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Minutes 10 09 08 Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority MINUTES OF THE CAPE FEAR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY October 9, 2008 Mr. William Bryden, Chair, Presiding MEMBERS PRESENT Mr. William Bryden, Chair Mr. George Dolan, Secretary Ms. Fannie Freeman Mr. Andrew Koeppel Ms. Aileen Mair Ms. Nancy Pritchett STAFF PRESENT Mr. Albert Eby, Director Mr. Arlanda Rouse, Assistant Director Ms. Kathy Williams, Administrative Assistant Mr. Matthew Kunic, Planner Ms. Catherine Beasley, CPA, Finance Director CONTRACT MANAGEMENT STAFF PRESENT Mr. Terrance Thompson, General Manager, PTM Mr. Thomas Molina, Para Transit Manager, PTM Mr. Andrew Olsen, Attorney GUESTS PRESENT Mr. Brad Lademann, Communities in Schools Mr. Louis Hines, Southside Mr. Joshuah Mello, Associate Transportation Planner, Wilmington Urban Area MPO Mr. Denny Best, Citizen Mr. John Brown, Citizen Mr. JC Brown, Citizen Mr. Jason Rosin, Citizen Ms. Rebecca Bush, Citizen Ms. Tabitha Newkirk, Citizen Mr. Chris Hawkins, Citizen Ms. Lawanda Zilk, Citizen Mr. Ricky Meeks, Meeks, Citizen Mr. Jackie Harts, Citizen Mr. Anthony Pursley, Citizen Ms. Cathy Howell, Citizen Ms. Jacqueline McCullough,Citizen Mr. Russia Foster, Citizen Ms. Rose Johnson, Citizen Mr. Leo Shepard, Citizen Ms. Victoria Ledbetter, Citizen Ms. Wanda Howard, Citizen Ms. Maritza Maldonado, Citizen Ms. Doreen Johnson, Citizen CALL TO ORDER  Chairman Bryden called the meeting to order at 12:00 pm  Mr. Bryden opened the meeting with a moment of silence CONSENT AGENDA  Mr. Bryden presented the October 9, 2008 consent agenda  Ms. Freeman made a motion to approve the October 9, 2008 consent agenda  Mr. Koeppel seconded the motion and it carried unanimously PUBLIC COMMENT  Chairman Bryden opened the public comment period  Ms. Howell stated that riding the bus inconvenient and very concerned about possible driver layoffs  Mr. Foster would like service on both sides of the street  Mr. Shepard stated that the drivers and employers are not communicating and the drivers were not asked input pertaining to the new routes  Mr. Best stated that the routes should have remained the same and additions should have been made from the existing routes  Mr. Rosin stated that Wave should put bus service back into the African American communities  Ms. Bush heard that the new routes are difficult, she would like the routes more convenient  Ms. Ledbetter stated the new routes are very inconvenient  Mr. Bryden stated that the problem is not the ridership numbers it is the funding, Wave would like to add more buses but funding is limited  Mr. Harts said the management should take another look at the new routes  Mr. Bryden stated that the reason for the new routes is because the old routes were costing more money  Mr. Brown was concerned about drivers being laid off  Ms. Howard stated that the old route service should have been increased  Mr. Meeks would like to invite the elected officials from the City and County to the meetings to discuss funding  Mr. Hines from Southeast Community Center presented a request to post a sign in front of the Castle Street location informing the public of the property improvements that will occur once Wave Transit moves to the proposed operations facility  Mr. Eby asked Mr. Hines to provide a specific list which will be presented to the board in the form of a resolution at the November 13th meeting  Mr. Laderman from Communities in School requested discounted bus passes for students participating in a after school program to prevent dropouts  Mr. Laderman stated that the program runs from 3:30 pm -6:00 pm and some students need to take the bus in order to get home  Ms. Pritchett suggested that they seek other donors for sponsorship  Mr. Bryden made a motion for the board to donate 150 one ride reduced fare pass for 3 months in which during that period the program must seek other funding to help pay for future passes  Ms. Freeman seconded the motion and carried unanimously EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE  Mr. Bryden stated that the Executive Committee had not met  He stated that Mr. Eby had made recommendations to the Executive Committee to reduce expenses  The recommendations were forwarded to the Finance Committee for consideration ROUTE COMMITTEE  Mr. Bryden recognized Mr. Koeppel to give the report for the route committee  Mr. Koeppel mentioned how the authority has decided to place the bus shelters on mall property  Staff was awaiting approval from Mall management to install the shelters  He then mentioned that the route committee looked at an alternative hospital route (route 205) and realized that there was no funding for the route, but the proposed route met the concerns of many passengers and funding should be sought to implement the route MARKETING COMMITTEE  Mr. Bryden recognized Mr. Dolan to give the Marketing Committee report in the absence of Mr. Betz  Mr. Kunic stated that the contract for the Text messaging service should be complete by the November meeting  Mr. Dolan presented the proposal to advertise on the paratransit vehicles  Mr. Dolan stated that the advertising would be on the top of the paratransit vans and could bring in funds estimated about $8,500 a month  Mr. Dolan stated that Peck Advertising presented a proposal for the agreement  Mr. Kunic stated that all maintenance for advertising on the vans would be by Peck Advertising  Mr. Kunic stated that Peck Advertising will charge 33% verses the normal 50%  Mr. Eby stated that a contract would be needed to proceed  The committee agreed to present a contract at the November 13th meeting  Mr. Dolan stated that Smart Maps has been chosen to assist with the new route maps  Mr. Kunic state that staff will work closely with Smart Maps to have the new maps ready by January January 1, 2009 FINANCE COMMITTEE  Mr. Bryden recognized Mr. Dolan to give the Finance Committee  Mr. Dolan sought feedback from the board on improvements to the financial presentation  Mr. Dolan stated that the September report is only an estimate  Ms. Beasley stated that the budget will need to be reduced by approximately $340,000 FACILITIES COMMITTEE  Chairman Bryden recognized Mr. Eby to give the facilities report in the absence of Ms. McNamee  Mr. Eby stated that the Authority and Corning have reached an agreement in principal to purchase additional property on Cando Dr.  The sale of the property to the authority would be conditional on an appraisal which has been ordered  Mr. Eby stated that all permits for the extension of Cando St. have been applied for STAFF REPORT  Chairman Bryden recognized Mr. Eby to present the staff report  Mr. Eby presented a resolution from NCDOT for one paratransit van for $4,000 in which has already been purchased and placed into service  Ms. Pritchett made a motion to accept the resolution for one paratransit van for $4,000  Mr. Koeppel seconded and carried unanimously  Mr. Eby stated that the he is working with NCPTA to have lunch with the state legislature to help them to understand in detail the importance of public transportation PTM  Mr. Eby recognized Mr. Thompson to give the PTM report  Mr. Thompson stated that some operators were being transitioned into other positions instead of going to part time  He stated that the plan to reduce operating expenses by more efficiently scheduling operators was in progress and that the transition would be complete by October 20th to coincide with the fare increase OLD BUSINESS  There was no old business SCHEDULING OF NEXT MEETING  Hearing no further business, Mr. Dolan made a motion to adjourn the meeting  Mr. Koeppel seconded the motion to adjourn the meeting  The motion carried unanimously  The Authority’s next meeting is scheduled for November 13,2008 at 12:00 pm in the Castle Street Board Room Respectfully Submitted, Albert Eby Director /kw