Regular Meeting Minutes July 25, 2012
I. Pledge of Allegiance
II. Public Comment:
Jennifer McPhail spoke on the budget and stated that she supported the $3 million dollars for bus stop improvements for accessibility. She suggested using the dollars from the reduced fare cards on the regular bus to set up an account to make improvements; then Capital Metro would not have to struggle with the budget every year to make the improvements. Do not call the accessibility improvements an amenity because it is hard to track and it is a necessity to us.
William Betts also spoke on the budget and wants to ensure that the Board of Directors does not put the bus stops in the middle of the sidewalks so the children will not have a safe place to ride their bikes to school. The bus route changes are made automatically during the year; however, the funds for these changes on bus routes should be put into the budget. You should budget for the bus stops.
Sylvia Mendoza wanted the Board of Directors to provide her with a free riders card because she has been instrumental in getting the south Austin community safer by getting signage put up that reads stop here on red. She referenced that the City of Austin issued these cards last year to riders.
Sandra Seekamp spoke on the bus stops at Southpark Meadows. Sandra mentioned that the businesses are losing money because the bus stops are inaccessible to many individuals. We cannot get to the shopping center because there are no bus stops. Sometimes the distance between the stops is about 3 miles apart. The bus stops are inconvenient for the riders. More bus stops are needed in this area.
Mary Steele thanked the Board of Directors for a job well done. Mary suggested that we put the $1.00 aside to maintain the bus stops, then we would not need approval, the funds would be available.
III. Advisory Committee Updates:
1. Update on the Customer Satisfaction Advisory Committee (CSAC)
There was no committee update.
2. Update on the Access Advisory Committee (AAC).
Boone J. Blocker gave updates on the AAC. Boone stated that Chad Bellentine, Director of Paratransit, had added additional staff to handle overflow of telephone calls and now the telephone calls are being returned in a timely manner.
The service area study has been completed. Staff will be able to use the data in the future to help with policy making. An update on the Access -A -Ride was given and the program will be left in place; however, the process needs to be reformed. Capital Metro will work with the City of Austin to move the program forward.
IV. Executive Session of Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code:
Executive session started at 1:33 and ended at 2:01 p.m.
Section 551.071 for legal advice- labor structure and pending litigation.
V. Board Committee Updates:
1. Operations and Planning Committee
Board Member Chris Riley presented updates on the Operations and Planning Committee. The committee approved all of the consent items on the agenda today.
Chair Martinez questioned whether there was a prioritized list of projects for accessibility. Board Member Riley responded that the Metric corridor has been completed and that there seems to be a systematic way of doing the projects.
Finance, Audit and Administration Committee
The Finance, Audit and Administration Committee did not meet in the month of July 2012.
2. CAMPO
There was no report for CAMPO.
VI. Reports:
1. Planning/Development
Todd Hemingson, Vice President, Strategic Planning & Development, presented the Planning and Development Report.
Board Member Ann Stafford asked if the UT ridership numbers in the future could show indicators of how many UT students are using fixed routes as opposed to the UT shuttles to show total ridership.
Todd responded, yes, that he would include that data in the report. Additionally, the year to date (YTD) ridership for the UT shuttles is 3.7 million trips and 2.16 million trips for the fixed routes. The fixed routes are up 11% yet and the shuttles are down about
8% YTD.
2. Operations
Elaine Timbes, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer presented the Operations Report.
Chairman Mike Martinez questioned whether for the miles between road calls and travel, if we track the miles per month for each fleet. Elaine stated that we are able to track road calls and the mileage for each fleet. Chair Martinez asked if there was a system to replace the fleet.
Elaine stated that our policy does take into consideration the age of the fleet and the mileage. One example is the UT shuttles, the shuttles have age but low mileage.
Elaine also updated the Board regarding the policy on Accessible Documents. The final signatures are due today and the policy will be available later this week.
Board Member Ann Stafford questioned if the complaints had any correlation with the heat. Elaine responded yes, the heat and the rain all play a part. The labor transition is also a correlation. The complaints should level out after the transition smoothes out.
Chair Martinez wanted to know if we had received a spike in complaints concerning detours on the day the President came into town. Elaine responded that we did not really receive many complaints on that issue.
3. Finance
Billy Hamilton, Interim Executive Vice President, Finance, presented the Finance report.
4. President's Report
Linda Watson, President/CEO made the President's Report. The report included updates on the APTA Conference in Atlanta, GA. Austin will host the 2013 APTA Conference, which brings in board members from across the country. President Watson also complimented Board Member Silas for doing an excellent job of showing a warm welcome to the APTA members to come to Austin, Texas next year for the annual APTA Board of Directors and Board Support meeting. The Capital Metro video that was presented to the APTA members was also presented to the Board.
Board Member Beverly Silas added that some of the other Board Members across the country requested permission to take the video back to their boards and their communities.
President Watson also recognized many of the staff members for continuing education and holding other community offices and responsibilities.
Board Member Norm Chaftez questioned whether the video was available on the website.
President Watson responded that the video would be posted on the Capital Metro website and on the APTA website.
VII. Consent Agenda
1. Resolution-CMTA-2012-53 Approval of board minutes for June 1, 2012 board retreat and June 25, 2012 board meeting.
All consent items 1-7 were approved with a motion by Board Member Chafetz and seconded by Board Member Silas. Board Members absent were Frank Fernandez and Mayor Justine Blackmore-Hlista.
2. Resolution-CMTA-2012-55 Approval of a resolution authorizing the designation of voting alternates to the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Policy Board.
3. Resolution-CMTA-2012-54 Approval of a resolution authorizing the president/CEO, or her designee, to finalize and execute a contract modification with ACS, Inc. for the development of software to provide Transit Signal Priority (TSP), Dynamic Message Signs (DMS) for Route 2 of MetroRapid, and acceleration of the development efforts for compatibility with the LCRA Open Sky Radio System in an amount not to exceed $1,341,007.
4. Resolution-CMTA-2012-56 Approval of a resolution authorizing the president/CEO, or her designee, to finalize and execute contracts with Catapult Systems and Dell / Microsoft to replace our current eMail system and office productivity software with the new Microsoft software suite including Exchange Online eMail System, Office 365, SharePoint and Lync in an amount not to exceed $588,755. This consists of $252,000 for configuration and implementation services with Catapult Systems, Inc., and three years of subscription services with Dell for the Microsoft software in an amount of $336,755.
5. Resolution-CMTA-2012-57 Approval of a resolution authorizing the president/CEO, or her designee, to finalize and execute a contract with Muniz Concrete & Contracting, Inc., for the amount of $3,358,628 to construct 40 MetroRapid bus stations and related infrastructure over a 300 calendar day period, with a 10% contingency amount of $335,863, for a total of $3,694,491.
6. Resolution-CMTA-2012-58 Approval of a resolution authorizing the president/CEO, or her designee, to finalize and execute a contract with Rosemark Commercial Facilities Management Services for an amount not to exceed $731,204 for Building Maintenance services for the North Operations and Maintenance facility for a base period of one (1) year.
7. Resolution-CMTA-2012-59 Approval of a resolution appointing Gerardo Castillo, Chief of Staff, as the Sponsor's appointee to the Committee for the Retirement Plan for Bargaining Unit Employees of StarTran, Inc., to replace Doug Allen.
VIII. Action Items:
8. Resolution-CMTA-2012-60 Approval of a resolution ratifying the action taken by the Committee for the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Retirement Plan (Plan) for Administrative Employees amending the Plan as it relates to fully vesting employees affected by the August 18, 2012 lay off.
Donna Simmons, Director of Human Resources presented this action item.
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Ann Stafford, Board Member
SECONDER: Beverly Silas, Board Member
AYES: Chafetz, Silas, Langmore, Stafford, Martinez, Riley
ABSENT: Frank Fernandez, Justine Blackmore-Hlista
IX. Presentations:
1. Presentation-(ID # 2292) Recommended FY2013 Budget General Budget
Frank Ordaz, Director of Financial Planning, gave a general overview of the FY2013 budget.
Chair Martinez asked whether the $1.9 million was included in the capital budget for FY2013 and wanted to know what happens to the remaining balances. Capital Metro is mandated by the Sunset Advisory Board to have $30 million in reserves by FY2016. According to this report, we will have $26 million at the end of FY2013. We seem to be moving forward on the right track. Frank responded that any remaining balances would be rolled over to FY2013. Chair Martinez stated that even though that may be the policy that concept seems not to be reflected in the line items today. Board Member Chafetz also wanted clarity on the $1.9 million and wanted to know if it was new money. Frank stated that the $1.9 million is partially rolled over dollars from FY2012. Frank also replied that additional updates and corrections would be provided to the Board and this is one reason to start on the proposed budget early.
Board Member Stafford would like to know the actual proceeds of the reduced fares to see if the funds are being used in any ADA compliant investments. Additionally, she questioned the 2.6% that was recommended for staff raises. Board Member Stafford stated that she wants staff to be able to get as much as possible. She feels staff should get more because staff has not had an increase in a while. Frank replied that this increase was for 9 months. Also, President Watson stated that the increase is merit based which includes a sliding scale; the amount may range from 1% up.
Board Member Silas asked about the assumptions on page 8. She wanted to know if Frank's department had visited with the Planning Department for any adjustments and had considered route changes. Frank responded that the Financial Planning Department had visited with Planning and thanks to that department, these numbers reflect the conclusions of both departments and revisions from the Board. Any adjustments should have a zero net effect. Board Member Silas also wanted a comparison of previous years regarding the 6% passenger fare increase that included a modest rider increase and population growth.
Frank stated that the comparison updates would be presented on August 6.
Board Member Chafetz questioned the interlocal agreement funds for Cedar Park of $220,000 on page 16 and wanted to know if there was a plan for the allocation of these funds.
Frank responded that information would be available at the budget meeting on August 6.
Board Member Stafford wanted to know if there was a plan for the Basic Needs Transportation Fund because there was no data listed for the fund. Frank replied that the reason for the fund was in preparation for a fare increase. However there is no fare increase planned for FY2013 and therefore no funds were budgeted.
Board Member Stafford wants to propose later that the funds be continued for another year and not pull the plug on that now. Frank stated that staff would review this matter farther.
Vice Chair John Langmore wanted an explanation of $19.2 million on page 5. Frank stated that the dollars had been set aside which includes the additional capital cost for contractors at 32% because of the 5307 grant allocation. In FY2013, we are now eligible for more reimbursement because we have contracted out a larger portion of our business.
President Watson added that we have an additional $9.3 million allocation because of the MetroRail. Therefore, we are taking the opportunity to use some of the funds in the operations area. Vice Chair Langmore questioned if this was a shift from 2012. President Watson stated that some of the 2012 grant dollars have been rolled over to 2013.
Board Member Chafetz asked if this is considered a capital cost. President Watson stated that it is considered operations and we are updating the long-term financial plan so that we will not have to depend on these funds.
Frank added that both President Watson and Board Member Chafetz were correct.
Vice Chair Langmore questioned Elaine regarding the $1.1 million set aside for Herzog and did this amount include funds to repair the rail breakage. Elaine stated these funds do not include funds for the rail breakage. The funds are for a rate increase and weekend service.
Additionally, Vice Chair Langmore wanted to know whether any funds were set aside for repairs of the rail breakage.
Elaine stated that the funds are listed on the capital side under the East End Rehab. There were savings that were recognized this year and therefore the savings are reflected in the budget.
X. Items for Future Discussion:
XI. Adjournment
ADA Compliance
Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications are provided upon request. Please call (512)389-7458 or email if you need more information.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Mayor Pro Tem Mike Martinez, chairperson; John Langmore, vice chair; Frank Fernandez, board secretary; Council Member Chris Riley; Mayor Justine Hlista; Beverly S. Silas; Ann M. Stafford and Norm Chafetz. Board Liaison: Gina Estrada (512)389-7458, email if you need more information.