PROCEDURE DOCUMENTATION

OFFICE OF TRANSIT

SPECIALIZED TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM

PROCEDURE NO. STP - 1a

Last Update: 6/18/01BAP

PROCEDURE/PROCESS: PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENT

ODOT receives notification of its federal allocation from FTA for the 49 USC 5310 Program (Specialized Transportation Program) sometime after the beginning of the Federal Fiscal Year, October 1. ODOT=s program schedule is, however, based on the calendar year.

1.In December, the Specialized Transportation Program Coordinator develops a letter, brochure, or flyer announcing the program, availability of funding and anticipated schedule. An application request form is incorporated for interested agencies to return.

a.Announcements are mailed to all past Specialized grantees, all agencies who have requested information in the past year, other state agencies, and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO). Labels are generated from TGIS and other office databases.

b.Other State agencies may also provide the Office with mailing labels for their constituents, e.g., MR/DD, Family and Children First, Job & Family Services, etc.

2.As request forms are received, agency names, addresses, and contacts are entered into a Word Perfect Merge file x:\specialized\ (year) applrequest. Requests from agencies in urbanized areas are forwarded to the appropriate MPO.

3.A press release is also issued concurrently with this notification along with paid public notices in newspapers in Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Toledo, including minority papers. A program description is provided to the Office of Communications and directly to local newspapers along with a request for the release to be issued. Current press release is saved as X:\special\newspapernotice.wpd.

Special Note:

  1. Sample press release and program announcement attached.

(6/18/01BAP)

PROCEDURE NO. STP - 1b

Last update: 09/18/01BAP/r

PROCEDURE/PROCESS: PROGRAM CRITERIA/APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

  1. In October - November, the schedule for the next program cycle is reviewed and dates established for issuing the application package, deadlines for applications and other requirements, etc. (*See note below)

2.The Criteria, Application Instructions, and Application are reviewed for updating in November-December.

a.All dates are revised to reflect current schedule.

b.All requirements and policies are reviewed to ensure that they are 1) current, and 2) still necessary to the program. Any unnecessary requirements or instructions are eliminated.

3.Provide Office of Communications with Program information and dates for development of the standard ODOT cover.

4.All MPOs are contacted in early January to determine the number of application packets they will require.

  1. By the 1st or 2nd week of January, Criteria must be finalized and sent through for Director=s signature (route through Rural Transit Manager, Office Administrator, and Deputy Director, Local Programs).
  1. By mid-January, the revised package (Criteria and Application Instructions and forms) is sent to the copy center/print shop for copies. Typically, 400-500 copies are ordered.
  1. Program Researcher puts the Criteria and Application Instructions on the Office of Transit web page.
  2. By late January, the Application is copied onto diskettes for applicants.

8.A letter for the Office Administrator=s signature transmitting the application package is prepared. Notify applicants in the letter that the application is available on diskette or may be down-loaded from the Transit web page. Letter should be dated and ready to be mailed the first week of February.

9.Packets for each MPO are assembled and mailed to the MPOs in early February. The MPOs distribute application materials to applicants in their areas.

10.Using the Word Perfect Merge file, address labels are generated and application packets are mailed to all rural applicants, in early February.

Special Notes:

A.Vehicle Catalog is being updated and prepared concurrently and will be mailed as part of the application packet.

  1. In November/December, the ODOT auditorium should be scheduled for the application review meeting held in late February.
  2. Technical assistance is provided as requested by applicant or MPO.

PROCEDURE NO. STP - 2a

Last Update: Rev 07/06/2004

PROCEDURE/PROCESS: CONGRATULATORY LETTERS

1.Once the Program of Projects and Program Budget are completed and submitted to FTA for approval (usually late June), congratulatory letters are drafted by the Program Coordinator.

  1. A Word Perfect merge file is developed. Data in the word perfect file will include contact, agency name, address, project id #, project number, and the type of vehicle, total cost, federal share and local share, (total cost, federal share and local share will not be completed for this letter) funded for each agency.

3.Letters are prepared for each agency included in the Program of Projects. Letter is saved as X:\SPECIAL\(yr)\congratlet.frm

4.A projected procurement schedule for the Program is prepared and attached to letter. Schedule includes timeline for local share, contracts, delivery of new vehicles and any other necessary information. Current schedule is saved as X:\SPECIAL\year\schedule.

  1. All letters are signed by the Director, routed through Rural Transit Manager and Office Administrator.

SPECIAL NOTES:

a.MPO=s and Districts should receive a copy of congratulatory letters for agencies in their area.

b.Copy of letter attached.

  1. Copy of procurement schedule attached.

Revised (07/06/2004)

PROCEDURE NO. STP - 2b

Last update: 9/18/01BAP

PROCEDURE/PROCESS: SO SORRY LETTERS

1.Once Program of Projects is completed and submitted to FTA for approval (usually by late June), Aso sorry letters@ are prepared by the Program Coordinator.

2.These letters are prepared and sent to each agency, which ODOT scored less than 75, the minimum score for approval. This would include all rural applications and any urban applications from Franklin, Montgomery, and Greene Counties. Letter currently used is saved as X:\SPECIAL\(year)reject.frm.

3.Each letter should provide the applicant with ways to strengthen their application in the future. These points should be specific to the individual application.

  1. A Word Perfect Merge file is developed. Information includes contact, agency, address and at least 2 or 3 areas that need strengthened in their application.

5.Letters should also offer one on one assistance from the Program Coordinator.

6.All letters are routed through the Rural Transit Manager and signed by the Administrator of the Office of Transit.

SPECIAL NOTES:

A.Refer to previous year=s file for sample letter.

  1. Copy of letter attached.
  1. Examples of variables for letter are attached.

(9/18/01BAP)

PROCEDURE NO. STP - 3

Last Update: 9/18/01ra

PROCEDURE/PROCESS: POP Submissions & Updates

A new Program of Projects is developed each year to obligate our annual 5310 Allocation; the initial POP is submitted to the Region V office on or before each July 1.

There are two parts to the POP process, the first is the original POP submission and the second is the POP update.

(A)POP Submissions

The Specialized Transportation Coordinator develops a new Program of Projects each year to obligate our annual 5310 Allocation; the initial POP is submitted to the Region V office on or before each July 1.

1.The POP is developed using approved rural and urbanized Specialized Transportation Program applications.

2.Using TGIS POP report form all necessary information is entered into the following reports:

Names and Address table,

Grant Processing/Section 16, and

Components and Subcomponents

Open TGIS go to Grants Processing (enter), Go to Section 16(enter) you should now be in the LGRANT table screen. Now you need to enter the following information:

a.Enter the Grantee by using the pull down menu screen. Pick the appropriate grantee and click your mouse and the Grantee will be automatically entered on the line.

b.Next, Enter the State Fiscal Year (FY).

c.Enter the Federal Grant number, which is the OH-16-XXXX number for the next POP in the sequence. For Example, Federal Fiscal year 1996, OH-16-X021.

d.Enter the Federal Fiscal Year that we are applying.

e.Enter the Fund Code (FC): the most used FC=s are, 00 for capital, 04 for operating, 06 for project administration, and 09 for contingency which are Category C projects.

f.Enter the Federal Category: all operating and capital projects should be entered as Category B (CAT B) projects. CAT B's are moved to CAT A's as soon as contracts are going to be issued; this will be done when you prepare a POP Update at a later time. CAT C projects are always contingency projects, which is basically the plug figure for the POP.

g.Enter the Grant Class: use 01 for operating, 09 for capital, or 05 for Program Reserve. The Program Reserve class is again where contingency funds will go as a plug.

h.Enter the Federal and Local amounts on the Request Line (NOT under Contracts). The final contract amounts are entered once the contract is completed. The request line amounts will allow you to print out the POP report.

I.The entry requests you to enter if the grant is open or closed just enter Y for yes.

Once you are done entering all the POP projects then you may go ahead and print out the POP form which is under the Select Report option, go to Item #16 highlight and enter, TGIS will prompt you to enter the following: FY (this is the federal fiscal year), Apportionment (this can be obtained off the Federal Apportionments that FTA sends out or go see Seth), Carryover Funds ( you should not have any when first applying), Transfer Funds (you should not have any of these either but check with Seth) and the POP number which is the OH-16-XXXX number (you need to only enter the last three digits, for example, OH-168-X021 would be enter as 016.

4.Prepare cover letter and address to: Mr. Joel Ettinger, Federal Transit Administration, Region V, 55 E. Monroe Street, Suite 1415, Chicago, Illinois 60603. Attach the POP, FTA Budget, RTAP Budget, and Anticipated Schedule for Completing Projects.

SPECIAL NOTES:Please note that the way in which we submit the POP is changing very fast, the next submission may be due through the GMIS system, which is the federal computerized system for submitting and updating grants. We are also changing the way we are entering the information into TGIS, for instance, we are working on a way to enter the FTA Codes during the POP initial budget set-up, after this is completed, it will eliminate the need for running the FTA budget through Quattro Pro.

(B)Updates

POP updates are completed each quarter only if there are changes that have occurred during the quarter that warrant an update. The following are the steps when updating the POP.

1.First print-out the most up to date POP by going into TGIS, Enter Microsoft Access: tgis (tab) tgis, Pull up file x:\TGIS\TGIS.MDB.; go to Grant Processing; go to Select Report: #16 Section 18 Program of Projects.

After selecting the report, five boxes will prompt you in the following order: Fiscal year, Apportionment, Carryover Funds, Transfer Funds, and POP #. This information is found on the front page of the previous update or the original application submission.

Once the report is printed out, compare the current POP to the previous POP. Review line items to check for differences. Differences will occur for the following reasons:

A.Category Updates: Moving Category B or C items to Category A.

B.When making application changes that cause the original budget to change.

C.Transfers to other POP xooo reports.

Note the changes that need to be made on both reports as needed. Go back into TGIS and make the necessary project changes. Make sure you track each change on a separate spreadsheet that is in Quattro Pro, For example when making transfers, deletions, category moves or additions enter this information in c:/qwp/pop/bud97016.wb2, under file tab Achang 0x@.

2.It is important to note that the report must balance: FY Apportionment + Carryover Funds + Transfer Funds = Total Funds Available. Remember that you when running the report enter the three amounts above the Total Funds Available amount manually. The Total Funds Available amount is generated by the system and must balance with the Grand Total Federal Share amount on the last page of the POP Report.

In order to balance the report if the Total Funds Available is less than the total needed then you must plug the difference into Program Reserve under Category

SUMMARY: Note that the most important step of preparing the POP submission or update is to pull the previous submission and updates to use as examples and especially to work off of when preparing an update. Moreover, as always ask questions of your supervisors and other workers if you don=t understand something.

Reconciliations for Project Close-outs: See RTP-13(b) for instructions on close-out.

(9/18/01ra)

PROCEDURE NO. STP - 6b

Last Update: 8/28/01-bap

PROCEDURE/PROCESS: CONTRACTS PREPARATION

  1. Contracts are set-up in a Microsoft word file using the data in TGIS. The contract is saved as x:special\(yr)pg1contract.doc. You will be prompted for the year and then all contracts will be merged with the information in TGIS. You can either print the entire file or print selected pages.
  1. Once contracts and invoices (see Procedure STP-6a for preparing invoices) are prepared, a letter from the Office Administrator transmitting both the contract and local share invoice is prepared. This merge letter is saved under X:\SPECIAL\(yr)LET20%.frm.
  1. Assemble the letter, local share invoice, and contract; only one copy of the contract and invoice is needed. Circulate the package to the Rural Transit Manager, Office Administrator, and Deputy Directory for approval initials and signature by Administrator (letter) and contract (Deputy Director for Director).
  1. Program Coordinator is responsible for mailing letter, invoice, and contract. Agencies are given 30 days to remit local share and executed contract.
  1. Grants Coordinator is responsible for logging in all executed contracts once returned and to deposit local share checks. (see Procedure STP-6(b) for further details)
  1. Program Coordinator periodically reviews log file updated by Grants Coordinator (see Procedure STP-6b and 6c) and performs follow-up on delinquent contracts and local share checks.

SPECIAL NOTES:

a.In an MPO area the MPO contact should receive a copy of the transmittal letter, as should the District.

  1. See attached copy of the TGIS print screen with highlights.
  2. See attached copies of the transmittal letter, invoice, and contract.
  3. Steps 2-6 are the same as for STP-6a, Invoice Preparation.

8/28/01-bap

PROCEDURE NO. STP - 6b

Last Update: 8/28/01-bap

PROCEDURE/PROCESS: CONTRACTS PREPARATION

  1. Contracts are set-up in a Microsoft word file using the data in TGIS. The contract is saved as x:special\(yr)pg1contract.doc. You will be prompted for the year and then all contracts will be merged with the information in TGIS. You can either print the entire file or print selected pages.
  1. Once contracts and invoices (see Procedure STP-6a for preparing invoices) are prepared, a letter from the Office Administrator transmitting both the contract and local share invoice is prepared. This merge letter is saved under X:\SPECIAL\(yr)LET20%.frm.
  1. Assemble the letter, local share invoice, and contract; only one copy of the contract and invoice is needed. Circulate the package to the Rural Transit Manager, Office Administrator, and Deputy Directory for approval initials and signature by Administrator (letter) and contract (Deputy Director for Director).
  1. Program Coordinator is responsible for mailing letter, invoice, and contract. Agencies are given 30 days to remit local share and executed contract.
  1. Grants Coordinator is responsible for logging in all executed contracts once returned and to deposit local share checks. (see Procedure STP-6(b) for further details)
  1. Program Coordinator periodically reviews log file updated by Grants Coordinator (see Procedure STP-6b and 6c) and performs follow-up on delinquent contracts and local share checks.

SPECIAL NOTES:

a.In an MPO area the MPO contact should receive a copy of the transmittal letter, as should the District.

  1. See attached copy of the TGIS print screen with highlights.
  2. See attached copies of the transmittal letter, invoice, and contract.
  3. Steps 2-6 are the same as for STP-6a, Invoice Preparation.

8/28/01-bap

PROCEDURE NO. STP - 6a

Last Update: 09/18/01-bap

PROCEDURE/PROCESS: LOCAL SHARE INVOICE PREPARATION

1.As soon as bids are awarded the Specialized Transportation Program Coordinator determines the local share for each project, normally 20% of the total cost of the capital item.

2.Invoice numbers are assigned to each project. Invoice numbers are logged in the Accounts Receivables notebook (orange) kept in the fiscal grant coordinators office.