FLINT HILLS AREA TRANSPORTATION AGENCY INC. BOARD MEETING AGENDA Tuesday, January 5th, 2021 This Meeting Will Be a Remote Meeting on Zoom Time: 4:00 p.m. Call to order Welcome board members and guests Approval of the Minutes of the December Meeting- Executive Director’s Report-Anne Smith Director of Operations Report- Merl Page Mobility Management Report- Mike Wilson New Business- Unfinished business- Discussion item-Executive Committee Appointment Action item- Approve Executive Committee Appointment Discussion item- Nominating Committee Appointment-2 members Action item- Approve Nominating Committee Appointment-2 members Discussion item- Memorandum of Understanding Shared Services and Joint Operations Additional business to be brought before the board Meeting adjourned and our next meeting will be on February 2nd, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. FLINT HILLS AREA TRANSPORTATION AGENCY INC. BOARD MEETING December 1, 2020 | 4:00 pm Remote meeting via Zoom VOTING MEMBERS Present Stephanie Peterson – Flint Hills MPO – President Absent Derek Jackson – KSU Housing & Dining Present Lorene Oppy – At Large Absent Karen McCulloh – At Large Present Jon Wilson – At Large Present Marissa Jones-Flaget – At Large Present Kaitlin McGuire – At Large FHATA STAFF MEMBERS Present Anne Smith – Executive Director Present Melanie Tuttle – Director of Finance – Treasurer Present Merl Page – Director of Operations Absent Mike Wilson - Mobility Manager Present Daphne McNelly – Executive Administrator – Secretary Present Katey Cain – Director of Human Resources MINUTES: Call to Order/Welcome Board Members - Stephanie Peterson at 4:01 pm. Public Comment – No public in attendance Approval of the Minutes from October 2020 Jon Wilson moved to Approve the Minutes. Kaitlin McGuire seconded the motion. All were in favor and motion carried unanimously. Update – aTa Staff Anne Smith on behalf of Mike Wilson - The current brochures have been translated into Spanish. ATA Bus is now going to be working on getting the ADA Paperwork translated also. Merl Page – We began the Friendship Meals yesterday, November 30, where ATA Bus is helping deliver Meals on Wheels to local people in need. The Junction City process is being worked on for the current moment. ATA Bus is thankful to be able to give back to the community. Blessing Box – Utilize the Board Members in regards to finding solutions for helping the Junction City community Update on App – Anne Smith - ATA Bus will be working with Swiftly to try and develop the App. ATA Bus will not be working with Reveal for the App and will be sending a letter as a complaint. Action Item – Approve the FY 2021 Budget o Melanie Tuttle – The budget was sent out a couple of months ago and no questions were received. There was no further discussion needed. Jon Wilson moved to approve the FY 2021 Budget. Kaitlin McGuire seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried unanimously. Action Item – Approve the Update to the Procurement Policy o Melanie Tuttle – Sent out her notes to the policy changes. ATA Bus has to send it to KDOT so that it can be finalized. It was vetted during the Tri-Annual Review Audit and most changes were just administrative. Jon Wilson moved to approve the updates to the Procurement Policy. Kaitlin McGuire seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried unanimously. Action Item – Nominations for Board Chair and Vice Chair o Anne Smith – The nominees are Stephanie Peterson for Board Chair and Jon Wilson for Vice Chair. Kaitlin McGuire moved to close the nominations for the Board Chair and Vice Chair. Lorene Oppy seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried unanimously. Action Item – Accept the Full Slate of Elected Officers for the Flint Hills Area Transportation Inc. Board o Anne Smith – Accept the Full Slate of Elected Officers for the Flint Hills Area Transportation Inc. Board being Stephanie Peterson for Board Chair and Jon Wilson for Vice Chair. Kaitlin McGuire moved to accept the slate of Officers presented for the Flint Hills Area Transportation Agency Inc. Board. Lorene Oppy seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion carried unanimously. Discussion Item – o The memos have been helpful to the board members to get information and also be able to reference back to as we move forward. Additional Business – Anne Smith – A draft cooperative agreement was returned from the Attorney that helps define the relationship of the two entities, including the boards, and establishing rules of engagement along with fiscal agencies. Meeting was adjourned at 4:23 pm by Stephanie Peterson. Next meeting is January 5, 2021 at 4:00 pm via Zoom Memorandum Flint Hills Area Transportation Agency Inc. Date: 29 December 2020 Subject: Board Meeting Update From: Anne Smith Executive Director To: The Directors of the Board of FHATA Inc and the FHATA Board In December, for the first time since the pandemic began we experienced staff cases of Covid-19. As they say, when it rains it pours, the cases have occurred over about a 2.5 week period. There have been both office staff and Drivers who have tested positive. We have added additional protective barriers in the Dispatch and Scheduling areas and we have also continued our cleaning and sanitizing protocols. We are also looking at an additional protective barrier device for the Drivers We have been in contact with the Riley County Health Department and we have notified the public as appropriate when any Driver has tested positive. Fortunately to date, no one has experienced a severe case. Thanks to Katey and Melanie for their assistance to the employees who have tested positive, the process could be overwhelming for the employees and they have made it seamless and concise As I am writing this Melanie reports that there has been an extension on the COVID sick pay through the 31st of March 2021, we are going to take advantage of that provision of the new legislation just signed into law. As essential employees, FTA has been advocating for transit employees to receive the Covid vaccine as soon as possible. The Kansas Public Transit Association has written a letter to KDHE encouraging the State of Kansas to allow transit employees to receive the vaccine quickly as well. I will let you know when the vaccine is available to our employees. There is a strong likelihood that the Jardine route will not operate for the Spring Semester after all due to the on-going budget challenges that K-State is experiencing. The loss of both fixed route services on campus creates a significant impact for our budget. Hopefully, this will be a short term challenge. On a more positive note, since last month, Konza United Way has awarded us with $22,600 in funding for 2021. The funding level in 2020 was $25,200. Given the challenges that I know that they have faced raising funds, this level of support speaks highly of their commitment to support public transportation in the region. This month enclosed in your board packet you will find a draft “Memorandum of Understanding Regarding Shared Services and Joint Operations” This document establishes an agreement between the FHATA Board and FHATA Inc, that spells out the manner of the relationship between the two entities, the use of the shared resources and the provision of fiscal management support by the FHATA Inc., on behalf of the FHATA Board. Melanie and I worked with Jason Lacey at Foulston Siefkin LLP, in Wichita. The firm was recommended to us by Assurance Partners. We will happy to take any questions that you may have back to Mr. Lacey, I would like to have both boards approving this agreement as soon as it is practical to do so. In an effort to start the year off on a hopeful note, January will be a “fare free” month for riders on all services in both Manhattan and Junction City. Additionally, with the completion of the construction along Kimball Av and College Av, we have been able to re-open routes 2 and 3 in Manhattan. The final bus from Diamond Coach should be delivered by next week. In the coming weeks, six buses will be retired from the fleet, the first three will be going to Purple Wave Auction soon. AngelTrax (IVS, Inc.) has been awarded our contract for bus cameras. Thank you to Mike Wilson and Riley County IT for their assistance in evaluating the bids. The cameras have been a long time coming and they will provide an added level of security that we have not had before. There will be cameras on the interior of the bus as well as the outside. Memorandum Flint Hills Area Transportation Agency Inc. Date: 29 December 2020 Subject: Board Meeting Update From: Melanie Tuttle Finance Director To: The Directors of the Board of FHATA Inc and the FHATA Board I had a great question from one of the board members regarding the financial reports that I present to the Board each month. I believe this information could be helpful to others so I thought I would share that comment with everyone as part of my memo. Quick summary of how our major funding works 5311 Program: (operating and admin) 5311 Federal Program - 50% of our 5311 operations are covered by Rural funding programs (50/50) + we get approximately 10% of the federal apportionment for administrative costs (80/20). This is a use it or lose it grant, for which we apply for yearly. State Matching Funds - each year the state provides a matching contribution, the past 2 years that match has been 20%, but it can fluctuate, I have seen it go as low as 15% (there is talk of increasing it to 25%) Local Matching Funds - that leaves the remaining 20% to be paid with matching funds for 5311 those funds come from Geary County, Pottawatomie County, USD 475, small portion of Riley County is apportioned for rural DR rides, and the K-18 funding partners (GTM.