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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 03 26 09 Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority MINUTES OF THE CAPE FEAR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY March 26, 2009 Mr. William Bryden, Chair, Presiding MEMBERS PRESENT Mr. William Bryden, Chairman Mr. Don Betz, Vice Chair Mr. George Dolan, Secretary Mr. Henry Adams Mr. Johnathan Barfield Mr. Euran Daniels Mr. Andrew Koeppel Ms. Aileen Mair Ms. Christine McNamee Ms. Laura Padgett Mr. David Scheu STAFF PRESENT Mr. Albert Eby, Director Mr. Arlanda Rouse, Assistant Director Ms. Kathy Williams, Administrative Assistant Mr. Matthew Kunic, Planner Ms. Catherine Beasley, Finance Director CONTRACT MANAGEMENT STAFF PRESENT Mr. Andrew Olsen, Attorney Mr. Terrance Thompson, General Manager, PTM Mr. Thomas Molina, Para Transit Supervisor, PTM Mr. Jeffrey Dixon, Maintenance Supervisor, PTM Mr. Bobby Hunter, Operations Supervisor, PTM GUESTS PRESENT Mr. Joshuah Mello, Associate Transportation Planner, Wilmington Urban Area MPO Ms. Lawless Bean, Transportation Demand Management Coordinator, City of Wilmington Mr. Ricky Meeks, 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 March 26, 2009 consent agenda  Mr. Betz made a motion to accept the March 26, 2009 consent agenda with the exception of item 6, route 205 and item 7, Earth Day Park & Ride  Ms. McNamee seconded the motion and carried unanimously PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE 2009-2010 COMMUNITY TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM  Chairman Bryden recognized Mr. Eby to explain the CTP program and the purpose of the public hearing  Mr. Eby explained that funding from the program was for administrative paratransit costs, and rural program funding  Mr. Rouse stated that capital funds were included in the application to replace three (3) 2002 paratransit vans that had exceeded their useful life  Mr. Rouse stated that matching funds would be from the allocation by New Hanover County  Mr. Bryden opened the public hearing  Hearing no public comment, Mr. Bryden closed the public hearing PUBLIC COMMENT  Mr. Bryden opened the public comment period  Mr. Meeks spoke about the need for weekend service on the Castle Hayne route  Mr. Bryden asked each board member to introduce them selves to new board member and NHC Commissioner Mr. Barfield EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE  Mr. Bryden presented the Executive report  Mr. Bryden gave an overview of PTM’s actions over the usage of cell phones while operators are driving  Mr. Bryden and the board supported PTM’s actions  Mr. Thompson briefly explained the existing policy and introduced a new and more stringent cell phone policy that will begin on April 1, 2009  Mr. Bryden updated the board with last months public question regarding aides riding fixed route vehicles with clients  Mr. Bryden stated that staff is currently working on a policy for working aides that need to accompany clients riding the bus  Mr. Bryden stated that Ms Forbes was issued a pass in order to ride the bus with her client until a policy is developed  Ms. Mair suggested that before issuing passes to other aides that it is noted what service they are currently with  Mr. Bryden stated that Wilmington City Council authorized a $150,000 loan to meet short term cash needs  Mr. Bryden stated that this was a cash flow issue and not a budget problem  Mr. Bryden announced that the new maps have arrived and has challenged each board member to take a ride on the bus ROUTE COMMITTEE  Mr. Bryden recognized Mr. Koeppel to give the report for the route committee  Mr. Koeppel began by thanking Ms. Padgett for her input with the City Council and the short term loan  Mr. Koeppel presented the new 205 route proposal  Mr. Koeppel stated that 50% of the funding for this route would come from a New Freedom Grant and the rest would come from local sources  The committee requested approval of this 205 route  Mr. Kunic explained that the need for the route was due to public demand following the restructuring  Mr. Kunic explained that the grant is a two year grant  Mr. Kunic stated that the grant is approximately $113,400 per year and the cost of the route for seven day per week service would be approximately $226,800 per year  No second was necessary and carried unanimously  Mr. Mello inquired about the need of a second Monkey Junction bus  Ms. Padgett requested for the route committee to look into the buses going back into the shopping parking lots due to many complaints that she is receiving  Mr. Dolan suggested that the City and County governments work together to change business zones to provide a safeway for patrons to get from the bus stops to the businesses MARKETING COMMITTEE  Mr. Bryden recognized Mr. Betz to present the marketing report  Mr. Betz stated that the committee was working towards the goal of returning marketing funds back to the general fund  Mr. Betz stated that the committee is still advertising on the radio  Mr. Kunic stated that funds are coming in from advertising on the Paratransit vans FINANCE COMMITTEE  Mr. Bryden recognized Mr. Dolan to give the Finance Committee  Mr. Dolan stated that the Finance committee’s projection to have a fund balance of $170,000 will changed to around $34,000  Mr. Dolan stated that ridership is down and February wages (overtime) had increased  Mr. Dolan stated that the Authority has received a short term loan of $150,000 from the City again until the Authority receives a SMAP payment from the state and could possible ask the city for another loan later in the year  Mr. Dolan presented a request from the committee for the board to approve the budget ordinance that requires the authority to have a balanced budget of expenditures  Ms. Beasley stated that the Budget Ordinance is a request from the auditors to make sure that the Authority will not have any budget violations  No second was necessary and the motion carried unanimously  Mr. Dolan stated that the committee is currently working on next year’s budget  Mr. Dolan re-opened item 7 of the consent agenda for discussion  Mr. Dolan inquired about the description and cost of the Earth Day Park & Ride  Mr. Eby explained that Earth Day at Hugh Mcrae Park is a public outreach project and be provided for free of charge  Mr. Eby also explained that it will be a Trolley Park and Ride 11 am-6 pm from the Cinema @Oleander Dr to Hugh Mcrae Park  Mr. Kunic stated that the cost for the Hugh Mcrae Park Earth Day will be a net cost of $400.00  Mr. Dolan made a motion to accept item 7 (Earth Day) of the consent agenda  Mr. Betz seconded and carried unanimously FACILITIES COMMITTEE  Chairman Bryden recognized Ms. McNamee to give the committee report  Ms. McNamee stated that Corning had agreed to the contract but objections to the stormwater outfall plan had been raised by Progress Energy who owns a right of way in the outfall discharge area  Mr. Eby received an e-mail from Progress Energy stating that they had forwarded the plans to be reviewed for comment by their Transition Line Engineering Unit and the encroachment could not be approved as proposed  The authority was asked to send a revised plan  Ms. McNamee said that in the revised plan the storm water runoff has to be kept a minimum of 50 feet from any and all Progress Energy facilities  Mr. Eby stated that the project engineer was currently working on other alternatives STAFF REPORT  Chairman Bryden recognized Mr. Eby to present the staff report  Mr. Eby began by stating that last month the board approved using American Investment and Recovery funds to pay 100 % for the extension of Cando Street and are still waiting for additional items to allow the grant to be submitted to the department of labor  Mr. Eby stated that he has been told to expect a letter from Governor to FTA to allow the grant to proceed with conditional approval once the planning process is completed  Mr. Eby stated that they are also waiting on the State DOT Civil Rights division to establish a Disadvantage Business Enterprise (DBE) goal for the Cando Street extension project  Mr. Eby stated a DBE request for bids cannot be sent out until the DBE goal is established  Mr. Eby stated that as far as the facilities project they are ready to enter into a agreement with Transystems once the contract is signed with Corning  Mr. Eby presented a resolution to approve applying for CTP funding  Ms. Padgett made a motion to approve the Community Transportation Program Resolution a  Mr. Eby stated that these funds are for administrative funds at 76% urban and 24% rural and the match is 85% administrative and 15% local the dollar amount of federal programs $244,057  Mr. Betz seconded and carried unanimously  Mr. Eby gave the board an overview of NC House Bill 148 and Senate 151 as part of the 21st Century Transportation recommendation to allow counties a $7.00 vehicle registration fee to be implemented by a resolution of county commissioners and/or a ¼ cents sales tax to be placed on a referrrendum  Mr. Eby stated that should it pass it would allow Wave Transit the ability to go before the county commissioners to seek additional local funds  Mr. Eby stated that staff is currently investigating bid for fuel for a period of 1-3 years  Fuel contracting would allow the authority a more accurate budgeting method for fuel procurement  Mr. Eby stated that staff and Pender County are investigating regional transportation services that will connect with the Castle Hayne Shuttle and Park and rides in the Pender County area  Mr. Eby stated that the Washington DC trip was very positive for the future of Public transportation services  Mr. Eby stated that there were arising issues about the Blind Taxi Voucher Program  Mr. Rouse explained that since the authority only offered clients only ten taxi vouchers per month the authority could be in violation of the ADA Civil Rights Act of 1990  Mr. Rouse explained that a client of the Taxi Voucher Program had requested unlimited taxi vouchers  Mr. Rouse stated that in order to grant unlimited vouchers to taxi clients the Authority would have to provide unlimited taxi voucher usage to all Para transit recipients  Mr. Rouse stated that the taxi clients would now use the Para transit vans and could have unlimited van services  Mr. Eby thanked Ms. Padgett and Mr. Betz for their help in securing the short term loan  Mr. Eby recognized Mr. Thompson to explain PTM’s overtime issues  Mr. Thompson stated that in October there was a transition of employees from full time to part time and February’s overtime was also related to the cell phone suspensions NEW BUSINESS  No new/old business SCHEDULING OF NEXT MEETING  Hearing no further business, Mr. Betz made a motion to adjourn the meeting and Mr. Barfield seconded  The Authority’s next meeting is scheduled for April 23, 2009 at 12:00 pm in the Castle Street Conference Room Respectfully Submitted, Albert Eby Director /kw