Lowcountry Regional Transportation Authority Board Meeting
June 22, 2016
LRTA Board Minutes
Location: LCOG
Chair David Blauch called the meeting to order at 2:04 PM.
Chris Bickley offered the invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Roll: David Blauch, Ginnie Kozak, Rick Hamilton, Chris Bickley, Louise Pinkney, Susan Zellman and Jake Rawl.
Absent: Barbara Childs
Also in Attendance: Paula Tilley, Mary Lou Franzoni, both from Palmetto Breeze, Bob Semmler from Beaufort County Planning Commission, Lawrence Holdsworh from LCOG.
Susan Zellman, the new Board member, was introduced. She has transportation experience and was on a County Council in NJ as well as the NJ Transportation Authority planning board.
Approval of Minutes – April 27, 2016
Motion to approve, Chris Bickley; second, Rick Hamilton. Motion carried
Action Items:
Chris Bickley asked if the Board decided on the new auditors. Ms. Franzoni stated that Ms. Tilley and I performed the comparison with input from Jake Rawl who is on the Finance Committee. Mauldin & Jenkins were chosen. They were the second lowest price but has transportation experience. Mr. Bickley stated next time a committee should be formed which will include the Board to make the decision as the Auditors truly work for the Board. Ms. Franzoni and Ms. Tilley agreed.
Ms. Franzoni presented the Beaufort DSN contract for their Camp Treasure Chest for transportation for their summer campers. She also presented the contract for Creative Entertainment for transportation from Sun City to the comedy club on Hilton Head. We did this in 2012. It is open to the public and we can provide this type of contract because it’s for seniors. It will be done on Thursday evenings. Ms. Zellman asks what does the passengers pay. Ms. Franzoni replies nothing, Creative Entertainment pays for it but a public passenger would pay $2.50. Its $210 each day we run this for them and its direct from Sun City to the Comedy Club. Chris Bickley asks if it’s on the website and Ms. Franzoni replies that it will be. Ms. Franzoni presents the Access Health contract for signature. It’s a fixed route to be run only on Thursday afternoons. From Hilton Head’s north end to the clinic (Volunteers in Medicine) and back to the south end of the island. This is from the Rides to Wellness grant and starts July 7th running from 12:05-3:10 pm. This route has been 8 months in the making. They will have tickets to give out to the clients at VIM or the public passengers pay $2.50. Public passengers are riding on the Hilton Head Shuttle, route 450, which is used for the international students, and they pay their way. Hilton Head Shuttle was paid up front by the agency who handles the students.
Motion to approve all Action Item, Jake Rawls; Second, Chris Bickley. Motion carried.
Informational Items
Director’s Report:
Ms. Franzoni stated we did a bus presentation for Beaufort County Head Start for children. Jessica Johnson prepared coloring books and they got to go on a bus ride.
She met with Palmetto Bluff three times and received a contract with them yesterday from their legal team. Looks like we will start a route for them from Palmetto Breeze to Palmetto Bluff in the mornings and afternoons. There will be stops at a housing development near Kroger. It will be open to the public for $2.50. This is year round.
Tanger Outlets decided to go with Old Town Trolleys for their shuttle. They wanted a private operator and a trolley type bus.
Ms. Franzoni stated she gave pricing to USCB for a Tuesday and Thursday route from Bluffton to Beaufort. She will follow up with them. It would be great to have a route that would go between those two places. Mr. Bickley asked is Tanger using a private company with no public dollars, can LRTA do this without using public funds. Ms. Franzoni stated no, we cannot compete with private charters. Our routes must be open to the public and advertised. Mr. Bickley stated they must be paying more than we would charge them, and Ms. Franzoni stated yes, but they didn’t want any other stops on their route.
Ms. Franzoni reported Linda Norton is teaching CPR classes to employees saving us $50 per employee. She will send out dates if anyone wants to come for the training.
It’s been 30 days with no accidents and drivers received a cook out. The next milestone was 45 days, and they have reached 48 so there will be another cookout. Next we will shoot for 60 days. Mr. Bickley stated it is money well spent. He asked who pays for it if the State does not reimburse for it, and is it budgeted. Ms. Franzoni replied local match and fares and Ms. Tilley stated yes, next year we have money in the budget for these items.
Mark Stanley got his CDL which is helpful in maintenance for test driving vehicles. We purchased an air conditioner reclamation machine. We had 6-8 vehicles that needed the AC worked on and it just came in. It should last 5-10 years.
Chris Bickley asked why the passenger trips and miles went up between April and May but the revenue hours went down. Ms. Franzoni replied you are right but May it was less. We had to go back and readjust the data between TOMS and route match. It doesn’t make logical sense; data may have been lost. She will follow up on it.
Finance Director’s Report:
Ms. Tilley discussed the few accounts that were over budget for the year. She discussed the migration of the website that happened and the money saved by moving it to a new host. Ms. Tilley discussed the meeting Mary Lou Franzoni and she had with the organization SCORE, which are retired executives at the Hilton Head Chamber. We requested help with marketing and rebranding with the new service we are hoping to have in Bluffton and Hilton Head.
Ms. Tilley requested that the investment bank account be restricted for emergency use only and not to cover regular expenses. This was supposed to be set aside for disaster recovery, but the bank transferred some money into the general account to cover expenses when the account balance was low. She did transfer that money back into the investment account. The Board agreed that it can only be used for emergency items and must be approved by the Board.
Motion to approve restricting investment bank account, Rick Hamilton; Second, Louise Pinkney. Motion carried.
Chris Bickley requested an amendment to the restriction of the bank account that the Chairman of the Board be notified anytime the funds need to be spent.
Motion to approve amendment, Chris Bickley; Second, Jake Rawls. Motion carried.
Chairperson’s Report:
Chair Blauch reported that he has no formal report.
Committee/Project Reports
No Committee reports at this meeting
Old Business
Ms. Kozak handed out copies of the summary of the strategic plan which was in October and reviews the meeting that was held with CTAA. Some of the items have been implemented but we need some help. CTAA has asked if we want technical help in implementing the changes. CTAA awarded us a grant to help us with this. Please start thinking about what we want to do with this. It is only for the rural area but it is a regional issue and Charlie from CTAA understands the bureaucracy and will provide other assistance moving forward. Ms. Kozak stated the Rides to Wellness grant step one is already in place. It is a brand new grant. Ms. Franzoni stated that we will get one bus and a driver to operate it for 2 years. The goal is to make the route self-sustaining. We have a new partnership with United Way because of this project and Community Foundation of the Low Country and possible LCOG will give some local match.
New Business
Chair Blauch stated that we had our SCDOT final site review report. The former Executive Director was confrontational with SCDOT and we didn’t comply with the 2009 site review. She didn’t tell the Board or address the issues. There were only 17 open findings and guidance this time. Ms. Franzoni and Ms. Tilley worked to close all of the items. We now have a very positive relationship with SCDOT and they were the ones who improved the relationship. Mr. Bickley stated fantastic accomplishment. Ms. Franzoni stated she had never seen anything like the 2009 review and we worked on it. SCDOT gives us money now for vehicles and rehabs for the vehicles, which wasn’t the case before.
Ms. Franzoni stated she needs conflicts of interest filled out by all Board members and employees and hands them out.
Announcements
Bob Semmler stated he is impressed with Ms. Franzoni and she is providing a definite resource to the community. He is familiar with the LCOG as he worked on the land use in the Parris Island Project. He asked how we get projects into the plan in LATS at the MPO? Chair Blauch responds that the Board Chair is on the policy committee and the Executive Director is on the technical committee. He suggested he bring his requests to the Board and we will represent you. Mr. Semmler stated he is only here for himself and is not here for the County Council.
Ms. Franzoni stated she will be out the last week in July on vacation.
Ms. Zellman stated that Mr. Sherman has left Sun City as the Executive Director and the community has taken the management in house. We should renew the conversation with them about transportation and Ms. Franzoni agreed. Also we should meet with the group Staying Connected which is an organization in Sun City that helps people in their neighborhoods.
Next meeting on August 24 at Palmetto Breeze.
Board enters an executive session at 3:30. Upon return a motion is made to approve amendment to the management agreement between LRTA and First Transit.
Motion to approve amendment, Rick Hamilton; Second, Jake Rawls. Motion carried.
Adjournment
Motion to Adjourn at 3:55 PM Rick Hamilton, Second, Chris Bickley, Motion carried.
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