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Wilmington New Hanover Transportation Agency MINUTES OF THE WILMINGTON NEW HANOVER TRANSPORTATION AGENCY February 12, 2004 MEMBERS PRESENT Ms. Christine McNamee, Chair Mr. Jeff Bellows,
Vice Chair Mr. Robert Ronne, Secretary Ms. Laura Padgett Ms. Fannie D. Freeman Ms. Maureen McCarthy Ms. Nancy Pritchett Mr. Howard Capps Mr. John Stukes MEMBERS ABSENT Ms. Barbara Kane
Mr. William Bryden STAFF PRESENT Mr. Albert Eby, General Manager, Wave Transit Ms. Deborah Houston, Program Manager, NHTS Mr. Jonathan David, Associate Transportation Planner, City of
Wilmington Ms. Lawless Bean, TDM Coordinator, City of Wilmington Mr. Lamont Jackson, Assistant General Manager, Wave Transit 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 Ms. Patricia Melvin, Assistant
County Manager, New Hanover County Mr. Corey Johnson, Vanpool Program Manager, Two Plus Inc. Ms. Kris Frasure, Citizen Mr. Gary Miller, President, CCL Management Inc. Mr. Jeff Crouchley,
Transportation Planner, NCDOT Ms. Kaye Graybeal, Planning Manager, City of Wilmington CALL TO ORDER Chair McNamee called the meeting to order at 12:12 pm. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion
to approve the minutes of the January 08, 2004 regular meeting and the February 02, 2004 special meeting of the Board was made by Mr. Capps. The motion was seconded by Ms. McCarthy and
carried unanimously.
CITY OF WILMINGTON FUTURE LAND USE PLAN Ms. Kaye Graybeal, Planning Manager for the City of Wilmington, presented the future land use plan for the city and how the plan related to
public transportation. Following the presentation, Ms. Graybeal addressed questions from the Board and staff. REPORT FROM THE TRANSIT DIRECTOR SEARCH COMMITTEE Committee Chair Ronne
announced that the committee represented by Board members Mr. Bellows, Ms. Padgett and Ms. Pritchett recommended to the full Board the hiring of WTA General Manager Albert Eby as the
inaugural Director of Wave Transit. The full Board confirmed the selection. Mr. Eby thanked the committee and the Board for their support and reported that he had met the City of Wilmington
pre-employment qualifications and was scheduled to begin March 01, 2004. Mr. Ronne reviewed the search process for the Board. Chair McNamee requested the Transit Director Search
Committee be reconstituted as the Personnel Committee. She asked the committee to begin work on on personnel policies for authority employees and submit the necessary paperwork to
the state to enable Wave staff access to the state retirement program. The personnel policy would need to be completed by July 01, 2004. Mr. Ronne stated he had previously prepared
personnel policies and was wiling to meet the chair’s request for the new committee. REPORT FROM THE YEAR TWO INTERLOCAL & LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE Committee Chair Bellows distributed
the following draft documents to the Board: o Draft Interlocal Agreement Between New Hanover County and The City of Wilmington to Create a Public Transportation Authority and to Jointly
Fund and Support the Authority. o Concurrent Resolution of the Wilmington City Council and the Board of Commissioners of New Hanover County Creating the Cape Fear Public Transportation
Authority and Approving the Interlocal Agreement Between the City and County to Jointly Fund and Support the Operation of the Authority. o Ordinance Repealing Article IV of Chapter 2
Entitled Transit Transit Authority and Amending Article V Chapter 4 of the City Code. He informed the Board that the committee would like to take the above documents to Wilmington
City Council on March 16, 2004 and to the New Hanover County Commissioners on March 22, 2004 for approval. Some revisions to the documents were forthcoming from the committee. He
asked the Board to review the documents and offer comment to Assistant City Attorney Ms. Williams prior to the March 11, 2004 WNHTA Board meeting. The committee plans to present final
copies of the above documents to the Board for approval at the March 11, 2004 meeting. Mr. Bellows reviewed the February 12, 2004 committee meeting. The committee discussed personnel
issues concerning payroll and benefits. Mr. Ronne and Mr. Bellows agreed that the personnel and legislative committees had overlapping responsibilities in this area and would work
together on personnel matters, including study of other governmental authorities.
Mr. Bellows stated that the next meeting of the Committee was scheduled for March 11, 2004 at 10:30am in the Wave Transit Board Room. REPORT FROM THE MARKETING COMMITTEE Committee
Chair McCarthy stated that she had met with staff concerning travel training vouchers. She informed the Board that staff could make available vouchers in the form of one ride passes
available to three human service agencies for distribution to other providers for the exclusive use of travel training. Mr. Bellows asked how the vouchers would be controlled to prevent
unauthorized use. Ms. McCarthy stated that the three agencies, which had agreed to oversee distribution of the vouchers, were identified because of their relationship with other human
service providers and their trustworthiness. She informed the Board that the Marketing Committee would bring to the full Board a written policy outlining the travel training program
for approval. No vouchers have been issued to date and none would be issued until the full Board approves the policy. Human Service providers, which are entrusted with voucher distribution,
would be required to agree to abide by the policy set by the Board. The quantity of vouchers allotted each agency was also a concern of the Board. The Committee Chair stated that
this concern would also be addressed in the policy. Mr. Eby stated staff was researching how other agencies addressed travel training and would report his findings to the committee.
Some discussion ensued concerning the difference between paratransit and human service transportation. Ms. Houston and Mr. Eby explained the current services offered and the importance
of travel training in offering disabled passengers independence while allowing them to ride the regular buses in turn paying a lower fare and saving themselves and the authority money.
Mr. Capps asked if the Marketing Committee had discussed the issue for bus stop signs. Mr. Eby stated that the FY 2004-2005 budget included $100,000.00 for bus stop sign replacement,
and that the replacement would coincide with the restructured routes. Ms. McCarthy scheduled a meeting for the Marketing Committee on Thursday, March 04, 2004 at 9:00am in the Wave
Board Room. She also directed staff to inform all Board members of the meeting should any members not currently serving on the committee wish to join the committee. REPORT FROM THE BUDGET
COMMITTEE The Chair recognized Budget Committee Chair Bryden in-absentia for his efforts on the Power Point® presentation for the joint City Council and County Commissioner meeting.
The Chair presented the slide show to the Board and solicited suggestions. Board Chair McNamee provided the Board with a revised 2004-2005 budget in the absence of Committee Chair
Bryden.
She recognized Ms. Crumpton to explain the changes made to the New Hanover County portion of the operating budget. Under the column “Revenue Source” in the approved budget, the line
item “Blue Line (RGP)” was inadvertently included as revenue to the city and to the county. Additionally, the line item “Route Operations” was included in the city and county revenues.
In an effort to remedy this oversight, Ms. Crumpton explained that Committee Chair Bryden removed these two line items as revenues to the city portion of the budget and offset the
city expenses by $101,250.00. This change resulted in an overall operating budget of $4,933,984.00 Ms. Crumpton explained that at the request of the County Finance Director, the
language in the budget was changed from “county match” to “county contribution.” A motion to approve the amended budget as presented by the committee was made by Mr. Ronne. Mr. Bellows
seconded the motion which carried unanimously. REPORT FROM THE FACILITIES COMMITTEE Mr. Capps provided the Board an overview of the statewide multimodal bus tour that a delegation
of local representatives made on February 10, 2004. The tour included stops in Wilson, Rocky Mount, Greensboro and High Point. The delegation was impressed with the facilities visited
and excited about the prospect of a similar project in downtown Wilmington. Mr. Capps stated that facilities had led to an increase in ridership for the systems visited. Some discussion
ensued concerning the proposed downtown convention center and the role a multimodal transportation center would play in the convention center effort. OTHER BUSINESS, SECHEDULING OF NEXT
MEETING Chair McNamee informed the Board that State Representative Mr. Danny McComas had requested to address the Board and would do so at the March 11, 2004 meeting. She also reiterated
the need for Board members to review the legal document drafts that had been prepared for the City Council and County Commissioners and provide comments to the Year Two Interlocal and
Legislative Committee Chair, the Assistant City Attorney, the Deputy County Attorney or staff as soon as possible in order to finalize the documents. The Chair also reminded Board
members of the presentation by the WNHTA to the City Council and County Commissioners scheduled for Monday February 16, 2004 at 11:30am in the City Council Chambers. Mr. David updated
the Board on the status of the short range transit plan, stating that the final draft was expected by the end of February. Mr. Eby stated that the draft would be posted on the Wave
Transit website for Board member review. Board Member Pritchett asked to be excused from the March 11, 2004 meeting of the Board. Mr. Bellows stated the need to support Representative
McComas and BOT member Mr. Wilson for projects and funding both past and future.
Mr. Bellows stated that since the Transit Director Search Committee had become the Personnel Committee, Board members be allowed to join the new committee. Those interested were directed
to contact Committee Chair Ronne or the Transit Director. Hearing no further business, a motion was made by Ms. McCarthy for adjournment. The motion was seconded by Ms. Freeman and
carried unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Albert Eby Director