LPA Advisory Group

Meeting Summary

October 27, 2011

Attendees Present:

George Binger, Lees Summit
Bill Graves, Warrensburg
Dennis Randolph, Grandview
Paschal Smith, Raymore
James Bently, MoDOT
Jackie White, MoDOT
Kenny Voss, MoDOT / Steve Rhodes, Patti Banks Associates
Linda Rottinghaus, Affinis
Jeff Sell, Blue Springs
Mario Vasquez, Kansas City
Lee Ann Kell, MoDOT
Rich Shipley, MoDOT
Kristy Hill-Wegner, MoDOT
  1. Welcome/Introductions

Jackie White welcomed attendees and opened the meeting with introductions.

  1. MoDOT Update

A one page document was distributed to the group that described the Statewide Vision Team recommendations. Additionally, Kenny Voss of MoDOT gave the group a presentation to update the group on the status of the Statewide Vision Team recommendations and advised of MoDOT Management/FHWA Division approval of the recommendations given on October 6, 2011. The five focus areas identified by the team and included in the recommendations are Develop a FHWA/MoDOT certification program; Develop a Training Program; Improve LPA manual; Develop a program and project management tool; and Develop a continuous improvement team. The five focus areas are expected to be implemented by March 2012. A copy of the one page document “Local Public Agency Strategic Vision Team Recommendations” is attached.

  1. KC Communication Plan Update

Kristy Hill-Wegner provided an update to the KC district communication plan. A focus group met at the MoDOT KC district office on Sept. 29, 2011 with the purpose of brainstorming to improve the district website.

The group created a list of items to find on the Kansas City District Website and in reviewing the website to find these items, the group noted the following:

  • Navigation on the KC page is confusing as the top of the page doesn’t change to show you what page you are on.
  • Search function works poorly on the website at a state and district level.
  • Information in the LPA Manual varies from information in other sections of the EPG slightly. For example under ROW in the EPG, public hearing information is more detailed than that in the LPA section for public hearings. Links do not always go to the same place (e.g. federal rates)
  • FAQs are missing
  • Liked MARC’s database on LPA projects and suggested linking to it for public descriptions of the LPA projects.
  • Liked the LPA Flow Charts in the EPG and suggested using them as a primary tool on the website.
  • In 30 minutes no one found all the items on the list. The most found was four items. The least found was one item –the site itself.
  • In the process, the participants found lots of information that was useful and they liked, but not what they were looking for.
  • Often they felt items were not clearly marked and that made them feel as if they were not in the right section. For example on the home page Local Project Administration is the link to the KC site and they thought that would be the LPA manual.

Based on these findings the group recommended the following changes to the website:

  • A new design that uses the flow charts as a primary navigation tool. The flow charts should link to more information on those topics in the EPG or to the website.
  • The pages should have a more differentiated design to make it easier to tell where you are.
  • All content on the local website should have links to the EPG for details.
  • There should be a section of the LPA Website that lists basic information on LPA projects for the public to use –perhaps that can be a link to the MARC pages.
  • The spreadsheet is a great tool for the LPA partners; it needs to be a more user friendly format online.
  • We need to include a list of FAQ, forms, and links for each major section of the LPA process.
  1. Roles and Responsibilities

An final draft of the “Roles and Responsibilities” document was distributed to the group and approval for the document was given by the group with a few corrections. The group decided to implement the word MoDOT in place of State Transportation Agency (STA) when appropriate or when specific CFR code was not referenced. The recommended changes were incorporated and will be posted on the KC district LPA website.

  1. Project Management Tools

An email was sent by Jackie White on 10/24/11 that contained a draft version of a “Project Management Guidance Manual for LPAs”. Jackie requested that the local agencies review that document and provide comments before the next advisory group meeting. This manual utilized the City of Lee's Summit Project Procedures Manual as a template to create a generic transportation improvement project manual with the purpose of being an internal process guide for use by any LPA through the programming, design, and construction of a typical transportation improvement project.

  1. Miscellaneous Group Concerns

In order to assist with the development of the Statewide LPA Tracker Lee Ann asked the local agency representation in the group what they considered “On Time and On Budget” to mean? The response was varied and it didn’t seem that there was a cohesive answer from the group on this. Kenny Voss indicated that the reason for the increased emphasis to the “on-time” measure was due to the $150 million statewide unobligated balance.

  1. Action Items

Item / Who / When
Review Draft LPA Project Management Guidance Manual / LPA Advisory Group / As needed
Update Draft LPA Project Management Guidance Manual / Jackie White / Upon Receipt of Comments
Develop a draft of additional project management Tools / Jackie White / Before 12/8/11 Meeting
Update Roles and Responsibilities and post on KC district website / Jackie White and Kristy Hill-Wegner / Before 12/8/11 Meeting
  1. Next Meeting

The next meeting is December 8, 1:30-3:30 at MoDOT’sKC district office.