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Minutes 02 02 04 Wilmington New Hanover Transportation Agency MINUTES OF THE WILMINGTON NEW HANOVER TRANSPORTATION AGENCY February 02, 2004 MEMBERS PRESENT Ms. Christine McNamee, Chair Mr. Jeff Bellows, Vice Chair Mr. Robert Ronne, Secretary Ms. Laura Padgett Ms. Fannie D. Freeman Mr. William Bryden Mr. Howard Capps Mr. John Stukes Ms. Barbara Kane Ms. Nancy Pritchett MEMBERS ABSENT Ms. Maureen McCarthy STAFF PRESENT Mr. Albert Eby, General Manager, Wave Transit Ms. Deborah Houston, Program Manager, NHTS Ms. Lawless Bean, TDM Coordinator, City of Wilmington GUESTS PRESENT Mr. Kemp Burpeau, Deputy County Attorney, New Hanover County Ms. Dolores Williams, Assistant City Attorney, City of Wilmington Ms. Annette Crumpton, Director, New Hanover County Department of Aging CALL TO ORDER  Chair McNamee called the meeting to order at 12:07 pm. PRESENTATION OF FISCAL YEAR 2004-2005 BUDGET  Board Chair McNamee recognized Mr. William Bryden, Chair of the Budget Committee, and asked him to present the fiscal year 2004-2005 combined WTA/NHTS budget for Board approval.  Ms. Padgett requested clarification on the decrease in revenue in the CTP line item.  Mr. Bryden explained that the 2003-2004 budget included capital items which were reflected in a separate line item.  Ms. Pritchett asked if the increased revenues from FTA and NCDOT were approved and if they reflected guaranteed funding.  Mr. Bryden explained that the figures reflected approved funding levels and asked Mr. Eby to review the source for the figures.  For budgeting purposes, NCDOT funding is based on the previous year allocation, although SMAP allocations are not determined until the North Carolina Legislature passes the state budget.  Mr. Eby further explained that a portion of the operating dollars available to the authority for FY 2003-2004 were reallocated and used as the federal funds used to acquire the two trolleys.  Mr. Eby explained that FTA funding was formula based and the funding level was included in the STIP. Therefore it was guaranteed barring drastic program changes.  Mr. Bellows asked for the reasons behind the large operating expense increases.  Mr. Bryden explained that expanded service offerings were included in the budget request and would be detailed in the presentation prepared for the City Council and County Commissioners.  Ms. McNamee requested whether the budgets should be presented to the City and County finance departments upon approval.  The consensus was that the sooner the budget planners were aware of the requests of the authority, the better the likelihood of their approval.  Mr. Bryden explained that as proposed in the budget, the WTA operator would assume the operation of the Blue Line shuttles with fund transfers between the county and city offsetting the cost of the program.  Mr. Bryden explained how the funding from the NC Moving Ahead initiative was structured and how the funding requests for the city and county for the local match were derived.  Ms. Padgett offered a brief explanation of the NC Moving Ahead history.  Mr. Bellows asked how the Board of Transportation came to the 8.8 million dollar figure for the facility.  Mr. Eby explained that he prepared the funding levels in the TIP for the facility by looking at centrally located land costs, and using the recently constructed Triangle Transit Authority facility in RTP as a benchmark in setting the project budget.  The 8.8 million dollar figure exceeded Mr. Eby’s estimate, and the formula used to determine the exact award amount was unclear.  Mr. Bryden explained that the 10% local match for the facility(s) was budgeted to be split with the City of Wilmington contributing 80% and the County 20%.  Mr. Eby updated the Board on the phone phone system purchase.  The County IT Department was evaluating bids for the hardware necessary to equip the 1110 Castle St. facility.  The phone system for 190 Division Drive and the agency linking were being studied and would be purchased by the County IT Dept. upon approval of the CTP Grant.  Mr. Bellows asked for clarification on the fleet vehicles for the county included in the budget.  Ms. Houston explained that the vehicles were replacement vehicles, and no expansion vehicles were included in the budget.  Ms. McNamee asked for clarification concerning the farebox request.  Ms. Houston explained that electronic fareboxes were requested for the Blue Line vehicles in order to make transfers to Wave buses easier and to allow for accurate data collection on the Blue Line vehicles.  Mr. Bryden mentioned that the operating increase was 27% to the city and 63% to the county for the local match.  A motion to approve the budget as presented was made by Ms. Padgett and seconded by Ms. Pritchett.  Mr. Bellows asked if the Brunswick Connector was included in the proposed budget.  Mr. Bryden explained that funds to cover the operation of the Connector were until October 31, 2004 were included.  Mr. Eby explained that long term funding for the Connector need to be addressed with the governmental entities in Brunswick County, and that a commitment for local dollars would probably need to be forthcoming.  Mr. Bellows expressed the need to track expenses for the Connector.  Mr. Eby agreed to this request.  Mr. Capps asked staff for a resource to coordinate public transportation efforts with developers and elected leaders in Brunswick County.  Ms. Bean explained that she was already involved in this effort and would continue to address Mr. Capp’s requests.  Mr. Bellows commended the Committee on their efforts.  The motion carried unanimously. PRESENATION TO CITY COUNCIL & COUNTY COMMISSIONERS  Ms. McNamee explained that the presentation was an effort to gain support for increased funding from the City Council and County Commissioners.  Ms. McNamee informed the Board that the details of a joint meeting were still being developed but the meeting had been tentatively scheduled for Monday February 16, 2004 in the City Council Chambers.  A meeting time had not been set but it was expected to be about 11:30am.  Mr. Bryden presented the Power Point© presentation soliciting input during his presentation.  Ms. Williams suggested that the presentation list the steps necessary to create the new authority.  She agreed to Ms. McNamee’s request for an outline of accomplishments to date to create the new authority and the future steps needed to accomplish the task.  Ms. Padgett requested additional information on the extended route.  Mr. Eby explained that the new route would continue an existing route from either Independence Blvd. or 17th St. westbound on Shipyard Blvd to Carolina Beach road. The new route was based on customer requests and consultant’s recommendation and would serve Coastal Horizons.  Chair McNamee asked if the Board had additional suggestions for the presentation.  Ms. Pritchett suggested pictures of the different types of vehicles in the fleet be presented.  Mr. Bryden showed photos of the current facilities used by NHTS and WTA and photos of modern facilities for comparison.  The Board agreed that the photos had an impact on the perception of transit and that they should be included in the presentation.  Mr. Ronne suggested that maps of the current routes and the proposed routes be included in presentation to show the Board’s ambitious plans.  Ms. McNamee stated that the presentation would be changed to reflect the suggestions of the Board and would be presented again at the regular meeting of the WNHTA on 12 February 2004.  Staff agreed to prepare copies of the presentation after the changes had been made for the Council and Commissioners.  Ms. Williams asked what specifically the Board would be requesting at the joint meeting and was the Board looking for an answer at the meeting.  It was agreed that the meeting would not be published and would be for informational purposes only. No action from either the Council or the Commissioners would be requested.  Ms. Williams suggested a firm recommendation of the Council and Commissioners be made in order for each Board to take action as soon as feasible.  Ms. Williams suggested that the Interlocal agreements be presented to the Council and Commissioners in March.  Legislative Committee Chair Bellows suggested the matter be discussed at the 12 February 2004 committee meeting.  All agreed that as soon as the agreements were ready from the Year Two Interlocal and Legislative Committee they should be presented.  Hearing no further business the Chair asked for a motion to adjourn.  The motion was made by Mr. Ronne and seconded by Ms. Pritchett. The meeting adjourned at 1:40pm. Respectfully Submitted, Albert Eby Wave General Manager