Minutes 02 08 07
Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority MINUTES OF THE CAPE FEAR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY February 8, 2007 Mr. Jeff Bellows, Chair, Presiding MEMBERS PRESENT Mr. Jeff Bellows,
Chair Mr. Robert Ronne, Vice-Chairman Ms. Fannie Freeman, Secretary Mr. Andrew Koeppel Mr. Howard Loving Ms. Aileen Mair Ms. Christine McNamee Ms. Laura Padgett Ms. Nancy Pritchett STAFF
PRESENT Mr. Albert Eby, Director Mr. Arlanda Rouse, Assistant Director Mrs. Kathy Williams, Administrative Assistant Mr. Matthew Kunic, Planner CONTRACT MANAGEMENT STAFF PRESENT Mr.
Corey Johnson, General Manager, First Transit Mr. Lamont Jackson, Assistant General Manager, First Transit Mr. Andrew Olsen, Attorney GUESTS PRESENT Mr. Mike Kozlosky, Transportation
Planner, Wilmington Urban Area MPO Mr. Joshuah Mello, Associate Transportation Planner, Wilmington Urban Area MPO Ms. Lawless Bean, Transportation Demand Management Coordinator, City
of Wilmington Mr. Pat Gannon, Wilmington Star News Mr. Don Britt, Attorney Mr. Wayne Lofton, Community Community Boys and Girls Club, Executive Director Ms. Raven Bruno, Community Boys
and Girls Club, Assistant Mr. Bill Ouzer, Citizen Ms. Antionett Smith, Citizen CALL TO ORDER Chairman Bellows called the meeting to order at 12:15 pm Mr. Bellows opened the meeting
with a moment of silence APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the January 11, 2007 regular meeting of the Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority was made by
Ms. Freeman The motion was seconded by Ms. McNamee and carried unanimously PUBLIC COMMENT
Chairman Bellows opened the public comment period Ms. Antoinette Smith expressed concern about a bus stop that was moved on Greenfield St. Ms. Smith stated that by moving the bus
stop, many sick and elderly individuals within her neighborhood have been inconvenienced She stated that it has become difficult to use the bus due to the fact that the closest bus
stop is now on 13th and Greenfield Street Mr. Eby stated that the bus stop was moved around the corner on a pilot basis due to safety concerns regarding loitering and vagrancy Mr.
Eby also stated that the route committee will look into the bus stop issue and see if it could be returned to its original position PRESENTATION BY COMMUNITY BOYS & GIRLS CLUB Chairman
Bellows recognized Mr. Wayne Lofton, Community Boys and Girls Club, Executive Director to give a brief summary of his proposal for free or reduced bus fare for an after school program
Mr. Lofton stated that the goal of the program was allow some of the club’s members to catch the bus from school to the club then from the club home Mr. Koeppel asked Mr. Lofton
to present the board with the number of youth within the program that would be eligible to ride the bus Mr. Koeppel then asked Mr. Lofton to present the board with the different school
locations and areas in which the children live Chairman Bellows directed staff to present an analysis of the transportation proposal by the next meeting The Chairman closed the public
comment period EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Mr. Bellows stated that the committee had no report ROUTE COMMITTEE Mr. Bellows recognized Mr. Koeppel to give the report for the route committee
Mr. Koeppel stated the next route committee meeting will be held on February 27, 2007 Mr. Koeppel presented restructure route for the Downtown Trolley to become effective with the
opening of the new PPD headquarters Mr. Bellows opened a public hearing for the Downtown Trolley route modification and extension Mr. Don Britt commented, and stated that he commended
the proposed trolley route modification as amended to include the Chandler Wharf area of downtown Mr. Eby then read into the record two letters that the Authority received from citizens
regarding the route modification After presenting the letters, Mr. Eby stated that the trolley was routed away from Water Street due to delivery trucks impeding the route along the
narrow stretches Mr. Mello gave an overview of the new trolley route and some possible future changes Mr. Eby stated that the new route, along with the additional trolley, should
start soon as PPD begins to move in employees Hearing no further public comment, Mr. Bellows closed the public hearing The route committee presented the motion to accept the Downtown
Trolley route modification and extension to become effective with the opening of the PPD headquarters The motion carried unanimously MARKETING COMMITTEE Mr. Bellows recognized Mr.
Ronne to give the Marketing Committee report Mr. Ronne presented an eighteen month marketing plan developed by TalkPR
Mr. Ronne explained that the eighteen month plan was divided into three phases, with the first phase costing $50k and the second and third phases costing a total of $100k Mr. Ronne
then explained that because of some unresolved funding issues facing the Authority, the committee wished to table any action until such time that staff could resolve the revenue issues
Mr. Eby stated that he and Mr. Kincaid would continue to work to resolve the funding issues Mr. Ronne said that he had asked Mr. Kunic to survey other transit authorities around
the state, in order to see how they handle marketing He stated that the survey found that most systems have in-house marketing personnel He then recognized Mr. Kunic to give the
results of his survey Mr. Kunic stated that since most systems have an in-house marketing person, it may be beneficial for Wave to do some marketing projects in-house Mr. Loving
suggested that using a professional marketing firm will enhance the goal to build new ridership and that the $3,000 per month retainer for Talk PR should be considered Mr. Bellows
suggested that the marketing committee meet again to see which marketing items could be accomplished in-house and report to the board in March FINANCE COMMITTEE In the absence of the
Finance Committee Chair and the Finance Director, Mr. Bellows presented the committee report Ms. McNamee stated that the issue of overtime needed to be addressed She suggested that
an incentive be created for the contractor in order to control overtime Mr. Eby stated that at the request of staff, First Transit had temporarily placed an employee at Wave Transit
who was working with contract management to help them develop procedures to control costs Mr. Eby further stated that at the request of staff, First Transit would review all of its
policies and the procedures for following these policies to make sure that they were compliant with their own policies and the policies of the Authority He stated that the staff will
continue to work with the the contractor to ensure that costs are kept under control while maintaining compliance with policies and procedures FACILITIES COMMITTEE Chairman Bellows
recognized Ms. McNamee to present the facilities report Ms. McNamee stated that there was no closing on the Corning property in January She stated that the attorneys are still negotiating
the closing documents and that the appraisal was complete and has been sent to state for review Ms. McNamee stated that the Authority should close on the property for the operations
and maintenance center located on Division Drive in March Mr. Bellows then commended the work of Mr. Lanny Wilson and Mayor Bill Saffo for their efforts in helping the Authority obtain
the Division Drive property STAFF REPORT Chairman Bellows recognized Mr. Eby to present the staff report Mr. Eby stated the first item for approval was a contract with NCDOT for
Phase II of the Automatic Vehicle Locator (AVL) project Mr. Eby stated that Phase I resulted in 21 AVL units installed installed Authority vehicles Mr. Eby stated that the contract
with DOT is to provide 90% of funding to install the AVL system on the remaining shuttle vehicles which serve the university Ms. Padgett made a motion to approve the AVL contract
The motion was seconded by Ms. Pritchett and carried unanimously Mr. Eby’s next item for approval was a contract with NCDOT for capital assistance in the amount of $1.25 million
The contract would provide funding for ten percent of the cost of expansion vehicles up to $125,000 Eighty percent of the funding had been previously approved by FTA Ms. Padgett
made a motion to enter into contact for capital assistance with NCDOT The motion was seconded by Ms. McNamee and carried unanimously Mr. Eby presented contract for approval with
the Cape Fear Council of Governments for the Columbus Connector project Ms. Padgett and Ms. Pritchett recused themselves from the vote to approve the Cape Fear Council of Governments
for the Columbus Connector project due to their involvement with the COG Mr. Eby stated that funding for the first six months of the Columbus Connector was funded by the North Carolina
Department of Commerce through a work force development grant He stated that the second six months was funded by Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) grant with the North Carolina Department
of Transportation Mr. Eby stated that without solicitation, the department of Commerce asked asked to fund an additional six months from January 1, 2007 until June 30, 2007 to continue
the program Ms. McNamee made a motion to approve a contract with the Cape Fear Council of Governments for the Columbus Connector project The motion was seconded by Mr. Koeppel and
carried unanimously Mr. Eby’s final item for approval was the State FY 2008 Community Transportation Program (CTP) grant 5333(b) warranty Mr. Eby asked that the board authorize the
chairman to sign the 5333 (b) warranty document on behalf of the Authority Mr. Eby stated that this document will ensure that if the contractor is found guilty of any labor violations
that the Authority would assume the responsibility for any back pay associated with the violation Mr. Koeppel made a motion to approve the FY 2007-08 CTP 5333(b) warranty The motion
was seconded by Ms. Padgett and carried unanimously OTHER AGENCIES Ms. Bean updated the Authority on her projects and will keep the board posted on the progress OTHER BUSINESS Mr.
Kunic Kunic asked the Board to be prepared to retake photos during the March 8, 2007 meeting SCHEDULING OF NEXT MEETING Hearing no further business, Mr. Koeppel made a motion to adjourn
the meeting Ms. Pritchett seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting The motion carried unanimously The Wave Transit Authority’s next board meeting is scheduled for March 8, 2007
at 12:00 pm in the Wave Transit Board Room Respectfully Submitted, Albert Eby Director /kw