Minutes 07 19 01
MINUTES OF THE WILMINGTON TRANSIT AUTHORITY July 19, 2001 MEMBERS PRESENT Mr. Howard Capps, Chairman Mr. Mike Saylor Mr. Dick Scott Ms. Laura Padgett Ms. Rosa Webb Mr. William Boyd Mr.
Steve Stein, Alternate MEMBERS ABSENT Mr. Harry Forden STAFF PRESENT Mr. Albert Eby Mr. Corey Johnson GUESTS PRESENT Bill Austin, Senior Transportation Planner Herb McDuffy Mr. Dan Elisondro
Mr. Ricky Meeks CALL TO ORDER Chairman Capps called the meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Mr. Saylor made a motion to approve the minutes from the June 14 2001 meeting.
Mrs. Padgett seconded and the motion was approved. Public Hearing Mr. Capps opened the public hearing on the Front Street Trolley. Bill Austin spoke about the purpose of the trolley
and how it was to serve downtown as a circulator and handed out a memorandum that
is included. Mr. Eby mentioned that he felt the trolley would serve both the working and the vacationing public very well. Mr. Capps mentioned that a trolley was one of the long-term
goals set by the WTA board and that he was very pleased to see that goal met. Mr. Herb McDuffy, of Wilmington, NC Was very much in favor of the purposed trolley and felt that tourist
as well as locals would enjoy the service. Mr. Elisondro, of the Real Café Stated that he was pleased with the idea that people could jump on it from the parking decks and other areas
and take it to work. He also asked about the future of park and rides in the downtown area for employees. Mr. Austin replied that yes the City was looking at park and ride lots in the
future. Mr. Meeks, of Wilmington, NC Was in favor of the new service and felt that it would be a great addition to the downtown historic area. Mr. Eby called for further public comment
and being none he closed the public hearing and asked for the board to approve the new trolley service, the route, (map enclosed) the free fare, the hours of operations 7:30 AM to 7:30
PM, and the start date Friday July 27th 2001. Downtown Trolley Mr. Capps called for any comments from the Board before the vote. Mr. Scott expressed his pleasure in seeing that one
the goals that the board has set come to fruition. Mr. Capps added that he felt that the trolley might get stuck in traffic on Front St. and that he felt it would be a good idea that
if this happens to look and detouring the trolley off of Front St. and just using 2nd and Water St. It was decided that Staff would monitor the situation and had the option of detouring
the trolley with out waiting on a vote from the board. Being no further discussion Mr. Capps called for a motion to be made to start the new trolley service as
recommend by staff. Ms. Padgett made the motion, Mr. Saylor 2nd and the motioned was carried unanimously. Report from the General Manager Monthly pass implementation program: Mr. Eby
reported that he had investigated the issue in the minutes and found that it has been an item of interest for the Board as far back as 1994. Mr. Eby further felt that it was time that
some action was taken. Mr. Eby had a temporary ticket booth in mind for the 2nd and princess transfer point with a part time staff person to man the booth and sell passes. Mrs. Padgett
asked about the prices of a very simple vending machine. Mr. Eby reported that what he could find was a phone card machine that could be modified to sell the monthly passes. This machine
cost $1,100.00 plus the need for power and a way to secure it so that the passes and money were safe. Mrs. Padgett felt that we would have some success in finding business and banks
that would be willing to allow us to place the vending machines inside there establishments and that this would eliminate the need for a booth a 2nd and Princess. Mr. Eby also said that
the drivers could be asked to carry a limited number of passes. Master Plan and Merger Study Mr. Eby asked Mr. Austin to give a brief report on the status of the master plan and merger
study. Mr. Austin reported that the city has released a request for proposals two weeks ago and a pre bid meeting was held with 5 consulting firms yesterday. Once the deadline to receive
bids has passed a committee will be put together to review and make recommendations as to which bid seemed to meet all the criteria. -Review of the 4th Quarter operating Statistics Mr.
Eby handed out a copy of the financial and operating report for the 4th Quarter. He reported that he felt that this was the best representation of the fiscal year. He went on to report
that operating expenses were up 16%. He felt that this was due to the Corning Shuttle. Passenger revenue was virtually unchanged that is because the Corning shuttle runs with out any
revenue. Other revenue was down because we offset the University with a $30,000.00 grant. The recovery ratio is down to 20% and again that
can be contributed to the Corning shuttle. Mr. Eby reported that compared to other systems our size we are well within the average. -Budget Revisions Mr. Eby asked for the board to approve
the 2nd revision to the 2000-2001 fiscal year budget. This revision would allow us to write off some parts inventory that is no longer useful to the WTA. The motion was made by Ms. Padgett
to accept the revised 2000-2001 fiscal year budget and 2nd by Mr. Boyd and the vote was unanimous. Mr. Eby asked for the board to approve revisions to the current fiscal year operating
budget to include 95,000 dollars of operating and 45,000 dollars for the Trolley lease. The motion was made by Ms. Padgett to accept the revised current operating budget and was 2nd
by Mr. Boyd the motion was approved with no dissenting votes. Other Business Mr. Capps invited every one in attendance to ride the New Trolley route as soon as the meeting was concluded.
Being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:45 p.m., and those present were treated to the inaugural run of the Front Street Free Trolley. Respectfully submitted, Albert Eby
General Manager