Minutes 03 13 03
MINUTES OF THE WILMINGTON TRANSIT AUTHORITY March 13, 2003 MEMBERS PRESENT Mr. Dick Scott, Chairman Mr. John Stukes, Vice Chair Mr. Mike Saylor, Secretary Ms. Fannie D. Freeman Mr. Jeff
Bellows MEMBERS ABSENT Ms. Laura Padgett Mr. Howard Capps STAFF PRESENT Mr. Gary Miller, President CCL Management Mr. Albert Eby, General Manager Mr. Corey Johnson, Assistant General
Manager Ms. Lawless Bean, TDM Coordinator, City of Wilmington Mr. Mark Tinkler, Senior Transportation Planner, City of Wilmington CALL TO ORDER Chairman Scott called the meeting to order
at 12:08 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Saylor made a motion to approve the minutes from the February 13, 2003 meeting. Ms. Freeman seconded, and the motion was approved unanimously.
PRESENTATION OF NEW WTA WEBISITE Mr. Eby previewed the proposed WTA website for the Board. Mr. Scott asked that the password be removed and that the Board members review the website
and return comments to Mr. Eby. FRONT STREET FREE TROLLEY Mr. Eby recommended changes to the Downtown Trolley that would offer the service at scheduled times which seemed to be one
of the major concerns brought forward. A scheduled route for the Trolley would be promoted at the County parking deck and the City parking deck when completed. This change would allow
downtown patrons to park in the decks and know when the trolley would be arriving to pick them up. The new route would also serve Third St. including Thalian Hall and the City office
complex.
Mr. Eby stated the WTA’s goal for the Front Street Free Trolley was to move people through the downtown, mitigate congestion, and to reduce the number of passenger trips through the
downtown area. It was also meant to aide downtown merchants with parking issues brought on by the new parking meter program. Since the program is sponsored by the WTA, the Board’s goals
for the trolley must be addressed before the needs of other interested parties. The Board was in concurrence with staff on the change to the Trolley route. Mr. Eby informed the Board
that minor modifications may be necessary after the initial change. These changes may include twenty (20) minute headways throughout the route as opposed to the fifteen (15) minute headways
proposed. Staff’s 15 minute headway evaluation was based on off season traffic patterns. Other changes that may be necessary would include different routing to prevent long delays from
left turns. Mr. Eby agreed to keep the route as close to the initial proposal as possible and inform the Board of minor modifications. INCREASED FUNDING FOR FISCAL YEAR 2004 Mr.
Eby reported that he had prepared a chart showing the cost to reduce all headways, on all routes (with the exception of the Trolley and the Seahawk Shuttles to thirty (30) minutes.
Mr. Eby spoke about the fact that the WTA was not able to use all the State Maintenance Assistance Program (SMAP) funds available last year due to the lack of a city match. Mr. Eby
reported that staff has begun negotiations with UNCW for a new contract for the Seahawk Shuttle. The contract will be written so the Authority can use some of the UNCW fee as local match.
This will offset the city contribution to the annual operating costs of the authority on a dollar for dollar basis. The new contract will also be for a monetary value that will cover
the entire cost of the service by the third year of the contract. Mr. Eby informed the Board that the contract was being prepared by the City Attorney’s office and the WTA Chair had
agreed to present it to the university on behalf of the authority. The Chair would also be responsible for any negotiations that may be requested by UNCW. Mr. Eby requested that the
Board approve the plan to reduce headways to 30 minutes and that the plan, if approved, would begin January 2004. If approved, the City would send a letter to the City Manager asking
for the inclusion of increased operating funds by the city to the authority in fiscal year 2004. Mr. Saylor made the motion to approve and it was seconded by Mr. Stukes and approved
unanimously. REPORT FROM THE BOARD CHAIRMAN Mr. Scott mentioned that on March 18th and March 24th, the Merger study would be presented to City Council and the County Commissioners
respectively, seeking the respective Boards to instruct the appropriate staff (attorneys, finance directors, planners, etc…) to work with the WTA Board and the NHTS Advisory Committee
in preparing an Interlocal agreement to be presented to the City Council and County Commissioners. The Interlocal agreement would outline the makeup of the combined Board, and identify
funding issues brought forward by the merger consultant. Mr. Scott reported to the Board that he had a conversation with Mr. Peterson, Mayor of the City of Wilmington, concerning the
multimodal study and Mr. Scott brought forth the WTA Board’s concerns. Mr. Tinkler updated the Board on the status of the additional multimodal study. He stated that a committee made
up of stakeholders in the process would be reviewing the consultant proposals in early April and a decision to award a contract would occur shortly after. The contract price would be
through negotiation with the selected bidder as opposed to a bid process. Mr. Scott asked for a motion to voice the Board’s official stance on the additional funds for the continuation
of the multimodal study. Mr. Stukes made the motion that at this point in the WTA Board does not support any further study of the multi modal center until all parties agree in writing
the parameters of the study and what needs to be included in the study. Mr. Saylor seconded this motion. The motion was approved unanimously. Being no further business the meeting
was adjourned at 1:45. The next meeting of the Board was scheduled for Thursday April 10, 2003. Respectfully submitted, Albert Eby General Manager