ALC-Highway Commission Review and Advisory Subcommittee

Staff members here with me today. I'm Laurie tutor the Director of the Arkansas department of transportation and I have several staff members were here with me today in case shall have questions that I can't answer we maybe can answer questions today also have two of our highway commissioners here with this I have Alex farmer from Jonesborough he's our chairman elected Highway Commission you'll start his role as chairman on January first I'm looking forward to working with him in that role and then we have commissioner Marie holder here from Little Rock so both of them are here today I'm glad to hear. Okay so we'll get started in the first item on your agenda is the quarterly plan conveyances report. Now this is a report that it's normally not on your in your agenda item when we've met before this is the first time it showed at an in nineteen ninety seven Arkansas Code began requiring that all state agencies provide Legislative Council a quarterly report if Lynn could face conveyance since conveyances. In for our dot those are the sale of surplus property that the district engineer has determined will not be needed in the future for highway purposes. So since nineteen ninety seven we've been providing these quarterly reports to ALC but today will be presenting that report here in this community subcommittee so I guess they're in your handout you'll see the cover page which is an inter office memorandum in their two tracks the first one was sold to Allen and Lee in Brainerd. And just for a little bit of information that was a sale of property for what used to be the Henderson fairy property and it was sold to the brainers for hundred sixty five thousand dollars and then the second track was a ruminant from the Manila bypass project it was sold to Sammons property investments for three hundred thousand dollars so I'll stop there and see if there's any questions from the members. Any questions Senator rash of. Record just for reference or use for use the same firm further assessment or evaluation or how do you do that all staters it regional or how do you how do you do this we that we get a licensed appraisers it can either be willing to do the appraisal or the the person that wants to buy the property will go out and get an appraisal of that property. but it's very there's different ones across state yes a different errors thank you for. Any other members have questions. Seeing none we consider that reviewed and move on to. Adam C.. Review of annual expenditure of revenues as required by. Back to the twenty six sixty four one oh four B.. The redhead okay so Make thank you. So X. four sixteen of twenty nineteen was enacted to provide additional revenue for system preservation which includes pavements and bridges. And as you can see on the screen and at four sixteen the revenue generated for this these improvements came from a motor fuel tax of about this it got that three cents per gallon on gas six cents per gallon on diesel it generates about fifty eight million dollars annually and then we have electric and hybrid vehicle registration fees from this act electric vehicles pay a two hundred dollar annual registration fee plug in hybrids pay a hundred dollar annual registration fee and gasoline non plug in hybrids pay fifty dollars annually for a registration fee. These registration fees generate about two million dollars a year. And then we get a casino revenue up to thirty five AM well we get we're guaranteed thirty five million dollars a year in casino revenues. Like I said it generates about ninety five million dollars a year and with that in that legislation it required that we report to the legislature the projects that we. Funded with that with that revenue and that's what's in your for sixteen report so if you want to look through there and you have any questions there's a map there's a list and there's a map and it shows the projects were done this last year using that funding. Questions from the members will give me a minute to look over it. Projects are on page seven round. Yes well well the listed price. In my Report it starts on page three. The map most of us are looking at the map you're looking at the man. Senator Pitsch. Thank you Mr. Mon. I think so thank you Mr chairman I know not a committee member of this. Was the announcmenet this might be for staff for for Laurie or or are not staff it seemed to me when we pass that we were expecting a hundred million to come out of those three things as US sound right this is so this looks fairly close but I would think with the price of gas we might seated the hundred million expectations I guess I'm kinda trying to recollect what we passed in the past and I think that was supposed to be a hundred million two I will remember that part according to my notes it was all it was projected to be ninety five million wasn't with the when asked. I don't know why I thought a hundred just I looked at that and I is that what we projected is what's up there is that what's action that's the that's the projection but the actual senior report shows ninety five million four hundred eleven thousand. For twenty twenty two so was a ninety five projection I was yes some reason I had a hundred million in my mind long as were here that we should be under me well we should be getting more for. Pavement preservation we use it will do it just thinking about the motor fuel tax and others I would think that would. The reflective. Thank you Mr chair when you choose to partially fund one of these projects versus fully fund the project with ACT four sixteen money how's the determination made. it just depends on you know we have a proper you know we. We want to use the ninety five million on eligible projects and some projects maybe go over and above that ninety five a year and will will you know supplement the funding with the federal funding or other state funding so it's hard to get exactly the right the number of projects to match exactly that amount of money so we just we. We use the flexibility we have to just to deliver the program. Senator asked. The. On the electric hybrid registrations under well we passed it with the highway bill would be dead not get changed this last time will it be it did next time is it both of them go to fifty percent or to just wanna go to fifty percent and they change the hybrids plug in hybrids stated a hundred annually. But the gasoline hybrids was reduced to fifty eight. Thank you fifteen fifteen a year so there was a change last in the declining amount unless we have a more usage I mean in that category. It will grow okay thanks. Any other members have questions. Seeing none consider that reviewed will go on to D.. Review of twenty twenty two fourth quarter. And twenty three first quarter report. You're welcome to proceed. Okay so we're we've got you've got to reports about for projects ten million dollars or more and I would ask the two you just if you're going to look at one of those reports go to the twenty twenty three first quarter because that's the most recent report we have the most recent information. And everyone I think is familiar with this report and it's simply all put Road construction projects of ten million dollars or more in it gives the status of the progress. So I'll just stop there and let you have a moment to look through there if you have any questions we guidance from. Student paper shuffling will wait just a minute see if anyone has questions. Representative Bentley. Thank you chairman. Hello Mr Harry thank you get update on the Mayflower project over there on highway eighty nine what are expected completion date is on that. Yes it's in here on page six thank you yes second one from the bottom. Over pressing realignment for highway ninety three be project. There. If you'll flip over to page forty three okay. This is a kind of a dashboard to show you the progress of the project that particular project okay and the your question was your the estimated completion date yeah right now Chris this is this particular report is for the first quarter twenty twenty three so it's three September thirtieth of twenty twenty two. So N. as of that date September twenty twenty two we're estimating mid twenty twenty three for that project to be complete set over there on the left of the you see estimated completion dates it shows what the original and with the current is okay great thank you you're welcome. Seeing no other comments we will consider that reviewed and move on to I think we're on the. that'll be review in September to December twenty twenty two. The user of fission see study recommendations yes we've and you know as we're required to submit to you our progress on implementing the efficiency review it recommendations monthly and I think you should have for reports at from September October November and December. And I just briefly give me some highlights of what we have accomplished in those four months. Under recommendation number three portfolio planning of which said we should publish status of construction projects and maintenance activities we recently selected Garbarino in years of North Little Rock to create a web website platform so that the public can access the information on the progress of construction progress progress. They were a natural selection because if any of you've gone out look that are connecting Arkansas program website it's really well done and they're the ones that did that for us so there is going to expand that into all projects and maintenance activities so the public has a place they can check in on their jobs and and for instance a lot of you whatever you will have it will have it sorted by say aye. Legislative districts you can go into your district and see what jobs are under construction letter count what's coming at the an easy way to keep up with the highway projects in your area. So we're excited we just that selected in the commission approved us to start negotiations with them in our last commission meeting so we'll be doing that and getting that kick off they're excited about that. another. Progress that and more progress we made portfolio planning was implement a platform that tracks all stake holders enquire res to resolution. So we have purchased the gun of Q. a software system and we've met with all of our districts and a lot of our divisions to talk about how to how to implement this into a department wide efforts to bring in all the that questions and ask you know information requests and put them through the software system and whatever the resolution was get that into the software systems so we have this one when enterprise type system right now we're kind of disjointed every division does their own tracking every district as their own tracking there's not one system that looks at it in an enterprise. You know perspective so we're we're looking forward to this it's gonna it's gonna take some effort and probably need to hire a few more employees to be able to manage it but we're going to we're going to get there we're working towards. Recommendation number seven under their expenditures category implement project import. Portfolio management frameworks in as you remember you up you reviewed our maintenance management system contract with Davis transfer solutions LLC that was reviewed by this subcommittee we have sense executed that contract and we are working to get that under way and that is just going to be a to help us to effectively budget plan and execute and track all of our maintenance efforts across the state. And see. And finally the I don't know some of you may be I've talked to some of you but we we are planning to reorganize the department and we're doing so for various reasons but one of the reasons is that we will be more efficient and we are going to be adding additional career ladders and lattices that the efficiency review said that we needed to do so that people felt like they could advance their careers that are not so we've been working on that. We've always worked on that we're in earnest working on it now that we've gotten the green light from the legislature yes you can have these positions and you know career ladder so we're excited about the employees are I've been going around this December to all the districts in talking about our career ladders and how we want are not to be a career not just a job. And for that and that's about all I have as far as high level major things that we've done in the last four months but I'd open it up for any questions. Senator Stubblefield thank you Mr chairman. Who wore the green would bypass highway ten and highway ninety six is this scheduled to be complete and in two thousand twenty three. The agreement by pass south of Fort Smith selfish will. Hold on just a minute. We're taking bets on it next week and is on the yes yes Sir so would you don't have a. I'm not the one that will be complete will and I would suspect it would take two construction seasons so last year we take bids I would suspect around twenty twenty five for to be complete okay. R. R. thanks for joining us on getting odd so I think I answered correctly. Nods from the people that really know. Thank you. Any other questions. Yes Senator Hammer thank you afternoon Lori could you what we're in a public setting would you give us an update on the I. thirty project Ms Lee County just tell us where we are in use the X. expected date and. Of course let's see. I find it here in my. If you'll turn to page. I you this page seventeen. That it is the exhibit need to. Okay it is that in exhibit B. two Page seventeen line exhibit is that what you're. Exhibit the. What what numbers are at. It's in the twenty twenty three first quarter report of projects ten million or more. And service. The two. Here. Thank you. So and if you look at that. It County shows the status of the progress of that project. And right now the current completion date is late twenty twenty three. Do you would you like more details or can. I'm looking at the sheet thank you for the talks for shared in that seat at first but. What kind of what kind of damages are they into reside on here I'm just overlooking it. The and I think they're going to go into liquidated damages in March I read in March of twenty twenty three. Yes that's correct in March two twenty twenty three days they will start having liquidated damages assessed. Day. At a rate of how much today. Seven. I think I'm getting answer quit after I am not going to try to get this I have I have a number in my head but I'm afraid it's not right okay so and maybe you can answer this favor and if you can't that's fine or saying that. They're they're behind. They're gonna be way behind when they get done they're going to look we dated damages and the estimate is and and I'm just looking this what four five months worth liquidated damages is what it's estimated that they would be into my mistreatment. How can you repeat that yes so if if they're not they were originally scheduled for twenty twenty two yes they're not going to get done to late twenty twenty three. So they're gonna going to liquidate damages and March you said that's correct okay so from the point to going to liquidated damages based on the amount that they've drawn so far in the current total amount are they going to exceed. Are they are they going to exceed the total amount of the contract I liquidated damages being assess. I would think so yes. Those are chancer into the bonds going to get forfeited there's a chance that we you know we're working. Okay with okay Okay all right thank you. Any other questions over the seventy seven thousand dollars a day. Seventy seven thousand dollars a day is there liquidated damage amount. Okay thank you. Representative bought if you've got a question on the on our efficiency your review. Can I just ask is that where he was at eighty. Okay thank you. Hello. Thanks for. I can address that if we forfeit their bond and. We will get another contractor to finish the work it'll be expensive for this state but sometimes you have to do that to get the job done. Is there any other questions on the efficiency the recommendations of a seeing none we will move on to section off the proposed legislation regular session. Right so. And. We're required by law to submit our proposed legislative package to a LC by November first of each year. December first anyway we got it in on time and so. What we're planning on this session is we would like to get the authority to pay a housing stipend for interns we hire interns during the summer break each year engineering as well as other. Other crafts. And it's private industry has started as a way of recruiting interns paying a stop in for their living expenses. And we don't do that and we you know we have offices all over this state and this will just help us be a little more competitive in getting interns to come and work for us and and letting them learn more about the Department and hopefully come to work first full time when they graduate from school. So that is what that is about edition of a housing stipend for interns. Increase our business relocation reimbursement amount. Right now we have a cap of twenty five thousand dollars when we have to ask a business to re locate for highway project their relocation expenses are reimbursed up to a cap of twenty five thousand dollars and what their pay is based on actual expenses. But of course as you can imagine things have just gotten more and more expensive and we just like to raise that cap to fifty thousand it'll always be legit you know legitimate expenses but in order to make sure that we can adequately refund these businesses if they have to re locate. Sometimes these businesses are leasing and so they move they don't get any any funding because there's another property owner that gets paid for that property but they have to move anyway and so this is just a way to make sure we cover all their expenses to me to a different location. We like to the. Have it be have the authority to give a tool allowance to R. carpenter positions. We have a grade nine carpenter position that does not get of tool allowance. Well M. R. electricians plumbers electrical plumbing and mechanical repairs all do you have the we have the authority to give them a tool ounce but not a carpenter so we want to include them in that list. We would we want to. Align our Dotson police with the same laws concerning concealed Kerry with other state agencies for some reason we're exempted from that long we'd like to allow our employees have the same privileges the other state agencies have when it comes to concealed carry license. How we have a couple of retirement bills that we like to do one very minor title change for retirement board membership just some clean up language and then we would like to add some technical changes to the code there will be no cost impact but will this be aligning the code with our current practice in it has to do with those that did pass away before retirement age says we have some employees specially during covid that passed. Prior to being retirement age and what do they do with their retirement funding you know what to their beneficiaries and those things just kind of get everything straightened out in the code to match what we're doing for employees no cost impact the. And finally revisions to construction manager general contractor law that we have in place right now we have a pilot program that expires June thirtieth twenty twenty four and we want to change we want to do some legislation to extend that to July thirtieth twenty twenty six to give us two more years in that pilot. we would like to change it from at some of the parameters we're going to go to allowing a total number of three projects annually using this delivery method along with in and of course extending the reach the pilot date two twenty twenty six we've been working closely with the contracting industry are to make sure they're comfortable with whatever changes we're we're asking and so we're going to be at whatever legislation we put out will be we'll have their support we've been working with the agency an APA Arkansas asphalt pavement association Arkansas general contractors. All very all of everyone is very receptive to this change this their support we're excited about moving forward to the next. See how it goes berry and looking forward to adding this to our tool box hopefully indefinitely but for right now to twenty twenty six. And with that I'll stop for any questions. Senator Pitsch. Thank you Mr chairman we had an issue over on our side of the state and I'm not gonna be a legislator annexation and but I think it fits under proposed legislation that has to do with the cost of inflation and your contractor Sam I can build it for that there's no way today's number seven point one percent seven point one percent average inflation and I have a real fear that the time frame it takes to build a road the cost of inflationary inputs to that road I don't know how you can build a plan around inflation and I'm not sure legislation is going to solve that but at some level we can get halfway down the road all these road projects and inflation we don't have some some set aside somewhere to finish a set now I still think you need to come to legislators for approval but there needs to that might be some legislation you will look at is what we do with that because this time I think the vendor in my case they kind of swallowed some of that you guys took some of the and it got done on a very key road we needed mmhm but that's going to happen all over the state with your cost and your vendors or contractors so I think legislation some of you might want to consider a way to somehow in certain spaces get around that inflationary number where your vendors just throwing their hands up and I don't know how you do it we're not every vendor does it but at some level you you're going to have that. You're you're exactly right and we have been working really hard with our contractors and contracting industry we've implemented a lot more indexing we've we've tried to find a way to reduce their risk in this very volatile time with inflation. And we've we've we've gone outside the box a little bit to make sure that we the last thing we want to do is put our contractors under because they have to the. Stick with the price they had no idea that gas prices are going to go up that high you know and so we've we've been working to do what we can within our the bounds of their authority we have so we can look at that further I'd I'd appreciate a meeting to follow Mr in our case it was talked about is going to have to be re build finally get a price that matched what it cost to build that in and of itself causes problems because usually when you build a road jobs get created and when you hear you have to re bid jobs in communities they will all go to community be they're not dealing with whatever so it's a big deal I think a process is probably what legislation needs define this process for inflationary problems that are not encounter so idea per share that yes we're we're looking for solutions for sure. Two questions on the construction manager general contractor has five by twenty twenty four hello how are you all. Okay I have a. What we're proposing proposing is that it changed from a total number of five projects to an annual maximum a cap of three projects so we can do three projects the up to three projects a year. And then over the entity through twenty twenty six and the maximum dollar amount for all projects would be five hundred million and we worked with the industry on these numbers. And no single project can exceed a hundred and fifty million that's a really high cap most of our projects we need to get near that but it just comes under fifty whenever you started or something like that I think it was it's it's changed a little bit it's gone from like one could be a hundred million one and some could be fifty million and then it went to something different like seventy five or hundred mean I don't know that's kinda changed over time we keep tweaking it till it you know to get it to where it needs to be a bit that's what we're proposing this time a hundred and fifty B. the cap for a single project so With those five in mind there is an original that we change the last session. How how how close to complete are you with the five. We have a list C. Fite we've got one could you know the highway ten project. He's getting close to complete it'll be complete in the spring I believe so that highway ten widening riding parent all that in there we've got another one under way at the north west and it's an interchange of there we're working on it looks like it's going to be around eighty it's an eighty million dollar range so we're not getting near what we. I mean we're getting close to the two hundred million but we're not. We're not there but if we don't get this legislation passed we have another one in the works and we may have to just stop it because we won't have the authority to we'll have to stop at two hundred million in we we won't have enough money to do that project so you're running out of money faster than the five projects that's right okay the the concealed carry in your. Departmental facilities can you explain that how you're exempted. You know I've cannot explain why we were exempted but I don't know why I really don't we have to go back and figure out why we were set aside and not. Included for it'll be harder to get somebody to do that. I've already got one volunteer. No we we you know my philosophy is law abiding citizens are going to have a gun if they're not if it's not legal but the bad guys could care less and I know was as the director I know there are a lot of people they don't like me so how we build the yell I'm don't have a concealed I might get one but I'm not right now but own bills a year older ex finds who does have a consent once they were hacks can help me to come in there and you just enough people to me I am well if you don't so. Senator Hammer thank you Mr the. What what is the policy now that if a company forfeiture bond or if they are currently behind on a project for no legitimate reason. Are they able to bid on current work or they able to bid on future work if they've had to forfeit the bond. If they forfeit they're not allowed to work. Is that indefinitely the timers are like a a forgiveness window I don't know how to get back with you on that if they forfeit their bond but the department has the authority through our specifications. To it at our discretion not allow people to bid on projects if we feel they can't deliver so we are very careful of not you know if we feel like it's not the state's best interests to award to a certain contractor because they're so behind on this these other jobs then we have the authorities say you can't bet on Easter okay that that is factored into any contractors that are that are in a situation maybe now that or any situation that if they're behind or they for for the bond it looks like it they're going to be you have the discretion to stop any award yes to that okay yes Sir Harket Okay thank you the measure. In other questions on the Hospital legislation I figured this would be the most questions. The saying none of going to. Adamjee which is a review of at seven eighty nine. Hey Senator Stubblefield was at your. No no I that that's we call that the Lundstrum report okay hello is Robert. See here. What we on the other side of the. All of the. she's gonna have a a line after this. Due under his okay so and the seven eighty nine report. This was from the ACT X. seventy eighty nine from twenty nineteen in its report on information regarding congested routes vehicle crashes expenditures highway system mileage just that this this report has a lot of information in it and but I think let's see I was gonna kind of go over that a little bit with you so. If everyone can find it in their in their packet. on page two and I don't have the exhibit number I'm sorry. Exhibit G. I do have it on my agenda here exhibit G.. On page two you'll see that a table of the ten most congested routes in urban areas. On page four you'll see the ten most congested routes in rule areas. And then pages five through twenty five you'll see the highest number of crashes in each county the five locations with the highest number of crashes by county. And then pages twenty six the forty seven the highest number of fatal crashes. By county. Then there's some other tables expenditure of highway funds per person on page forty nine state highway mileage per congressional district on page fifty an expenditure of highway funds for preservation on fifty one so that's a lot of data a lot of tables but what I'd really like to I'd like to direct you to the appendix because as as the old saying is that a picture says a thousand words. So for instance if you go to appendix D.. Clay County it in honor of an. Our co chair or chair but if. And if you look at that you'll see. The locations and find it it's on page. It's on page eleven. The number one at. Two mile segment these are being two mile segments and the this two mile segment with the highest number of crashes in in Clay County is shown right there and Corning. You see those fourteen crashes. That blue line that you're two mile segment in there were fourteen crashes within that two mile segment so it was number eight your number one. At location in your county. So you the rest of its intuitive you know number two number three and if we had ties we would just add both see you would have you might have more than five but those are your five. Its segments with the highest number of crashes. Then if you look at the red dots those are areas those are the location of fatal crashes. And this is for twenty twenty one these are these these numbers these are this is data from twenty twenty one. So I'll just stop there and see if you have any questions. Senator Rice. Or the. Can you pointed out about went back to try to look good differentiates the of pathology crashes verses the this. The crisis is not about the on the crashes is that define is two vehicles meeting or includes a single vehicle. It can it's it's all of the above its personal injury fatal or property damage that in a police report is made is it has to do with if a police report was entered into the system craps is the only thing that we have the fatal the only thing we have crashes a my at all is actually the fatal crashes. Well we can we have reason Is asking there there's one particular curve that there is repeated over and over his load shifted so I'll always eighteen leaders in turn over I don't know of there have been violent but I don't know in this time period but it's not even showing here is crashes okay Pitsch I'm looking at Scott County on page the sixty three. Thanks. There again This Is Your in fatal crashes which. I don't know okay so what location are you. They're saying there's a location no there's several there's been several crashes that are just north of highway twenty eight where the the first. Right hand. Short term is I see that restaurant where there's there's. All will I tell you what we'll go what is the time period of this map at its twenty twenty one is it under. Twenty twenty one and that may be the changes they may just not a man that year but its history wise it's been before after I think it's been two or three I'm thanking within the last few months but we can run a report at that location of all the money the aide I don't think a talent these have been maybe want to pass up like but okay I just wanna know if crashes were concerned mostly all single vehicle is what those are versus other ones but this defines all crashes what you're saying on the if a police report is issued and it's recorded in the system and that's what this state is based on so it should be yes okay thank you you're welcome. Any other questions. Seeing none any other business to come before the committee. Saying none we are adjourned thank you.