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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 06 14 07 Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority MINUTES OF THE CAPE FEAR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY June 14, 2007 Mr. Jeff Bellows, Chair, Presiding MEMBERS PRESENT Mr. Jeff Bellows, Chair Mr. Robert Ronne, Vice-Chair Ms. Fannie Freeman, Secretary Mr. Andrew Koeppel Mr. Howard Loving Ms. Aileen Mair Ms. Christine McNamee Ms. Nancy Pritchett Ms. Laura Padgett STAFF PRESENT Mr. Albert Eby, Director Mr. Arlanda Rouse, Assistant Director Ms. Cathy Cole, Finance Director Mrs. Kathy Williams, Administrative Assistant Mr. Matthew Kunic, Planner CONTRACT MANAGEMENT STAFF PRESENT Mr. Michael Kincaid, Consultant Mr. Corey Johnson, General Manager, First Transit Mr. Armand Scala, Operations Supervisor, First Transit Mr. Bill Harned, Sr. Operations Analyst, First Transit Mr. Andrew Olsen, Authority Legal Counsel GUESTS PRESENT Mr. Joshuah Mello, Associate Transportation Planner, Wilmington Urban Area MPO Ms. Lawless Bean, Transportation Demand Management Coordinator, City of Wilmington Ms. Sharon Bundick, PATH Program Mr. Don Eggert, Cape Fear Council of Governments Mr. Chris McClendon, NHC TV Mr. Ricky Meeks, Citizen Mr. Chris Hawkins, Citizen CALL TO ORDER  Chairman Bellows called the meeting to order at 12:07 pm  Mr. Bellows opened the meeting with a moment of silence APPROVAL OF MINUTES  A motion to approve the minutes from the May 10, 2007 regular meeting of the Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority was made by Ms. Padgett  The motion was seconded by Ms. Freeman and carried unanimously PUBLIC COMMENT  Chairman Bellows opened the public comment period  Mr. Kunic introduced Sharon Bundick, Director for Projects for Assistance to Transition from Homelessness (PATH) of Wilmington  Ms. Bundick asked if the Authority would supply the PATH program with complimentary bus passes in order to assist clients with transportation to jobs and appointments around the city  She stated that many of her clients do not have sufficient income to utilize public transportation on a regular basis  Mr. Koeppel requested that Ms. Bundick first seek transportation assistance from Southeastern Mental Health then report back to the board with her findings  Ms. Mair stated that she coordinated the program for Southeastern and that the program was not designed for long term clients  Ms. Pritchett asked Ms. Bundick if she could present a more specific request  Ms. Pritchett recommended that Ms. Bundick either request a specific number of bus passes or propose to purchase the bus passes at a discounted rate  The The Chairman then closed the public comment period EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE  Mr. Bellows stated that the executive committee did not meet and had no report  Mr. Bellows then asked if the board members preferred to have a nominating committee for the annual board positions or if they preferred open nominations  Mr. Loving recommended forming a nominating committee  Mr. Loving volunteered to Chair the nominating committee  Ms. McNamee and Ms. Freeman volunteered for to serve on the nominating committee  Mr. Bellows stated the nominations will be for the Chair, Vice-Chair and Secretary  Mr. Koeppel suggested that the nominating committee be formed before the month June of each year  Mr. Bellows stated that the nominating committee will be created in April of each year ROUTE COMMITTEE  Mr. Bellows recognized Mr. Koeppel to give the report for the Route committee  Mr. Koeppel stated that the committee was investigating the possibility of adding the Leland Industrial Park to the Brunswick Connector bus route route  Ms. Pritchett asked when the new system wide route restructuring was going to take place  Mr. Bellows stated that according to the timeline, the new routes should be in place by December  Mr. Bellows then inquired about redirecting the Brunswick Connector to include the new Wal-Mart located in Leland  Mr. Koeppel stated that the Wal-Mart stop was on committee’s June agenda, and that the committee was considering adding a Belville bus stop  Mr. Bellows suggested that the committee gain input from the appropriate parties in the affected towns and counties  Mr. Koeppel stated that the next Route Committee meeting will be July 10, 2007 at 12:00 pm in the Wave Transit Board Room MARKETING COMMITTEE  Mr. Bellows recognized Mr. Ronne to give the Marketing Committee report  Mr. Ronne congratulated Howard Loving on receiving the Wilmington Star News Lifetime Achievement Award  Mr. Ronne recognized Mr. Kunic for his marketing efforts over the past two months  Mr. Ronne stated that during that time Mr. Kunic has successfully arranged numerous print and magazine advertisements for the Authority  He stated that Mr. Kunic has arranged for Seamore, the Wave Transit mascot, to make several appearances around the city at events such as the Wilmington Sharks baseball games, Community Boys and Girls Club, and North Carolina Public Transportation conference  Mr. Ronne stated that the Authority was entering phase two of the marketing plan, and that the committee would like to seek professional assistance to implement the plan  Mr. Ronne said that Mr. Loving, Mr. Kunic and Ms. Bean have agreed to meet with Talk PR in order to develop a marketing contract  Mr. Ronne directed the Wave finance staff to provide the committee with a dollar figure in which the committee could use for marketing efforts  Mr. Loving stated that committee was planning to use the figure of $70,000 which was approved in the Authority’s budget unless there was objection  Mr. Kincaid stated that when the budget was originally constructed, the Authority anticipated that the City of Wilmington would contribute $1.25 million  He stated that the City approved a contribution of $1 million, which leaves approximately $250,000 fewer budget dollars  Mr. Kincaid stated that the budget includes $900,000 in SMAP funding from the State of North Carolina and staff is unsure of the actual SMAP figure until the state budget is passed  Mr. Kincaid stated that the board should remember that the number one priority of the Authority was to provide transportation services, and that they should think about reducing discretionary spending, which includes marketing  Mr. Kincaid stated that at this point the Authority was facing a projected $250,000 shortfall  Mr. Eby stated that the original marketing RFP was issued during the early fall of 2006 and in order for Wave Transit to negotiate a marketing contract staff would be required to be compliant with the Authority’s procurement policies and procedures  Mr. Eby then asked Mr. Olsen to investigate if too much time had lapsed since issuing the RFP to award a marketing contract  Mr. Olsen stated he investigate and report back to staff within one week  Mr. Bellows asked how long would it take to receive a marketing budget estimate if an RFP did not have to be issued  Mr. Eby stated that as long as an opt out clause was written within the marketing contract, the Authority would be able to operate the marketing contract on a monthly basis and be able to provide a marketing budget to the committee within one week  Mr. Ronne stated that after receiving recommendation from the finance staff and counsel, the committee would submit a contract to the board members in July for approval  Mr. Bellows requested that a draft of the contract be submitted to all the board members prior to the July meeting for review and comment FINANCE COMMITTEE  Mr. Bellows recognized Mr. Eby to give the finance report in the absence of Mr. Bryden  Mr. Eby introduced Catherine Cole as the new Finance Director  Ms. Cole gave a brief introduction  Mr. Eby recommended that Ms. Cole be named the Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority Finance Director  Ms. Padgett made a motion to accept Ms. Cole as the Finance Director  Ms. Pritchett seconded motion and carried unanimously  Mr. Eby recognized Mr. Kincaid and Ms. Cole to present the FY2006-2007 Operating Budget  Mr. Ronne inquired as to why it takes First Transit so long to issue monthly invoices  Mr. Kincaid stated that the delay was due to the different organizational financial cycles  Mr. Eby then recognized Mr. Harned of First Transit to further explain  Mr. Harned stated that First Transit’s fiscal cycle runs until the 20th of each month rather than the end of each calendar month which causes delays  Ms. Padgett inquired about First Transit’s overtime situation  Mr. Johnson stated that First Transit was working to keep overtime under control  Mr. Eby stated that there are other options that the Authority will investigate when the management contract comes up for renewal and that staff was continually working with the contractor to reduce overtime  Staff presented the Authority with an amended FY 06-07 operating budget  Mr. Kincaid stated that the NCDOT SMAP funds for FY 06-07 were $280,000 less than budgeted  Mr. Kincaid stated that NCDOT has agreed to work with Wave Transit to get additional SMAP funds for this year  Mr. Koeppel made a motion to approve the amended FY 2006-2007 operating budget  Ms. McNamee seconded the motion and the motion passed on a vote of 8 to 1 FACILITIES COMMITTEE  Chairman Bellows recognized Ms. McNamee to present the facilities report  Ms. McNamee recognized Mr. Eby to give a brief update  Mr. Eby stated that the Authority was still awaiting approval from the State for the Division Drive property  He stated that the Authority applied for FTA § 5307 discretionary grant funding for the transfer and administration facility  Mr. Eby thanked Ms. Pritchett, Ms. Padgett and Mayor Saffo for their letters of support  Mr. Eby stated that staff was in the process of subdividing the Corning property for the extension of Cando Drive  He stated that he and the engineering consultant had met with city officials to discuss the preliminary design of the street STAFF REPORT  Chairman Bellows recognized Mr. Eby to give the staff report  Mr. Eby presented an agreement for financial consulting services with Mr. Michael Kincaid  Mr. Koeppel made a motion to accept the agreement for consultant services with a change in word “counsel” to “consultant” on page two of the contract  Ms. Freeman seconded the motion as amended and it carried unanimously  Mr. Eby presented a contract for audit services with Lanier, Whaley, Craft & Co.  Mr. Eby recognized Mr. Kincaid to address any questions  Ms. Pritchett inquired asked if the contract was the same as last year  Mr. Kincaid stated that the contract was the same, but there was a $750 increase in fees  Mr. Koeppel made a motion to approve the contract for audit services  Ms. Freeman seconded the motion and carried unanimously  Mr. Eby then reviewed the history of the Brunswick Connector and the anticipated funding for FY 07-08  Mr. Eby recognized Mr. Mello to explain the situation from the MPO’s perspective  Mr. Mello explained that the Wilmington MPO was tasked with finding a permanent solution to the Brunswick Connector funding issue  He stated that the MPO planned to speak at the town meetings of the communities served by the Connector in order to educate the town officials of the importance of the service  Mr. Loving then requested a list of the names of the Brunswick County Commissioners  Mr. Bellows suggested that board members have name tags which identify them as Wave Transit Board members when they attended other meetings  Mr. Eby presented the Wave Transit Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goal of 4.56% for the 2007-08 fiscal year  He recognized Mr. Rouse to further explain the DBE program  Mr. Rouse stated that the DBE goal was lower in the Wilmington area due to the local demographics than it would be in other areas such as Raleigh or Charlotte  Mr. Koeppel made a motion to approve the DBE goal for FY 2007-08  Mr. Padgett seconded the motion and carried unanimously  Mr. Eby recognized Mr. Rouse for graduating from ECU with a Master of Business Administration OTHER REPORTS  Ms. Bean stated that the Commuter Challenge was a success AMENDMENT TO OTHER REPORTS  Ms. Bean stated that the commuter challenge had a very good response  Ms. Bean stated that almost 300 people participated and there were almost 3,500 trips taken by employees  Ms. Bean stated that the City of Wilmington won the challenge for their participation  She stated that one third of the participates committed to using alternative transportation transportation two times or more per week during the challenge  Ms. Bean stated that the bus service was the least used only 185 trips were taken by bus SCHEDULING OF NEXT MEETING  Hearing no further business, Mr. Ronne made a motion to adjourn  The motion was seconded by Ms. Pritchett and carried unanimously  The Wave Transit Authority’s next meeting is scheduled for July 12, 2007 at 12:00 pm in the Castle Street Board Room Respectfully Submitted, Albert Eby Director /kw