Minutes of the Facilities Planning Committee
for February 27, 2003

Attendees: Bill Streeter, Chair; Walter Feldt, Marwan Wafa, Eugene Goodman, Steve McLaughlin, Dick Oldenburg, and Don Cress. Rebecca Martin, Richard Lott, Tom Peischl, and Tim Fossum were excused.

Dick Oldenburg, Campus Planner, presented summary handouts for the Campus Physical Development Plan, Parkside Union-Small Projects, and Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Corridor Transit Study.

Physical Development Plan - Status Report

The Campus Physical Development Plan has been finalized according to Jim Albers and Tom Bittner. UW-P hasn't received the final report yet.

Chancellor Keating is scheduled to give a 20-minute presentation in Madison next Thursday (March 7) before the Facilities Development Subcommittee of the Board of Regents. Albers and Bittner suggested an outline and topics to be covered during the presentation.

Albers and Bittner are tentatively scheduled to visit UW-P next Wednesday, March 5, to formally present the Plan to Facilities and Planning and to turn over all research and work product related to the project. It will now be the responsibility of UW-Parkside to adopt and implement the Plan.

The Physical Development Plan planning process has gone on for more than four years. The most recent campus data in the Plan is from Fall Semester 2001. After the Plan is delivered, Campus Planning will seek to verify information and conclusions contained in the Plan and will amend the Plan based on current conditions, proposed facilities projects and any actual or proposed changes in academic programs or policies.

The Facilities Planning Committee is the body charged with oversight of this process.

Parkside Union - Small Projects

Parkside Union requested assistance from Facilities to help identify and develop scopes of work for "small" projects that could be designed and managed by the Union and Facilities. Because of the type and estimated costs of the projects, there would be, for the most part, no management or oversight requirements from UW System or the Dept. of Facilities Development.

A major criterion for identifying and selecting projects for further investigation was possible conflict with the proposed Union Expansion Project in terms of physical location and in terms of cost-benefit.

Of the 13 projects initially selected, seven have been authorized for additional work:

1. Fire Pump Test Piping
2. Stairwell Lighting Improvements
3. Union Bridge - Expansion Joint Replacement
4. Restroom Upgrades (L1 level)
5. Feasibility of Food Service Improvements - The Den
6. North Entrance Doors - Inspection and Repair
7. Building Envelope - Exterior Inspection

Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Corridor Transit Study

The Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission (SEWRPC) has been coordinating the Kenosha-Racine-Milwaukee Corridor Transit Study since 2000. The study was requested by the three counties and by cities within the counties. The purpose of the study is "to examine ways of providing more and better transportation options and enhance levels of mobility for residents of the corridor through improved transit service, and to determine whether commuter rail of commuter bus alternatives should be implemented." Since then, ten (10) technical reports have been promulgated that discuss various aspects of the study. The last report, issued in December 2002, gave a technical evaluation of the several alternatives that were developed.

A Transit Study Advisory Committee was assembled to oversee the planning process, to discuss the issues and to make final recommendations regarding the study. The committee is comprised of elected and appointed officials and representatives of private industry, non-profit organizations, economic development organizations and companies directly affected by the study. In January 2003, the Advisory Committee made a preliminary recommendation to adopt the "Medium Level Commuter Rail Service" alternative. This proposal would extend the Metra rail system from Kenosha to downtown Milwaukee and offer seven (7) daily round trip trains between the two cities with stops in Somers, Racine, Caledonia, Cudahy, and Milwaukee.

The proposed Somers station is to be located along Highway "E" just west of Sheridan Road, slightly more than one mile from the Parkside campus. On February 10, 2003, Chancellor Keating sat on a panel at Gateway Technical College, Racine, and again expressed support for extension of commuter rail service.

Information sessions and Public Hearings have been scheduled for later this spring to receive input from the public and interested organizations. The hearings and locations are as follows:

Kenosha - Wednesday, April 23; Milwaukee - Thursday, April 24; Racine - Wednesday, April 30; and Cudahy - Thursday, May 1

More information about the study, including an updated newsletter (to be published shortly) can be found on the SEWRPC web site: www.sewrpc.org

The next FPC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 9, at 3 p.m., in Wyllie 337.