Minutes 04 13 06
Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority MINUTES OF THE CAPE FEAR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY April 13, 2006 Ms. Christine McNamee, Chair, Presiding MEMBERS PRESENT Ms. Christine
McNamee, Chair Mr. Robert Ronne, Secretary Ms. Maureen McCarthy Ms. Fannie Freeman Mr. Howard Loving Mr. John Stukes Ms. Nancy Pritchett Mr. William Bryden Mr. Andrew Koeppel STAFF PRESENT
Mr. Albert Eby, Director Mr. Arlanda Rouse, Assistant Director Mr. Mike Kincaid, Finance Director Ms. Melissa Watson, Apprentice CONTRACT MANAGEMENT STAFF PRESENT Mr. Corey Johnson,
General Manager, First Transit Mr. Lamont Jackson, Assistant General Manager, First Transit Mr. Andrew Olsen, Attorney at Law Ms. Hillary Brady, Talk PR GUESTS PRESENT Ms. Lawless Bean,
Transportation Demand Management Coordinator, City of Wilmington Mr. Joshua Mellow, City of Wilmington, MPO Staff Ms. Deborah Houston, Transportation Consultant, NCDOT Mr. George Woolfe,
Citizen Mr. Ricky Meeks, Citizen Ms. Marianna Stacy, Community Outreach Coordinator, Comfort Keepers CALL TO ORDER Chairwoman McNamee called the meeting to order at 12:13 pm. APPROVAL
OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the March 9, 2006 regular meeting of the Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority was made by Mr. Koeppel. The motion was seconded
by Mr. Ronne and carried unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT Chairwoman McNamee asked if anyone in attendance had public comment.
Mr. Ricky Meeks thanked the Authority for continuing bus service to the Landfall area. Mr. Meeks suggested that Wave Transit initiate bus service to the beaches of New Hanover County.
Hearing no further comment, the Chair closed the public comment period. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Chairwoman McNamee stated that the Executive committee met and began to gather information
for the Director’s annual review. Chairwoman McNamee recognized Mr. Ronne to discuss the process of the review. Mr. Ronne asked each member to submit comments to him about their
interactions with the Director during the past year, and if the Director was responsive to their needs. Mr. Ronne stated that the comments should be submitted to the Executive Committee
by June 1st. He stated that he expects that the entire evaluation process to be completed by July 1st. Ms. McNamee asked Ms McCarthy if she would chair an Ad-Hoc nominating committee
The committee would be used to develop a slate of officers for the Authority for fiscal year 2006-2007. Ms. McCarthy stated that she would and asked Mr. Bryden and Mr. Stukes to
serve on the committee. Ms. McNamee recognized Ms. Marianna Stacy to present the “Tour of Lights” proposal to the Authority. Ms. Stacy described a proposal in which her company,
Comfort Keepers, in collaboration with the New Hanover County Department of Aging would transport seniors to different neighborhoods around Wilmington on December 11th in order to view
Christmas decorations. Ms. Stacy stated that the project would possibly allow the NHC Dept of Aging to earn the State of North Carolina designation as a Senior Center of Excellence.
Ms. Stacy asked the Authority to supply enough buses to transport up to 475 passengers. Ms. Stacy stated that her company was prepared to pay the bus drivers’ salaries during the
event Mr. Eby stated that the cost of the service would be approximately $600 per hour based upon the number of buses needed for the event. He also stated that based upon current
federal charter bus regulations that it would be difficult for Wave Transit to provide the requested service. Mr. Bryden recommended that the Authority reexamine the proposal after
new federal charter guidelines are made available. ROUTE COMMITTEE Ms. Freeman stated that the committee did not meet the past month and had no report. MARKETING COMMITTEE Chairwoman
McNamee recognized Ms. McCarthy to present the report. Ms. McCarthy stated that ridership during the 2006 Azalea Festival was approximately 1,400 roundtrip passengers. She stated
that the Legion Stadium site had only 150 passengers, but the Westfield Mall site was very successful. Ms. McCarthy recognized Ms. Hillary Brady from TalkPR. Ms. Brady stated that
her company worked to promote Wave’s Azalea festival participation during the month by having promotional coupons and flyers printed.
She stated that she is currently working on a call-in radio show in which the Director along with several board members would participate in a panel of experts on April 20th. She
stated that she would continue to promote campaigns during the month such as Earth Day and promote public speaking appearances for Authority staff. Ms. Brady also stated that the Marketing
Committee is working on future marketing plans which will take place when the bus routes are restructured. FINANCE COMMITTEE Chairwoman McNamee recognized Mr. Bryden to present the
report. Mr. Bryden requested that a public comment period be opened for the 2006-07 Budget Ordinance. Chairwoman McNamee opened the public hearing for the proposed fiscal year 06-07
budget and asked if anyone in attendance wished to comment on the proposed budget. Hearing no public comment the Chair closed the public hearing Mr. Koeppel requested information
of how ridership is factored into revenue projections on Connector Routes such as the Brunswick Connector Mr. Eby stated that fares on the Connector Routes are difficult to calculate,
but all fares are estimated using a 20% farebox recovery ratio. Mr. Eby then stated that all revenue projections are rather conservative in order to offset possible revenue shortfalls.
Mr. Koeppel asked when the routes would be revised Mr. Eby stated that the route redesign would take place after the new transfer facility site has been identified. He then stated
that the redesigned would be as close as possible to Wave’s Short Range Transit plan which was prepared by consultants Kimley-Horn in 2004. Mr. Ronne moved that the proposed FY 06-07
Budget Ordinance be approved. The motion was seconded by Ms. Freeman and carried unanimously. FACILITIES COMMITTEE In absence of Committee Chairman Mr. Bellows, Chairwoman McNamee
presented the report. She stated that the committee had meet, and is continuing to work on acquisition of the proposed site. STAFF REPORT Chairwoman McNamee recognized Mr. Eby to
give the staff report. Mr. Eby stated that the first item on the staff report was a Resolution to Preserve Real Property & Provide Funding for the Wilmington Multi-Modal Transportation
Center. Mr. Eby stated that there has been interest from a private developer to build condominiums on the site of the Multi-Modal Center selected by the Authority and endorsed by the
City of Wilmington between 3rd & 4th Streets and the rail bed and Red Cross streets. He stated that in order to protect the project, the North Carolina Department of Transportation
is implementing a corridor map under the Corridor Protection Act. The Corridor Map was approved by the NCDOT Board at their April meeting. Mr. Eby stated that the property had to
be purchased within (3) three years under the Corridor Act. A motion to accept the resolution to Preserve Real Property & Provide Funding for the Wilmington Multi Modal center was
made by Ms. McCarthy. The motion was seconded by Mr. Stukes and the motion carried 9 in favor and 1 opposed.
Mr. Eby then presented a resolution authorizing the Filing of Applications with the Federal Transit Administration. He stated that FTA is reconfiguring its TEAM database, and that
all applicants must file a formal application in order to access the database. Mr. Bryden moved that the resolution authorizing the Filing of Applications with the Federal Transit
Administration be accepted. The motion was seconded by Mr. Ronne and carried unanimously. Mr Eby presented an update to the Wave Safety and Security Policy Mr. Eby stated that
information pertaining to Authority owned property and Authority employees was being added to the policy Mr. Olsen advised modifying the line in the policy that reads “most senior
employee” He stated that the most senior employee may not necessarily be the highest ranking employee onsite. Mr. Eby recommend that the policy line be changed to read “responsibility
of contractor’s onsite General Manger” A motion to approve the update to Wave Safety and Security Policy with changes was made by Ms. Pritchett. The motion was seconded by Ms. McCarthy
and carried unanimously. OTHER BUSINESS Mr. Eby stated that the Authority sent a letter to the Cape Fear Council of Governments Director Chris May during the past month The letter
addressed issues with the Columbus Connector’s low ridership and lack of project coordination Mr. Eby stated that during the last Connector meeting he felt that better coordination
efforts were being made. He also stated that in order to increase ridership that the focus on potential riders will be narrowed Mr. Eby stated the Connector Committee will focus
on two or three businesses in order to build ridership He stated that if ridership increases, the service could possibly be transferred to a Van Pool type of service in order in increase
TDM efforts Mr. Pritchett stated that she sent a personal letter to each of the Columbus County Commissioners and Columbus County Manager in order to raise awareness about the service
Mr. Bryden presented the Authority with a letter from a private citizen The letter praised the efforts of the bus drivers and the overall bus service. SCHEDULING OF NEXT MEETING
Hearing no further business, a motion was made by to adjourn. The motion was seconded by and carried unanimously. The next meeting of the Authority was scheduled for May 11, 2006
at 12:00 pm in the WAVE Transit Conference Room. Respectfully Submitted, Albert Eby Director /ar