Advisory Council) will next meet on Wednesday, September 8, 2021.
A motion to approve the minutes of the meeting of July 1, 2021, was made by MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the At-Large Town (Town of Arlington) (Daniel Amstutz). The motion carried.
S. Johnston said that this year’s UPWP programs total approximately $5.5 million in federal funding to CTPS and MAPC, and approximately $1.6 million for contract work. S. Johnston said that the FFY 2022 UPWP has the same organizational pattern as last year’s document and noted two changes: 1) a new “MPO Resiliency Program” task listed in the Certification Requirements section, and 2) Appendix A now contains only the federally required elements (federally funded studies and those of “regional significance”). S. Johnston stated that four public comments were received on the FFY 2022 UPWP. S. Johnston requested that the MPO vote to endorse the FFY 2022 UPWP after recommendation from the UPWP Committee.
A motion to endorse the FFY 2022 UPWP was made by MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the Advisory Council (L. Diggins). The motion carried.
D. Mohler began the discussion by stating that the Commonwealth has extended its virtual meeting guidelines until April 2022. D. Mohler suggested that it would be best for the MPO to maintain virtual meetings until April 2022 as several factors are unknown. These factors include room capacities within the State Transportation Building under current public health guidelines and that setting up “hybrid” (combined in-person and virtual) meetings is challenging due to unknowns in meeting equipment and technology within the conference rooms. D. Mohler then opened the discussion to the MPO members asking them when they would like to revisit a discussion about MPO meeting format when the guidelines expire in April 2022.
Brian Kane (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
[MBTA] Advisory Board) stated that there is an existing policy that
can be adopted to continue to meet virtually and allow for remote participation
as standard operating procedure.
D. Amstutz pointed out that the Town of Arlington instituted a mask mandate and advised that the MPO should be cautious as to how it proceeds. D. Amstutz asked, if the MPO were to meet in person, would there be a mask requirement at the State Transportation Building? He suggested the MPO continue doing remote meetings due to existing uncertainties.
L. Diggins is supportive of remote meetings and suggested hosting an in-person meeting/event annually. L. Diggins also pointed out the need to be aware of people who cannot participate virtually and to find a way to include persons who do not have internet access.
Tina Cassidy (North Suburban Planning Council [City of Woburn]) supports keeping MPO meetings virtual as traveling to Downtown Boston is time consuming. Also, T. Cassidy is concerned about the potential burden of running hybrid meetings, which are essentially two meetings at the same time.
Bill Conroy (City of Boston [Boston Transportation Department]) is in favor of a hybrid format at some point in time, stating that he had a positive experience with it recently.
Thatcher Kezer III (MetroWest Regional Collaborative [City of Framingham]) supports the hybrid meeting model. The City of Framingham has set up a conference room for this purpose. T. Kezer stated that it is all about having advanced technology to support it.
Jay Monty (At-Large City [City of Everett]) would like to
work toward in-person meetings in some form and suggested alternating between
in-person and online meetings, as he has experienced difficulties with hybrid meetings.
Tom Bent (Inner Core Committee [City of Somerville]) would also like to meet in person but would support an alternating in-person/virtual format. He is open to hybrid meetings if technology can support them.
D. Amstutz said if the board is meeting in person, everyone needs to wear a mask regardless of vaccination status. D. Amstutz also stated that his experience with hybrid meetings requires a lot of staff time so the MPO should be mindful of that.
T. Teich said the MPO should think about this in two phases: 1) how to proceed now and, 2) how to proceed when the extension ends. T. Teich wants to continue virtual meetings; however, if the board wants to go hybrid in the second phase, a future discussion is requested.
D. Mohler said that based on all comments received, the MPO
should continue to meet virtually through the end of the calendar year. In the
meantime, D. Mohler asked T. Teich to have staff prepare a plan for future
hybrid meetings and to discuss this with the MPO in January.
2. Draft Public Outreach Plan Guidebook
K. White introduced the MPO’s updated POP, which is the strategy document to engage the public in the regional transportation planning process. MPOs are required to create public participation plans that provide structure to public engagement. The program strives to ensure that all members of the public are given the opportunity to participate, including people that have been historically excluded by the transportation system and have lacked access to the decision-making process. The POP covers all outreach activities from MPO meetings to in-person and online forums, digital communications, and pop-up outreach events.
As part of the 2019 Federal Certification Review, the MPO committed to updating its previous Public Participation Plan. As part of this update, staff wanted the new plan to reflect what was designed in virtual opportunities through MPO meetings, online forums, and outreach activities. The draft plan also describes the quantitative and qualitative ways to measure the effectiveness of public outreach. Starting in FFY 2022, MPO staff will produce a memorandum at the end of each FFY that will describe items like the number of people reached, comments in evaluation surveys, and demographic information of people reached in online surveys and outreach events.
The new plan is paired with a POP Guidebook, which provides information on how to engage in MPO activities. The guidebook gives an overview of MPOs, the purpose, how to engage with an MPO, the MPO’s functions and outreach principles, and a snapshot of the MPO’s history. Just like all other MPO outreach materials, this guidebook is available in the seven most spoken languages in the region: English, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, and Vietnamese.
MPO staff is also developing an outreach event to provide
the space to ask questions, provide feedback, and learn how to engage and
connect with staff. Details about this event are in development and will be
broadcasted on our email list and
social media in the coming weeks. Upon the MPO’s vote to release the draft
document today, there will be a 45-day public review and comment period.
Comments may be provided by emailing publicinfo@ctps.org or through the MPO’s feedback
form.
D. Amstutz commented that the guidebook is visually appealing,
however the “Ways to Be Involved” section could be flushed out to explain how
staff works with member municipalities. D. Amstutz also suggested mentioning
that there is a
public engagement process that leads to the furthering of project
implementation. D. Amstutz also suggested adding a “give us a call”
option to the POP, encouraging member municipalities to reach out to staff.
L. Diggins commented that he is looking forward to reading the year-end report on outreach and commented on the visual appeal of the circular chart on page 27. L. Diggins also requested that staff bring the Long-Range Transportation Plan public engagement process to the Advisory Council before bringing it to the MPO. Finally, L. Diggins asked for the rationale for the order of the sequence of items on page five of the guidebook and expressed appreciation for the staff’s work.
Ken Miller pointed out a correction on page 11 regarding ex-officio
members, Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA). K. Miller also pointed out that an overreliance on
surveys is not always great for eliciting detailed information and may lead
to bias. He suggested that when asking for demographic information, staff
should add questions on how people travel to allow staff to be aware of who is
responding to surveys and if their preferred mode of travel might be influencing
their survey responses. K. Miller complimented the MPO’s strategy of outreach
to organizations and recommended including other, nontraditional organizations,
such as chambers of commerce and businesses. K. Miller also asked about
the relationship of the POP to Title VI information and the complaint process.
Staff agreed with this and would make sure that the connection is clear.
A motion to release the POP for a 45-day comment period was made by MAPC (E. Bourassa) and seconded by the Advisory Council (L. Diggins). The motion carried.
E. Bourassa noted that there are
four MPO seats up for election this year, as follows:
·
One city, currently held by the City of Newton
·
One town, currently held by the Town of Arlington
·
One municipality from the Three Rivers
Interlocal Council subregion, currently held by the Town of Norwood
·
One municipality from the North Suburban
Planning Council subregion, currently held by the City of Woburn
A motion to adjourn was made by MAPC (E.
Bourassa) and seconded by the MBTA Advisory Board (B. Kane). The motion
carried.
|
Members |
Representatives
and
Alternates |
|
At-Large City (City of Everett) |
Jay Monty |
|
At-Large City (City of Newton) |
|
|
At-Large Town (Town of Arlington) |
Daniel Amstutz |
|
At-Large Town (Town of Brookline) |
Heather Hamilton |
|
City of Boston (Boston Planning &
Development Agency) |
Jim Fitzgerald |
|
City of Boston (Boston Transportation
Department) |
Bill Conroy |
|
Federal Highway Administration |
Ken Miller |
|
Federal Transit Administration |
Leah Sirmin |
|
Tom Bent |
|
|
Massachusetts Department of Transportation |
David Mohler John Bechard |
|
MassDOT Highway Division |
John Romano |
|
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
(MBTA) |
Jillian Linnell |
|
Massachusetts Port Authority |
|
|
MBTA Advisory Board |
Brian Kane |
|
Metropolitan Area Planning Council |
Eric Bourassa |
|
MetroWest Regional Collaborative (City of
Framingham) |
Thatcher Kezer III |
|
Minuteman Advisory Group on Interlocal
Coordination (Town of Acton) |
Austin Cyganiewicz |
|
North Shore Task Force (City of Beverly) |
Darlene Wynne |
|
Tina Cassidy |
|
|
Regional Transportation Advisory Council |
Lenard Diggins |
|
South Shore Coalition (Town of Rockland) |
Jennifer Constable |
|
South West Advisory Planning Committee
(Town of Medway) |
|
|
Three Rivers Interlocal Council (TRIC)
(Town of Norwood/Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce) |
Tom O’Rourke |
|
Other
Attendees |
Affiliation |
|
Aleida Leza |
Belmont resident |
|
JR Frey |
Town of Hingham |
|
Amira Patterson |
MBTA Advisory Board |
|
Benjamin N.W. Muller |
MassDOT |
|
City of
Framingham |
|
|
C Senior |
MassDOT |
|
Judy Shanley |
Easter Seals |
|
Derek Krevat |
MassDOT |
|
Derek Shooster |
MassDOT |
|
Gus Norrbom |
MassDOT |
|
Josh Klingenstein |
MBTA |
|
Jon Seward |
|
|
Joy Glynn |
MetroWest Regional Transit Authority |
|
Sheila Page |
Town of Lexington |
|
Mike Garrity |
MassDOT |
|
Michaela Boneva |
|
|
Michelle Ho |
MassDOT |
|
Michael O’Keefe |
|
|
Steven Olanoff |
TRIC Alternate |
|
Jeremy Thompson |
495/MetroWest Partnership |
|
|
|
|
MPO
Staff/Central Transportation Planning Staff |
|
Tegin Teich, Executive Director |
|
Mark Abbott |
|
Jonathan Church Annette Demchur |
|
Matt Genova |
|
Betsy Harvey |
|
Sandy Johnston |
|
Marty Milkovits |
|
Rebecca Morgan |
|
Ariel Patterson |
|
Gina Perille |
|
Michelle Scott |
|
Gina Weaver |
|
Kate White |
|
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning
Organization (MPO) operates its programs, services, and activities in
compliance with federal nondiscrimination laws including Title VI of the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI), the Civil Rights Restoration Act of
1987, and related statutes and regulations. Title VI prohibits discrimination
in federally assisted programs and requires that no person in the United
States of America shall, on the grounds of race, color, or national origin
(including limited English proficiency), be excluded from participation in,
denied the benefits of, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination under any
program or activity that receives federal assistance. Related federal
nondiscrimination laws administered by the Federal Highway Administration,
Federal Transit Administration, or both, prohibit discrimination on the basis
of age, sex, and disability. The Boston Region MPO considers these protected
populations in its Title VI Programs, consistent with federal interpretation
and administration. In addition, the Boston Region MPO provides meaningful
access to its programs, services, and activities to individuals with limited
English proficiency, in compliance with U.S. Department of Transportation
policy and guidance on federal Executive Order 13166. The Boston Region MPO also complies with the
Massachusetts Public Accommodation Law, M.G.L. c 272 sections 92a, 98, 98a,
which prohibits making any distinction, discrimination, or restriction in
admission to, or treatment in a place of public accommodation based on race, color,
religious creed, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, disability, or
ancestry. Likewise, the Boston Region MPO complies with the Governor's
Executive Order 526, section 4, which requires that all programs, activities,
and services provided, performed, licensed, chartered, funded, regulated, or
contracted for by the state shall be conducted without unlawful
discrimination based on race, color, age, gender, ethnicity, sexual
orientation, gender identity or expression, religion, creed, ancestry, national
origin, disability, veteran's status (including Vietnam-era veterans), or
background. A complaint form and additional information
can be obtained by contacting the MPO or at http://www.bostonmpo.org/mpo_non_discrimination. To request this
information in a different language or in an accessible format, please
contact Title VI Specialist By Telephone: For people with hearing or speaking difficulties,
connect through the state MassRelay service: ·
Relay Using
TTY or Hearing Carry-over:
800.439.2370 ·
Relay Using
Voice Carry-over: 866.887.6619 ·
Relay Using
Text to Speech: 866.645.9870 For more information, including numbers for Spanish
speakers, visit https://www.mass.gov/massrelay |