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Home My WebLink AboutNC 44604_SC P029554 - CBP - Oct192017 ESM - Summary - Final.pdf�A �Yx�. EI�iGINEERS + �pNSULTANTS MEMO To: From: Date: Re: Meeting Attendees Liz Kovasckitz, CALYX Engineers and Consultants November 28, 2017 6750 Tryon Road Cary, NC 27518 P: 919.836.4800 F: 919.851.1918 CALYXengineers.com External Scoping Meeting forthe Proposed Carolina Bays Parkway Extension (SC 31) from SC 9 in Horry County, SC to US 17 Shallotte Bypass in Brunswick County, NC; NCDOT Project 44604; SCDOT Project P029554. An External Scoping Meeting was held for the subject project at 10:00 AM on October 19, 2017 at the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDO� Century Center, Structures Conference Room. The purpose of the meeting was to gather information for use in Carolina Bays Parkway Extension project development. Meeting attendees were provided a handout showing project background information and mapping. Meeting participants are listed below and a summary of the meeting follows. MEETING ATTENDEES Federal Agencies Stephen Brumagin John Policarpo Brad Shaver Cynthia Cooksey Keith Hanson Gary Jordan Ron Lucas USACE — Charleston District USACE — Charleston District USACE — Wilmington District NMFS (by phone) NMFS (by phone) USFWS — Raleigh Field Office FHWA — North Carolina Division State and Local Agencies Cathy Brittingham NCDCM Stephen Lane NCDCM Susan Davis SCDNR (by phone) Renee Gledhill-Earley NC HPO (by phone) Mark Hoeweler GSATS MPO Curtis Joyner SCDHEC (by phone) Allen Serkin Cape Fear COG (by phone) Joanne Steenhuis NCDWR Jason Thompson Horry County RIDE Program (by phone) Travis Wilson NCWRC NCDOT Paul Atkinson Kevin Bowen Karen Collette Mason Herndon Katie Hite Chad Kimes David Leonard Ashley Cox Hardee Cox Jason Dilday NCDOT NCDOT NCDOT NCDOT NCDOT NCDOT NCDOT NCDOT NCDOT NCDOT — Hydraulics Unit — Division 3 — Division 3 (by phone) — Division 3 — Division 3 (by phone) — Division 3 (by phone) — Division 3 (by phone) — Utilities Unit — STI P — Natural Environment Section (EAU) NCDOT continued DaveJohnson Kathy Herring Phil Geary Herman Huang Harrison Marshall Missy Pair Jay Mclnnis John Pilipchuk Nazia Sarder Mark Staley Stephen Yeung SCDOT Chris Beckham Rebecca Breland Stacey Johnson Henry Phillips Leah Quattlebaum Marla Watson Consultants Steve Drum Martha Hodge Liz Kovasckitz Bobby Norburn Randy Williamson Carolina Bays Parkway Extension External Scoping Meeting October 19, 2017 NCDOT— Natural Environment Section (EAU) NCDOT — Natural Environment Section (EAU) NCDOT — Transportation Planning Branch NCDOT— Human Environment Section (Community Studies) NCDOT — Human Environment Section (Community Studies) NCDOT — Human Environment Section (Noise and Air) NCDOT — PDEA NCDOT — Geotechnical Engineering Unit NCDOT — Transportation Planning Branch NCDOT — Roadside Environmental Unit NCDOT — Congestion Management SCDOT (by phone) SCDOT (by phone) SCDOT (by phone) SCDOT (by phone) SCDOT (by phone) SCDOT (by phone) CALYX Engineers and Consultants (by phone) CALYX Engineers and Consultants CALYX Engineers and Consultants CALYX Engineers and Consultants HDR MEETING NOTES Jay Mclnnis opened the meeting and asked attendees to introduce themselves. Liz Kovasckitz followed with a review of the meeting handout and a PowerPoint presentation, which included an overview of the project, the current project schedule and funding, the history and purpose of the project, and a review of the preliminary study area. Following the presentation, Ms. Kovasckitz opened the meeting for questions and comments. The following is a summary of the input received from meeting participants: USFWS — Scoping comments were provided prior to the meeting (North Carolina and South Carolina USFWS offices). Gary Jordan said he did not have any specific comments at this time. Mr. Jordan noted USFWS has a general concern for potential impacts to protected species, including red-cockaded woodpecker. He noted typical surveys will need to be perFormed. USACE (Wilmington District) — Brad Shaver said he did not have any specific project-related comments at this time. He welcomed South Carolina agency representatives to the North Carolina NEPA/404 Merger process and said he would be happy to provide answers to questions or resource materials (slides, webinar, etc.) if needed. Mr. Shaver mentioned Brunswick County has a drainage improvement project underway. He stated the project is partially located within the project study area and suggested it may be beneficial to invite Brunswick County representatives to future meetings. USACE (Charleston District) — John Policarpo said he did not have any specific project-related comments at this time. He asked if there had been any fieldwork conducted to date to locate wetlands, streams, or other natural systems resources. Ms. Kovasckitz responded no specific natural systems-related field investigations have been conducted as of yet. The information shown on the environmental features 2 Caralina Ba�ys � - � Parkw� Extension c�r„�• sw� c�■ Carolina Bays Parkway Extension External Scoping Meeting October 19, 2017 map is based on GIS data and the initial project site visit. She said Merger Team concurrence on the study area boundary will be sought before NCDOT initiates natural resources field studies. FHWA— Ron Lucas noted there is no USDOT action expected on the project. He said he was attending the meeting at the Merger Team's request, and FHWA is available to assist, as needed, as the Merger process moves forward. NC HPO —(Post-meeting note: Renee Gledhill-Earley provided comments via e-mail following the meeting. She indicated Brunswick County has had a comprehensive architectural survey that was completed in 2010, so there may not be much reason for an architectural survey other than along the LEDPA, and/or NCDOT-HES may just be able to do a desktop check to update. Archaeologically, the study area is too large to provide any meaningful comments. NCDOT-HES will be good at determining the need for study in North Carolina once the alternatives are narrowed.] NCDCM — Cathy Brittingham noted she plans to submit written comments following the meeting. Ms. Brittingham questioned if it may be appropriate to include hurricane evacuation and economic development in the purpose and need based on information included in the meeting packet and presentation. She asked if NCWAM/NCSAM would be used to define wetlands in the project area. Ms. Brittingham asked if I-74 should be included in the list of STIP projects in the project vicinity. Ms. Kovasckitz responded only projects programmed in the current STIP are included in the list and I-74 is not in the current STIP. Ms. Brittingham said she thinks the I-74 project should be referenced because it may be close to the project area, even if it is not within the area. Mr. Mclnnis stated not many specific details about the I-74 project are known at this time. Ms. Brittingham asked how the northern project terminus near Shallotte was determined. Ms. Kovasckitz responded the US 17 Shallotte Bypass was chosen as the logical terminus for the northern end of the project so the project will connect to existing controlled access freeway facilities at both ends. Ms. Brittingham noted there are CAMA AECs in the study area, and NCDCM would have jurisdiction if the project will impact any of these areas in North Carolina. NCDCM permits may be required if AECs are impacted. Even if there are no AEC impacts, a federal consistency determination will be required. She added because the project is within CAMA counties, CAMA Land Use Plan reviews will be needed, and the project will have to be determined consistent with the plans before permits can be issued. SCDNR — Susan Davis indicated her main concerns, as reflected in her scoping comments provided prior to the meeting, include impacts to wetlands, the Waccamaw River Heritage Preserve, tributaries to the Waccamaw River, tidal wetlands, and threatened and endangered species. SCDHEC — Curtis Joyner noted he provided scoping comments prior to the meeting. He said although the study area is in the coastal zone, the project itself will likely not be located in the Agency's direct Critical Area permitting authority, which consists of tidal waters. Mr. Joyner noted avoidance and minimization of coastal zone resource impacts is required. He added that similar to North Carolina CAMA counties, a federal consistency determination will be required in Horry County. NCDWR — Joanne Steenhuis provided written scoping comments prior to the meeting. She stated avoidance and minimization of water resource impacts will be required. She added a Section 401 permit is anticipated. The Shallotte River and Lookout Branch are classified as High Quality Waters. GSATS MPO — Mark Hoeweler said he worked on feasibility studies for the proposed project in 1992 and 2005 and noted the GSATS MPO boundary extends into North Carolina. He indicated some of the North Carolina communities in the project area are concerned about the potential location of the project. However, he has also heard from locals in North Carolina that, similar to South Carolina, they are very interested in the project moving forward to improve access. He added the proposed project is the number one priority for the MPO. Caralina Ba�ys��, Parkw� Extension c�r„�• swn c�■ Carolina Bays Parkway Extension External Scoping Meeting October 19, 2017 NCDOT Congestion Management — Stephen Yeung requested Congestion Management be included in the review of the traffic forecast and capacity analysis for the proposed project. NCDOT Human Environment Section (Community Studies) — Harrison Marshall said this is a complex project and he expects there will be a delicate balance between potential impacts to the human and natural environment features in the study area. Mr. Marshall indicated Environmental Justice could be a complicated issue to address for this project and additional input may need to be sought to appropriately address this topic. NCDOT Human Environment Section (Noise and Air) — Missy Pair asked which State's noise impact analysis policy would be followed for the proposed project. Mr. Mclnnis indicated it would be appropriate to follow the more restrictive policy. It was discussed that North Carolina's policy tends to be more liberal with respect to providing noise walls, but consistency in determining where noise walls will be provided for the entire project may be needed. Mr. Mclnnis said the impact analysis needs to be consistent for the entire project, but added each State's individual policy should be followed for determining mitigation. Ms. Pair said this could be a delicate issue and asked if there were any other discipline areas that have difFerent policies between the two States that could lead to issues of concern. It was discussed these questions may be part of a bigger conversation that needs to occur related to project development for a project that crosses state lines. Ms. Pair and Henry Phillips will discuss the approach to the noise impact analysis further. NCDOT Transportation Planning Branch — Nazia Sarder noted the transportation model for Brunswick County is currently being updated. She stated the County's CTP update would start in approximately four to six months, with completion expected in about two years. NCDOT Utilities Unit—Ashley Cox said their main concern is potential impacts to high impact utilities. In addition to those noted above, written scoping comments were provided prior to the External Scoping Meeting by the following entities: Catawba Indian Nation, National Marine Fisheries Service, South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, Brunswick County, Town of Ocean Isle Beach, Town of Carolina Shores, Town of Shallotte, NCDOT GeoEnvironmental Section, NCDOT Public Transportation Division, NCDOT Rail Division, and NCDOT Roadside Environmental Unit. General Discussion Ms. Kovasckitz asked meeting attendees who had not already provided written comments but still wished to do so to submit them as soon as possible. Ms. Kovasckitz asked meeting attendees for their preference for the location of future Merger Team meetings. Meeting attendees indicated future meetings should be held at a midpoint location between Raleigh and Columbia so travel time will be relatively equal and more project team members can attend. Mr. Jordan noted he likes the idea of holding future meetings at a midpoint location. With the Merger Team meeting calendar for 2018 already established, Carolina Bays Parkway Extension meetings may need to be scheduled outside of regular meeting dates to avoid conflicts. This will require additional coordination and setting the meeting dates as far in advance as possible. (Post meeting note: A link to the 2018 Merger Team calendar can be found on the bottom right of the following web page: https://connect.ncdot.�ov/resources/Environmenta I/Pa�es/Mer�er-Process-Guide.aspx.] NEXT STEPS Mr. Mclnnis and Ms. Kovasckitz reviewed upcoming project milestones: Studies related to the development of the project Purpose and Need are underway. The Concurrence Point 1(CP 1) Merger meeting (Purpose and Need and Study Area Defined) is currently anticipated in early 2018. Caralina Ba�ys ,�� Parkw� Extension c�r„�• swn c�■ 4 Carolina Bays Parkway Extension External Scoping Meeting October 19, 2017 ■ The first project newsletter will be distributed after the Merger Team has concurred on CP 1. ■ An Alternatives Screening Merger meeting is expected to be held in late 2018 or early 2019. ■ Public meetings to show preliminary corridor alternatives to the public are expected to be held in early 2019. ■ The Concurrence Point 2 Merger meeting (Detailed Study Alternatives) is expected to be held in mid-2019. CORRECTIONS & OMISSIONS: This summary is the writer's interpretation of the events, discussions, and transactions that took place during the meeting. If there are any additions and/or corrections, please inform Ms. Kim Gillespie (klaillespie@ncdot.aov) or Ms. Liz Kovasckitz (IkovasckitzC�calyxen�ineers.com) in writing within 14 days. LK/bn cc: File 2016080.00 Kim Gillespie, NCDOT PDEA 5 Caralina Ba�ys�� Parkway Extension rw�e� orar„� • sam c�nr�r