Board of Directors - Regular Meeting - Jan 26, 2015 12:00 PM
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CAPITAL METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING 2910 East Fifth Street Austin, TX 78702
~ Minutes ~ Executive Assistant/Board Liaison Ed Easton 512-369-6040
Monday, January 26, 2015 12:02 PM Meeting Called To Order 3:09 PM Meeting Adjourned I. Pledge of Allegiance II. Safety Briefing Donna Simmons, Vice President of Administration, presented the safety briefing.
III. Recognition Donna Simmons, Vice President of Administration, introduced Chair Martinez and President Watson who presented James Hoskins, Program Manager, with the APTA Safety and Security Award for Capital Metro having three safety innovations in the Top 100 of public transit safety innovations of the last 100 years. IV. Public Comment: Doug Hodge, citizen, gave a short presentation to the board with photos of flooding issues on his property that he believes are caused by poor drainage in our adjacent rail right of way.
Robin Orlowski, citizen, stated to the board that our BRT fares are not priced according to the industry standards. Ms. Orlowski was not pleased with the fare increase of January 2015. She was also concerned about the safety issues of overcrowded buses.
Carlos Leon, citizen, talked about the good bus operators and the operators that are not so good. He realizes that Capital Metro receives compliments as well as complaints. Mr. Leon noted that he feels Route 803 operators are bullies and it is getting worse. He wants us to weed out the poor operators because they are abusing authority which puts everyone at risk.
Carlos Aleman, citizen, wants to see the board address the deficiencies that were listed in the FTA Compliance Review Report regarding MetroAccess. The service area 3/4 of a mile needs to be extended to include non-service area jurisdictions. The Sunset Valley area should not be denied. He suggested that board members attend the Access Advisory Committee meeting.
Stephanie Gharakhanian, Workers Defense Project, suggested that the board pass a resolution to develop worker safety and protection measures on future Capital Metro developments, which would include career pathways, monitoring progress and safe construction on jobs.
Christian Hurtado, citizen, construction worker. Mr. Hurtado supports a resolution to protect the construction workers. The workers want to be treated with dignity and respect and want their wellbeing to be protected. The board has the power to make these decisions and he is depending on the board to do the right thing in passing the resolution.
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John Elford, Pastor at UT stated that he has worked with the Workers Defense Project and he supports their initiatives. He has prayed and marched with the group. Please treat them with dignity and respect. The adoption of this resolution is a part of safety and therefore wants the board to do the right thing by passing this resolution.
Deborah Flores, citizen, rides MetroRail and transfers to a Flyer route daily. Ms. Flores suggested that Capital Metro hire more personnel to ride the rail to check passes. Many individuals are riding for free because there is no fare collector to check the tickets or the passes. At times she can overhear other riders saying it is free and that no one ever check the passes.
Sandy Seekamp, citizen, talked about the difference in riding the MetroAccess and the regular bus. With the electric wheelchair on the regular bus, the operator straps the individual in quickly, but sometimes they are not tight enough on the regular bus. Also there are only 2 spots on the regular bus for wheelchairs; therefore, there are passbys even if the bus itself is not full. Ms. Seekamp objects to taking the regular bus and prefers to travel via MetroAccess.
Mike Martinez, Chair wanted to know if there was an existing policy to handle passbys or operators directed to call for assistance of the passbys.
Chad Ballantine, Director of Paratransit stated that drivers should be calling in to report passbys. Operators do ask other passengers to allow the wheelchairs to individuals to ride; however, the operators cannot make the passenger move. Additionally, President Linda Watson added that we have been tracking the passbys in wheelchairs and bicycles and we are analyzing this issue and will update the board soon. Chris Riley, Vice Chair, wanted to know if staff if was tracking the passbys and whether or not staff is addressing this issue. Chad responded that there are not many options out there right now with more than 2 wheelchair capacities.
V. Advisory Committee Updates: 1. Customer Satisfaction Advisory Committee (CSAC) William Shamburg, Chair, gave the updates CSAC. The update included information for the December 2014 and the January 2015 meetings, which included presentations and resolutions on the following: Approval of draft 2015 Work Plan Complaint Process Republic Square Transit Hub Project Connect Downtown Gateway Station Legislative Update 2. Access Advisory Committee Report Martin Kareithi, Accessible Transportation Specialist gave the update for the previous AAC meeting which included: MetroAccess Monthly Statistics and Technology Report Officer Elections Access -A -Ride Working Group Appeals Hearing Annual Process Review
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Additionally, Chad Ballentine, Director of Paratransit, clarified information that was in the AAC minutes from January 7th, concerning negotiation of the schedule pickup time in which there is a 15 minute window. VI. Board Committee Updates: 1. Operations, Planning and Safety Committee Chris Riley, Committee Chair, gave the updates from the Operations, Planning and Safety Committee. The Committee made recommendations on three of today’s action items, which were discussed and have been placed on the consent agenda. 2. Finance, Audit and Administration Committee; and Terry Mitchell, Committee Chair, gave the updates for the Finance, Audit and Administration Committee. An item for Literature Distribution has been placed on the Consent Agenda today and there were presentations on the following: Internal Audit Implementation plan A Contract Modifications report CFO report An overview of Capital Metro’s Reserve Policy
The Committee also approved a performance rating for the Internal Auditor Caroline Beyer, who received a rating of “Far Exceeds”. 3. CAMPO update There was no CAMPO meeting for the month and no report was given. VII. Reports: President's Report Linda Watson, President & CEO presented the report. The President’s Report included the following items: Stuff the Bus Final Results MetroRail Downtown Multimodal Station Workshops begin Mobile Ticketing App Surpasses $1Million in Sales Green Business Initiative Award Comptroller’s Platinum Award for Financial Transparency John-Michael Cortez Departure to become Chief of Staff for Austin Mayor A brief fashion show from a local group that makes dresses out of old system maps VIII. Executive Session of Chapter 551 of the Texas Government Code: Section 551.072 for real property issues - Real Estate - Saltillo Property. IX. Consent Items
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Beverly Silas, board member moved and Chris Riley, Vice Chair seconded the items on the consent agenda to be approved. Passed 8-0. 1. Approval of December 15, 2014 board meeting minutes. 2. Approval of a resolution authorizing the President/CEO, or her designee, to negotiate and execute an interlocal agreement (ILA) with Travis County for transit services for the Northeast Flex Route through June 30, 2016, partially funded in an amount not to exceed $41,000 from Travis County. 3. Approval of a resolution authorizing the President/CEO, or her designee, to finalize and execute a contract with Whiting Systems, through a competitively awarded contract by the Houston Galveston Area Council Cooperative Purchasing Program (H-GAC), in an amount not to exceed $338,198 for the removal and replacement of two (2) Smart Wash Super Scout gantry wash systems, located at 509 Thompson Lane. 4. Approval of a resolution authorizing the President/CEO, or her designee, to finalize and execute a contract with Presidio to upgrade the current network system to improve network performance, reliability, and security, in an amount not to exceed $1,236,137 which consists of network equipment and installation services. 5. Approval of a resolution authorizing the President/CEO, or her designee, to finalize and execute a contract for Literature Distribution Services with SmartMail of Austin, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $768,745. X. Action Items: 1. Development of Worker Safety and Protection Policy. Mike Martinez, Chair, moved that this policy be put into place to protect and treat workers fairly. This would include issues such as living wages and worker safety. Ann Stafford, board member wanted to know if this was a Capital Metro policy or were we just using the Workers Defense policy because we want the policy to be a part of long life. Wade Cooper, board member suggested a study of all aspects of better building program and allow staff to come back with a recommendation. Kerri Butcher, Chief Counsel, suggested changing the word “incorporate” to “considers” in the Resolved.
Action Item #2 - Election of Capital Metro Board Officers
Chris Riley, Vice Chairman moved to postpone the election of Board Officers until the next meeting because of the transition that will be taking place with the and Chair stepping down. Wade Cooper, board member, seconded. Ann Stafford, board member, discussed that there is a learning curve and she had a friendly amendment to postpone the Board Officers election with a date no later than the February board meeting and to extend the current terms to the same time. Vice Chair Riley amended the motion to postpone the election of Board officers until the next Regular Meeting of the Board on February 23rd and for the current officers of the board to remain in office until such election is held. Board Member Cooper seconded. Kerri Butcher, Chief Counsel, suggested doing the same for the Committee Members and Chairs. The vote was 8-0.
Action Item #3 - Appointment of Board Committees and their Chairs
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This action item was also postponed to allow the election of Board Committees and their Chairs until the next Regular Meeting of the Board on February 23rd, and for the current officer of the committees to remain in office until such election is held. Vice-Chair Riley made the motion to postpone, Board Member Cooper seconded. The vote was 8-0. RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS] MOVER: Chris Riley, Vice Chair SECONDER: Mike Martinez, Chair AYES: Silas, Stafford, Mitchell, Word, Cooper, Siebold, Martinez, Riley XI. Presentations: 1. What's Next Frequent Service Proposal This item was postponed to a later meeting. 2. Staff Park and Ride Assessment Todd Hemingson, Vice President of Planning and Development, introduced Joe Clemons, Long Range Planning, who presented the Staff Park and Ride Assessment. Board and staff had discussion regarding several park and ride facilities and our outlook for the future, which included: How express lanes on Mopac will affect Great Hills P&R Capacity issues The possibility of using the Burger Center as a park and ride.
Senior Planner Roberto Gonzalez added that one issue with the Burger Center is that it can be difficult to get in and out of. 3. Real-Time Data & Digital Customer Communications This item was postponed to the next board of directors meeting. XII. Adjournment ADA Compliance Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications are provided upon request. Please call (512)389-7458 or email gina.estrada@capmetro.org if you need more information. BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Mike Martinez, chairperson; Chris Riley, vice chair; Ann Stafford, board secretary; David Siebold; Beverly S. Silas; Juli Word; Wade Cooper and Terry Mitchell. Board Liaison: Gina Estrada (512)389-7458, email gina.estrada@capmetro.org if you need more information. The Board of Directors may go into closed session under the Texas Open Meetings Act. In accordance with Texas Government Code, Section 551.071, consultation with attorney for any legal issues, under Section 551.072 for real property issues; under Section 551.074 for personnel matters, or under Section 551.076, for deliberation regarding the deployment or implementation of security personnel or devices; arising regarding any item listed on this agenda.
______Gloria E. Barnes Date Board/Legal Support Specialist
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