Minutes 11 12 04
Cape Fear Public Transportation Authority MINUTES OF THE CAPE FEAR PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY November 12, 2004 Ms. Christine B. McNamee, Chair, Presiding MEMBERS PRESENT Ms. Christine
McNamee, Chair Mr. Jeff Bellows, Vice-Chair Mr. Robert Ronne, Secretary Mr. William Bryden Ms. Nancy Pritchett Ms. Laura Padgett Mr. John Stukes Ms. Fannie Freeman Ms. Maureen McCarthy
Ms. Barbara Kane Mr. Howard Capps STAFF PRESENT Mr. Albert Eby, Director CONTRACT MANAGEMENT STAFF PRESENT Mr. Corey Johnson, General Manager, First Transit GUESTS PRESENT Ms. Patricia
Melvin, Assistant County Manager, New Hanover County Mr. Kemp Burpeau, Deputy County Attorney, New Hanover County Ms. Lawless Bean, Transportation Demand Management Coordinator, City
of Wilmington Mr. Jonathan David, Associate Transportation Planner, City of Wilmington Mr. Bill Williamson, Regional Vice President, First Transit CALL TO ORDER Chairman McNamee called
the meeting to order at 12:17pm. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A motion to approve the minutes from the October 14, 2004 regular meeting of the Wave Transit Board of Directors was made by Mr.
Stukes. The motion was seconded by Ms. Freeman and carried unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT The Chair asked if anyone in attendance had public comment. Hearing none, the Chair closed
the public comment period. LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE REPORT The Chair recognized Committee Chairman Mr. Bellows to present the report.
Mr. Bellows reported that the Authority was scheduled to present a progress report to the City Council on November 16, 2004 and the County Commissioners on November 18, 2004. The
report would update Council and the Commissioners on the progress of the Authority as well as prepare them for upcoming Resolutions for the proposed license registration fee and the
designation of the Authority as the Designated Recipient of FTA and NCDOT funding. The Resolutions would be presented to the County Commissioners on November 22, 2004 at the regularly
scheduled Commissioners meeting. The Resolution would be presented to the TAC on November 23, 2004 and to the City Council on December 14, 2004. He encouraged the Board and interested
parties to come to the meetings to show support. He asked Mr. Eby to send the Board a schedule of the upcoming meetings with times and locations. Mr. Bellows reported that the committee
and staff was working with the City and County finance directors to address the cash flow issue should the Authority become the Designated Recipient. BUDGET AND FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT
The Chair recognized Committee Chairman Mr. Bryden to present the report. Mr. Bryden reported that the budget Committee was working with the Legislative Committee concerning the
pending Resolutions. He also reported that the committee was preparing for the upcoming budget preparations for fiscal year 2006. He stated that if Board members have specific budget
requests that they forward their suggestions to him or the Director. Chairman McNamee asked Mr. Bryden to update the Board on the County Commissioners meeting on November 8, 2004 and
their comments concerning the Community Transportation Program grant application. Mr. Bryden reported that the request passed unanimously. The Chair thanked Mr. Bryden for filling
in for her and the Director who were attending a Community Transportation conference. PERSONNEL COMMITTEE REPORT The Chair recognized Committee Chairman Mr. Ronne to present the report.
Mr. Ronne reported that a draft copy of the Wave Transit Policy Manual was being distributed to each Board member. He asked Board members to review the document and make comments
by telephone or email to him by November 23, 2004. He would forward the comments to the Authority legal and human resources staff for consideration. The Chair stated that by agreement
in the Interlocal agreement with the City and County the Authority has until November 30, 2004 to ask for a continuation of payroll support from the City and County. Since no request
for continuation was forthcoming, adoption of the personnel policies was necessary in December. Mr. Ronne agreed and stated that the policy manual was a working document that could
be changed by a vote of the Board to address future needs. Mr. Ronne reported that applications for the Assistant Director would be accepted by the County through November 12, 2004.
He further stated that the a committee comprised of himself, the Director, Board Member McCarthy, Assistant County Manager, Ms. Pat Melvin and County Aging Director, Annette
Crumpton would interview the candidates deemed to meet the minimum qualifications of the County Human Resources Department. He stated that the goal was to have an Assistant Director
hired by the middle of December 2004. Ms. Melvin asked who would be responsible for the annual audit of the Authority. Mr. Eby stated that an independent audit firm would be contracted
to provide a single audit of the Authority as required by North Carolina General Statute. MARKETING COMMITTEE REPORT The Chair recognized Committee Cahir Ms. McCarthy to present the
report. Ms. McCarthy reported that the Committee had met on Tuesday November 09, 2004 with the selected consultant to discuss the upcoming marketing plan. She reported that the committee
was very pleased with the enthusiasm and experience of the selected contractor, TalkPR. She further reported that the contract for Marketing Services between Wave Transit and TalkPR
was included in the Agenda packet. She asked if there were comments pertaining to the contract. Hearing none, the motion from the marketing committee was to approve the contract
between Wave Transit and TalkPR as presented. The motion carried unanimously. Ms. McCarthy reported that she and the Director had traveled to Charlotte on October 28th to accept
the “Excellence in Transportation Award” presented at the TASH state conference. The Authority was nominated for the award by the Wilmington Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities.
Specific programs that led the local Mayor’s committee to nominate Wave Transit were increased service offerings like Sunday service, evening service, increased route offerings and
an improved working relationship between the Authority and the disabled community. She further stated that the Authority was very proud of this accomplishment and its increased commitment
to providing quality public transportation service to the entire community, especially the disabled population. The Wilmington Mayor’s Committee plans to present the award to the Authority
at the City Council meeting on December 14, 2004. The Chair praised Ms. McCarthy for her commitment to the disabled community and her service to them as Human Services Representative
to the Board of Directors. FACILITIES COMMITTEE REPORT The Chair recognized Committee Chair Howard Capps to present the report. Mr. Capps reported on the site recommendation for
the transfer/administration facility and the operations/maintenance facilities. Staff and the consultant were experiencing problems finding a site for the operations/maintenance center
that were close enough to the transfer/administration to be a feasible possibility. Mr. Eby stated that within the past week a possible parcel on Martin Luther King Blvd. had been
presented to the Authority as an option. Staff and the consultants were determining the feasibility of the site. Mr. Capps reported that the latest report concerning the downtown
multimodal transportation center was due out soon. The consultant was charged with evaluating the previous studies concerning the project and make recommendations without evaluation
of the Red Cross site since the city had given that particular parcel to the Community College.
He stated that he had spoken with City Attorney, Tom Pollard earlier in the week who informed him that the property swap between the City and Community College had not been completed.
The Board seemed to agree that a downtown station was needed for the route restructuring and if the multimodal transportation center site recommendation continues to drag on, a contingency
plan needs to be developed. Mr. Stukes asked if the Board had received a reply from the mayor concerning the letter sent by the Board pertaining to Wave Transit’s role in the Multimodal
Transportation Center discussions. Mr. Bryden expressed the importance of the City protecting right-of-way in the rail bed for pedestrian access from the center to the Convention Center.
The Chair stated that the Board had not received a response from the Mayor and that others had asked her the same question. Mr. Eby said he had begun thinking about such a contingency
plan. Ms. McNamee suggested the Authority meet with the Convention Center planners to see if space for buses could or should be included in the center. The Chair asked Mr. Capps
and the Committee to report back to the Board with recommendations on how the Authority should proceed with the project. ADOPTION OF WAVE TRANSIT MISSION STATEMENT AND GOALS The Chair
recognized Mr. Eby to introduce the item. Mr. Eby stated that while not a requirement of any oversight agency, a Mission Statement is a good business practice. He introduced a draft
Mission Statement based on the Mission Statement and Goals of the former Wilmington Transit Authority. Due to the late hour, the Chair suggested discussion on the Mission Statement
and Goals be tabled until the December 09, 2004 meeting. She encouraged Board members to review the document and be prepared to make comments at the December meeting. STAFF REPORT
Chairman McNamee recognized Mr. Eby for a staff report. Mr. Eby reported that he was working on acquiring Paratransit scheduling software. Automatic Vehicle Locators were being
studied by staff and funds have been secured for their acquisition. The new phone and data system was in place and working well with the exception of DSS. Staff was working with
the County IT Department and the vendors to resolve the problems. Mr. Eby reported the two additional buses were scheduled to begin production on December 28. Delivery of the vehicles
was expected around January 20, 2005. OTHER BUSINESS, SCHEDULING OF NEXT MEETING Mr. Stukes praised the Authority for providing Sunday Service. Ms. Padgett agreed and also mentioned
that evening service was something the community and the Authority should be proud of. Ms. Pritchett also concurred and stated that the Authority should possibly be more proactive
in informing the community and our elected officials of the great strides made by the Authority in a very few months. Ms. Freeman asked staff to investigate some feedback she had concerning
transfers.
Discussion ensued concerning the role of transfers and the time allowed by the Authority to allow passengers to transfer buses for free. Mr. Eby and Mr. Johnson agreed to look into
the request. Ms. Pritchett asked if Board Members could ride the bus for free. Mr. Eby stated that they could and she should see Mr. Johnson to get an identification card to use
the service. Hearing no further business, Ms. McNamee asked for a motion to adjourn. A motion to adjourn was made by Mr. Ronne, seconded by Ms. Padgett and carried unanimously. Respectfully
Submitted, Albert Eby Director