20120935_Meeting Minutes_20090409

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STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
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BEVERLY EAVES PERDUE
GOVERNOR
April 7, 2009
MEMORANDUM TO:
FROM:
File
Kristine A. O'Connor, P.E.
Project Planning Engineer
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EUGENE A. CONTI, JR.
SECRETARY
Project Development and Environmental Analysis Branch
SUBJECT: Merger Discussion Meeting Minutes, Proposed Extension
of SR 1 163 (Old Georgetown Road) from SR 1184 (Ocean
Isle Beach Road) to NC 179, WBS Element 35501.1.1, TIP
Project No. R-3432
A meeting was held on Thursday, March 19 at the Environmental Resource Center
in Raleigh, NC to discuss whether recent changes necessitated the Merger process for this
project. The following people attended the meeting:
Brad Shaver
Stacie Craddock
Steve Sollod
David Wainwright
Mason Herndon
Allen Pope
Jackson Provost
Charles Cox
Kristine O'Connor
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
NC Division of Coastal Management (DCM)
NC Division of Water Quality (DWQ)
NCDOT-Division 3
NCDOT-Division 3 (by phone)
NCDOT-Division 3 (by phone)
NCDOT-PDEA
NCDOT-PDEA
Brenda Moore NCDOT-Roadway Design
• To start the meeting, Kristine O'Connor gave a brief overview of the project and
the reasons for calling the meeting. Originally, there were four alternatives under
consideration and of these, Alternative 2A was chosen as the preferred alternative.
However, due to a potential Environmental Justice issue (i.e., a cluster of homes
owned by low-income minorities that would be forced to relocate if this alternative
was chosen), NCDOT decided to shift the alignment approximately 400 feet north
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of this area. This new alternative, dubbed Alternative 2B, caused the wetland
impacts to increase from 0.18 acre to 0.42 acre. Additionally, once the
recommendations from Congestion Management were received and added to the
proposed design, it was determined that the addition of double left turn lanes at the
intersections of SR 1184 (Ocean Isle Beach Road) and NC 179 with the proposed
extension of SR 1163 (Old Georgetown Road) would also increase wetland
impacts. This would result in a total project wetland impact of almost 1 acre,
which would require NCDOT to apply for an individual 404 permit as opposed to
a Nationwide permit and would probably force the project back into the Merger
process. Consequently, NCDOT shifted the alignment where possible to avoid
wetlands, reduced the double left turn lanes to single left turn lanes, and reduced
the buffer used to calculate wetland impacts from 25 feet to 20 feet. All of these
measures were reviewed and approved by the appropriate groups within NCDOT
and the final verdict was that wetland impacts would be reduced to 0.47 acre.
After consulting with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), NCDOT
determined that it was necessary to meet with the decision agencies on the Merger
team, including USACE, NC Division of Water Quality (DWQ), and the NC
Division of Coastal Management (DCM), to determine whether or not this project
needed to be managed through the Merger process. The other Merger team
members were notified about the meeting and given the opportunity to comment.
• Charles Cox noted that the preferred alternative was chosen in order to avoid the
potential Environmental Justice issue while balancing out the need for left turn
lanes on the project and the minimization of wetland impacts. He also stated that
this project was originally included in the Merger process because of the high
initial wetland impacts associated with the other alternatives.
• David Wainwright asked if any comments had been received from other Merger
team members. Kristine O'Connor responded that U.S. Fish and Wildlife had
stated that they had no comment and that Steve Sollod with DCM has stated that
the project has no CAMA wetlands or Areas of Environmental Concern (AECs).
• Brad Shaver commented that he felt a project like this is what the Nationwide
permit was developed for: a small project with minimal wetland impacts and no
competing issues. He wants to make sure that NCDOT is building what is needed
with this facility in tetras of capacity and that turn lanes aren't being removed just
to meet certain wetland impact thresholds. He stated that NCDOT should build
this facility with the expectation that it will have a reasonable life span and not be
over-capacity as soon as it is built. He also has concerns about constructability.
• David Wainwright commented about the plan to reduce the double left turn lanes
to single left turn lanes and the shortened storage lengths. He asked if traffic
forecast modeling had been done on these reductions through the design year.
NCDOT stated that the modeling for this scenario was performed and that the
capacity of these intersections would be acceptable to the Division in the design
year. He was concerned about future impacts from improvements to the road in
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the years after the project was completed; it was indicated that this shouldn't be an
issue either.
• Brenda Moore noted that even though the wetland impacts have been calculated
with a 20-foot offset, when the right of way is set, only a 10-foot offset is used.
• Charles Cox assured the agencies that NCDOT checked with the Hydraulics Unit
about the slope stake offset and that they felt this would be sufficient for any work
they would need to do. Congestion Management was consulted about the
reduction from double left turn lanes to single left turn lanes and has approved
these changes and made recommendations accordingly. As Allen Pope stated,
NCDOT currently has no plans and no TIP projects on the books to widen SR
1184 (Ocean Isle Beach Road) to four lanes, so adding double turn lanes on the
proposed extension of SR 1163 (Old Georgetown Road) would be superfluous
and problematic at the current point in time. There was a feasibility study being
done at one time to evaluate this proposal, but the funding has fallen through.
• Charles Cox also noted that NCDOT has attempted to minimize impacts to the
Ocean Isle Palms development to the southeast of the intersection of SR 1184
(Ocean Isle Beach Road) and the proposed extension of SR 1163 (Old
Georgetown Road). The proposed alignment was developed with the intention of
minimizing impacts to the residential lots proposed by the owners of this property.
• Steve Sollod was concerned about access to the new facility. Brenda Moore
assured him that the facility would have partial access control, meaning that there
would be one ingress/egress point for each parcel, unless the frontage was beyond
a certain length. Allen Pope noted that the right of way negotiations will include
provisions for allowing at least one access for property owners onto the proposed
extension of SR 1163 (Old Georgetown Road).
• After Kristine O'Connor stated that no additional indirect and cumulative effects
screening needed to be completed for this project, the agencies agreed that a
Nationwide permit would be sufficient for this project and that it would not need
to go back into the Merger process.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact me at [phone], ext. 311 or
at kaoconnor a ncdot.Ro .