HDC July 8 2021 Agenda and Reports Packet
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING AGENDA Thursday, July 8, 2021 - 2:00 PM Members of the public may participate in the virtual meeting via Zoom info below. Please mute phones/computer audio, until you are called to speak. HDC JPA Board Virtual Meeting Info: Join HDC Board of Directors Meeting via Zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85280178141?pwd=T2dUV2VrdlRsUlpXL2ZwTFlWcjVnUT09&from=addon Meeting ID: 852 8017 8141 Passcode: 820837 One tap mobile +16699009128,,85280178141#,,,,*820837# US (San Jose) +13462487799,,85280178141#,,,,*820837# US (Houston) Dial by your location +1 669 900 9128 US (San Jose) +1 346 248 7799 US (Houston) +1 253 215 8782 US (Tacoma) +1 301 715 8592 US (Washington DC) +1 312 626 6799 US (Chicago) +1 646 558 8656 US (New York) Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kb3vtPlgjW HDC JPA BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBERS Chair, Supervisor Kathryn Barger, 5th Supervisorial District, Los Angeles County Vice Chair Colonel Paul Cook (Retired), Supervisor, 1st Supervisorial District, San Bernardino County Steve Hofbauer, Mayor, City of Palmdale/Los Angeles County Darrell Dorris, Council Member, City of Lancaster /Los Angeles County Dave Perry, Los Angeles County Debra Jones, Mayor, City of Victorville/San Bernardino County Scott Nassif, Council Member, Town of Apple Valley/San Bernardino County Gabriel Reyes, Mayor, City of Adelanto/San Bernardino County Vacant, Joint Appointment, San Bernardino County/Los Angeles County HDC JPA BOARD MEMBER ALTERNATES Richard Loa, Council Member, City of Palmdale/Los Angeles County Curt Emick, Mayor, Town of Apple Valley/San Bernardino County Elizabeth Becerra, Council Member, City of Victorville/San Bernardino County HDC JPA STAFF Executive Director: Arthur V. Sohikian Clerk: Lynna Monell, San Bernardino Clerk of the Board Auditor-Controller: Jessica Trillo, San Bernardino County Legal Counsel: John Tubbs II, Deputy County Counsel, San Bernardino County OPEN SESSION 1. CALL TO ORDER – Kathryn Barger, Chair 2. ROLL CALL 3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 4. PUBLIC COMMENTS: HDC JPA is conducting business remotely. HDC is committed to ensuring that our public meetings are accessible to the public and that the public can observe and address the meeting and to participate by providing written and oral comment on HDC matters. Please do not hesitate to reach out to Executive Director Arthur Sohikian at [email protected]. At this time members of the public can address the HDC Board of Directors regarding any items within the subject matter jurisdiction of the agency that are not separately listed on this agenda. Whenever possible, lengthy testimony should be presented to the Board in writing and only pertinent points presented orally. July 8, 2021, Board of Directors Meeting Agenda page 2 of 2 5. HDC JPA ELECTION OF BOARD OFFICERS FOR FY2021-22 Recommended Action: HDC JPA Election of Board Officers for FY2021-22. 6. HDC CORRESPONDENCE: San Bernardino Clerk of the Board, Lynna Monell i. HDC JPA letter transmitting the HDC High Speed Rail Project Resource Impact Analysis Report to Federal Railroad Administration, April 9, 2021 ii. HDC JPA Executive Director Remarks to San Bernardino County Transportation Authority Desert/Mountain Committee, June 18, 2021. iii. HDC JPA support letter for CA High Speed Rail Authority/City of Palmdale Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant for Palmdale Integrated Station Implementation Master Plan, June 30, 2021 iv. HDC JPA support letter for City of Palmdale Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant for Rancho Vista Boulevard Grade Separation, June 30, 2021. 7. MINUTES/RECAP OF PROCEEDINGS: San Bernardino Clerk of the Board, Lynna Monell Recommended Action: Approve April 8, 2021, HDC JPA Board Meeting Minutes. 8. HDC FY2021-22 BUDGET – Executive Director Recommended Action: A. Adopt the High Desert Corridor JPA Fiscal Year 2021-22 Recommended Budget B. Approve HDC Metro Funding Agreement for Surface Transportation Board Filing Fee 9. BRIGHTLINE WEST PROJECT UPDATE – Brightline West Recommended Action: Receive and File Update Report 10. HDC EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UPDATE REPORT – Executive Director Recommended Action: Receive and File Executive Director Update Report 11. HDC BOARD MEMBER FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 12. ADJOURNMENT. Next Board of Directors meeting October 14, 2021, at 2:00pm. April 9, 2021 HDC July 8, 2021 Board Meeting Report 6 Correspondence Ms. Marlys Osterhues Division Chief, Environmental and Project Engineering Federal Railroad Administration U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Ave, SE Washington, DC 20590 Emailed to: [email protected], Amitabha Bose, FRA Acting Administrator [email protected] Re: High Desert Corridor Rail Project (Project) – Resource Impact Analysis Report Dear Ms. Osterhues: Following up from discussions with your office and FRA leadership, the High Desert Corridor JPA is pleased to submit for your review the attached draft Resource Impact Analysis Report prepared by our consultant, Circlepoint, in connection with the re-evaluation of Final Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (HDC EIR/EIS) issued in June 2016 for the project. With this submittal, The High Desert Corridor JPA respectfully requests that you commence your formal review of the NEPA documentation in consideration for the issuance of a Record of Decision (ROD) by the FRA. We have also addressed your prior comments on the first half of the document previously delivered to you (Summary of Project Modifications). As our representatives have previously discussed with you and with the Build America Bureau, the HDC JPA anticipates applying for grants or loan funding to finance the project, as may be available from the FRA, for which the issuance of a ROD by FRA would be required. This report reevaluates the current rail Project design which includes some changes for the design evaluated in the HDC EIR/EIS document to determine if the prior results set forth in the HDC EIR/EIS remain valid or if new significant or previously unidentified impacts would occur. The draft Report concludes that the modified Project would not result in the need for a subsequent EIS for the reasons documented in detail in the draft Report. and Remarks presented virtually and for the record by Arthur V. Sohikian, Executive Director, High Desert Corridor JPA, to San Bernardino County Transportation Authority (SBCTA) June 18, 2021, 9:30am Mountain/Desert Committee on Agenda Item #4, High Desert Corridor Update Chair Rowe, Vice Chair Bishop, SBCTA Board members and Executive Director Dr. Wolfe, my name is Arthur Sohikian, Executive Director, High Desert Corridor JPA. I appreciate the opportunity to speak during public comment on Agenda Item #4, High Desert Corridor JPA Update. The HDC JPA has worked diligently for the mobility options outlined in the report to connect the high desert communities in the Antelope and Victor Valleys to the current HDC JPA pursuit of the High- Speed Rail Project Record of Decision with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) expected at years end/early 2022. There is an ongoing need for HDC JPA to bring together all transportation leaders at all levels of government, with the private sector, community and civic groups, and Tribal leadership, to combine investments for mobility options in the high desert corridor communities connecting Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. The untapped economic development along the HDC corridor that can connect underdeveloped areas of the counties of San Bernardino and Los Angeles to urban cores of Las Vegas and Los Angeles is vital to securing transportation investment in the region to bring mobility options, save lives, fill the equity gap, and spur economic development. The Covid pandemic exacerbated the transportation equity gap – this trend needs to be reversed. With the President’s Build Back Better Program, working with AMTRAK, CalSTA, CAHSR, LA Metro, Metrolink, and other higher speed rail operators, there is a significant opportunity to seek federal, state, and regional funding to build a HDC rail project leveraging voter-approved Measure M funds. I respectively disagree with the questionable state of the HDC JPA. To characterize the current effort and focus of the HDC JPA, the Authority respectively provides the following activities which HDC staff would have shared with SBCTA staff had an inquiry been made or a meeting been held: The HDC JPA plays an integral part in the transportation transformation to shrink the mobility equity gap in high desert communities as follows: • Los Angeles County voters overwhelmingly approve Measure M in 2016 that specifically mandates taxpayer funds through Los Angeles County Ordinance 16-01, Expenditure Plan Attachment A to the High Desert Multi-Purpose Corridor - LA County Segment as follows: Page 2 of 4 o $170,000,000 available in FY2019 to FY2021 with LA Metro seeking $100,000,000 in matching funds with the following footnote: Funding calculated based on estimated right-of-way acquisition costs; but can be repurposed for appropriate project uses, as approved by the MTA Board of Directors. o $1,845,000,000 in FY2063 to FY2067, with LA Metro seeking $32,900,000 in matching funds for a total of $1,878,000,000 for the High Desert Multi-Purpose Corridor. • This significant statement by Los Angeles County voters in Measure M is heard loud and clear by public and private officials seeking to leverage scarce transportation