MINUTES
MassDOT BOARD MEETING OF JANUARY 20, 2015
At the call of the Chair, a Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation was held at the State Transportation Building, MassDOT Boardroom, Suite 3830, Boston, MA.
Those present were: Messrs. Jenkins, DePaola, Bonfiglio, Blue, and Misses Loux, being a quorum of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
Also present were Celia Blue, Registrar of Motor Vehicles; Dr. Beverly Scott, General Manager, Chris Willenborg, Aeronautics Administrator, Faye Boardman, MassDOT Chief of Staff, Jon Davis, Chief Financial Officer-MBTA; Dana Levenson, Chief Financial Officer-MassDOT; Paige Scott Reed, General Counsel, Owen Kane, Senior Counsel to the Board, Joe Pesaturo, Michael Verseckes and Paula Fallon.
The Chairman, Mr. Jenkins, presided.
Chairman Jenkins called the Open Meeting to Order and presented the order of business.
Chairman Jenkins opened up public comment period.
The first speaker was Marilyn MacNab. Ms. MacNab would like the timeline for the RIDE pilot program to be moved up if possible.
Chairman Jenkins closed public comment period.
Next was approval of the minutes for December 11, 2014. The Board discussed the wording of the vote for the General Counsel. Director Loux corrected the minutes to delete the words “and appoint” to the vote.
On motion duly made and seconded, it was with Chairman Jenkins opposed;
VOTED: to approve the minutes of December 11, 2014 as amended.
Next was approval of the minutes for December 16, 2014.
On motion duly made and seconded, it was;
VOTED: to approve the minutes of December 16, 2014.
The next item on the agenda was item 7, MassDOT’s Fiscal Year 14 Financial Statements presented by Shawn Warren from KPMG. Mr. Warren went through the highlights of the audited financial statements. The Board discussed the debt of MassDOT. They asked for a detailed list of toll operations of MassDOT specifically how much in the Western Turnpike. Susan Bristol stated they would get them the number. The Board asked Mr. Warren if there were any issues they should worry about. Mr. Warren responded that succession planning is an important issue that MassDOT and the MBTA need to worry about.
On motion duly made and seconded, it was voted;
VOTED: to approve MassDOT’s FY14 Audited Financial Statements.
Next Acting Secretary DePaola gave his report. The Acting Secretary reported that new Secretary Pollack will start on February 2, 2015 and gave a brief description of her background. He also reported on the State’s budget shortfall reported by the Governor’s office of $765 million. He noted they will be back in February with a budget to help the state budget. Director Loux thanked Mr. DePaola for his work stepping in as Acting Secretary.
Next Chris Willenborg gave his report on the Aeronautics Division. Mr. Willenborg gave another update on the Statewide Airport Administration Building project. The FAA Reauthorization Bill is set to expire this year. They will be working closely with FAA on this matter. Key points he talked about were modernizing air traffic control and financing of airport projects.
Next Registrar Blue gave her report. Registrar Blue went through the wait times at the branches and online. Statewide at the branches were 22 minutes and for the phone the wait times were 12 minutes. Next she updated the Board on the rollout of the Driver License Procurement. The contract is up in January 2016. They hope to have the apparent bidder by the end of January. She ended with the update of the AAA partnership rollouts.
Next Rail and Transit Administrator/General Manager gave her report. The GM updated the Board on the Chief of Police hire. Mr. Frederick Ryan accepted the offer and will start at the end of February. Dr. Scott thanked Kenneth Green for stepping in and running the Transit Police. She announced that statewide and RTA ridership numbers have been up. She discussed the late night service noting they would have a report in February for the Board on the status of the pilot program and next steps. She announced that they held a workshop with front line workers on safety and preparedness. She ended talking about the importance of succession planning which also came up in the MBTA Financial Statements. The Board asked about penalties for Keolis. She stated that they do expect more penalties for the company.
On motion duly made and seconded, it was;
VOTED: To adjourn.
Documents used for this reports
Minutes for December 11 and December 16, 2014
MassDOT FY14 Audited Financial Statements