Ames Transit Agency Board of Trustees Cyride Conference Room
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AMES TRANSIT AGENCY BOARD OF TRUSTEES CYRIDE CONFERENCE ROOM March 11, 2013 1. CALL TO ORDER: 5:15 P.M. 2. Approval of February 14 and 22, 2013 Minutes 3. Public Comments 4. Intermodal Artwork Purchase 5. Transit Advertising Policy Revision 6. Title VI Service Standards and Policies 7. Budget Proposals to Address ISU Enrollment Increases 8. Transit Director’s Report 9. Set Time and Place of Next Meeting • April 11, 2013 – 5:30 pm • May 9, 2013 – 5:30 pm 10. Adjourn 0 AMES TRANSIT AGENCY BOARD OF TRUSTEES AMES, IOWA February 14, 2013 The Ames Transit Agency Board of Trustees met February 14, 2013 at 5:30 p.m. in the CyRide Conference room. President Anders arrived at 5:40 p.m. and until a quorum was met, Director Kyras proceeded with information from the Transit Director’s report, which is information only and requires no action. Items discussed were: • Next Bus Update • Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Policy • State Legislative Activities • CyRide’s highest Ridership Day • Research on Development Impact on Transit • Contract Expirations and Negotiations Trustee Leines arrived at 5:55 p.m. and President Anders called the meeting to order at 5:55 p.m. Trustees in attendance were Anders, Madden, Leines, and Wacha. Trustees Schainker and Rediske were absent. Director Kyras recommended deferring #5 Title VI Service Standards and Policies to the next transit board meeting, March 11, 2013 to accommodate members who were not able to make the meeting. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Trustee Leines made a motion to adopt the January 17, 2013 minutes and Trustee Madden seconded the motion. (Ayes, four. Nays, none.) Motion carried. PUBLIC COMMENTS: Public in attendance was Ames Tribune reporter, James Heggen. CYRIDE FACILITY CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT: Director Kyras stated the bid for the construction project was released January 3, 2013 that included a flood wall and gates, expansion for eleven additional vehicles, raising of ductwork to permit circulation of hybrid buses throughout building, and miscellaneous facility repairs. Funding was secured through several state and federal sources with $5.6 million currently available. Bids were received February 6, 2013, which included a deduct bid alternate in case the bids came in higher than budgeted. The low bidder was Henkel Construction Company of Mason City at $4.489 million, approximately half a million dollars under the construction budget. One issue required additional investigation prior to award of a contact - Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) participation. CyRide must comply with federal requirements regarding the inclusion of disadvantaged businesses within federal projects. The DBE goal for this project was 3.5%. The low bidder, Henkel, as well as the other bidders included 0%. CyRide staff held small business meetings with DBE firms and General Contractors as well as stressed the need to include DBE firms in the work to be completed with the project. With the low bidder not meeting the 3.5% goal, this bidder was required to document and submit its Good Faith Efforts to try to obtain DBE firms. Based on Henkel Construction’s documentation and conversations with FTA, CyRide decided Henkel Construction Company had met the Good Faith Efforts required allowing Henkel Construction to be considered the lowest, responsive bidder. The bid was approved at the February 12, 2013 City Council meeting, contingent upon the Transit Board and DOT’s approval. Trustee Madden motioned for approval of Alternative #1, contingent on IDOT approval, to award the construction contract to Henkel Construction Company of Mason City, Iowa for a lump sum amount of $4,489,000. Motion seconded by Trustee Wacha. President Anders asked to confirm that the DBE concern had been resolved. Director Kyras confirmed that Henkel Construction Company had met all requirements stating that they had taken IDOT’s DBE list and sent an email to all firms on this list, receiving only one DBE bid in return. This bid was three times higher than the low bid for the work to be supplied. Additionally, Henkel Construction validated that they had worked with this firm on previous projects. (Ayes: Four. Nays: None.) Motion carried. TITLE VI SERVICE STANDARDS AND POLICIES: Agenda item deferred to March 11, 2013 Transit Board meeting. ISU MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT – INTERMODAL FIBER ENHANCEMENT: Director Kyras explained that CyRide was getting close to closing out the Intermodal Facility project and using all federal funding. However, a project enhancement had been identified that would use remaining funds and provide a benefit to the facility and its users. This enhancement would install fiber to the facility from Iowa State University. Included in this project would be safety features such as remotely locking restroom, shower and other doors at pre-determined times. The fire, elevator, and intrusion alarms would also be linked to Iowa State University’s Campus Police and the prepay machines connected to Iowa State’s system. A separate water meter for Executive Express’s garage area would also be installed. In order to expeditiously complete this work, an agreement (MOA) with Iowa State University (ISU) was developed to complete these activities. The MOA detailed the work to be done, its cost and that ISU will oversee its completion. The total cost of the project is $74,300 and completes these services provided in the Memorandum of Agreement included with the transit board packet. Director Kyras indicated that the MOA is current being reviewed by the City of Ames Legal Department and that approval of the document would need to be contingent upon Legal Counsel’s approval. President Anders asked if this needed an RFP and Director Kyras said no RFP is required because of CyRide’s contractual relationship with Iowa State University. Trustee Leines made a motion to approve Alternative #1 for a Memorandum of Agreement with Iowa State University and seconded by Trustee Wacha. Trustee Madden said he would need to abstain because of a conflict of interest. The Memorandum of Agreement was deferred due to the need to clarify whether the motion could be approved with three “aye” votes and an abstention. QUARTERLY REPORT Director Kyras highlighted the following quarterly report items. Ridership: • Ridership for the quarter was up 3% • Farebox revenue was up for the first two quarters, +1.8% • Expenses were higher due to fuel expenses Maintenance: • Interior cleaning is lower, but a significant higher number of buses than usual were cleaned the previous year • Mechanical problems are down • Expenses are a higher because of fuel Fixed-Route/Operations Trends: • Accidents are significantly lower – down 38% • Dollar amount for damage is down • Customer comments are down Dial-A-Ride Trends: • Dial-A-Ride reporting is behind with no statistics at this time • Discussions with HIRTA staff indicate that ridership is down Moonlight Express: • Ridership is lower year-to-date and for the quarter President Anders asked if the hybrid vehicles were meeting performance, as there was some concern with this technology in the beginning. Director Kyras indicated that the type of hybrid system in the buses was new technology, and that it did not immediately see significant improvement. However a little over 12 months after the buses began in operation, CyRide staff, working with the manufacturer, had been able to achieve an average improvement of 12 – 14 %; however, not the 20 – 25 % that the systems were supposed to be able to achieve. The next Transit Board meeting is March 11, 2013 at 5:15 p.m. The Transit Board meeting adjourned at 6:13 p.m. _________________________ ______________________________ Robert Anders, President Joanne Van Dyke, Recording Secretary AMES TRANSIT AGENCY BOARD OF TRUSTEES AMES, IOWA February 22, 2013 The Ames Transit Agency Board of Trustees met February 22, 2013 via conference call at 11:55 a.m. President Anders called the meeting to order at 11:58 a.m. Trustees in attendance were Anders, Schainker, Leines, Rediske, and Wacha. Absent: Trustee Madden. ISU MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT – INTERMODAL FIBER ENHANCEMENT: Director Kyras explained that the Transit Board was not able to take action on this item at the February 14, 2013 transit board meeting due to a lack of quorum. She further stated that the attached Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was between Iowa State University and CyRide/City of Ames for the enhancement of the Intermodal facility by installing a fiber connection between Iowa State University’s campus and the Intermodal facility. This enhancement will allow restroom and showers doors to be locked remotely and opened at specific times as well as additional doors within the terminal and bus garage. Fire, elevator, and intrusion alarms along with prepay machines will also be connected directly to the ISU’s Campus Police to alert them if there is trouble. One additional enhancement is also included in the MOA adding a water meter in the Executive Express garage that accurately records water usage so that utility billings to the carrier can be accomplished. Total cost for the enhancement is $74,300. Director Kyras reviewed the remaining dollars in the Intermodal Facility Grant. Director Kyras shared with the Transit Board that she had received a phone call from the Federal Transit Administration last week indicating they preferred the money for art be spent on something else other than the artwork, as the new transit bill does not include an art in transit program. As a result of that conversation, Director Kyras spoke with Trustees Madden and Schainker and a decision was made to not move forward with the art piece. However, Director Kyras received a phone call from the FTA just prior to this meeting and the FTA reversed this decision and again is strongly encouraging funding be spent to place artwork at the facility. Director Kyras stated that the only resolution to being able to purchase a piece of art in such a short period-of-time before the grant expires is to purchase a piece from Iowa State University, which is located by Morrill Hall and titled “Power Tennis”.