Delaware River Port Authority Board Meeting
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DELAWARE RIVER PORT AUTHORITY BOARD MEETING Wednesday, March 17, 2021 9:00 a.m. One Port Center Board Room Camden, NJ John T. Hanson, Chief Executive Officer 1 DRPA BOARD 2 DELAWARE RIVER PORT AUTHORITY BOARD MEETING Wednesday, March 17, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. One Port Center 2 Riverside Drive Camden, New Jersey ORDER OF BUSINESS 1. Roll Call 2. Public Comment 3. Report of the CEO – March 2021 4. Report of the CFO 5. Approval of February 17, 2021 Board Meeting Minutes 6. Monthly List of Previously Approved List of Payments – February 2021 7. Monthly List of Previously Approved Purchase Orders and Contracts – February 2021 8. Approval of Operations & Maintenance Committee Meeting Minutes of March 2, 2021 9. Adopt Resolutions Approved by Operations & Maintenance Committee of March 2, 2021 DRPA-21-022 PATCO Backup Generator Program. 10. Approval of Labor Committee Meeting Minutes of March 2, 2021 11. Approval of Finance Committee Meeting Minutes of March 3, 2021 12. Adopt Resolutions Approved by Finance Committee of March 3, 2021 DRPA-21-011 Server and Storage Upgrades. DRPA-21-012 Windows 10 Upgrade. DRPA-21-013 Cisco Smartnet Maintenance Agreement. DRPA-21-023 Commvault Maintenance Agreement Renewal. 13. Approval of Audit Committee Meeting Minutes of March 3, 2021 3 14. Adopt Resolutions Approved by Audit Committee of March 3, 2021 DRPA-21-024 New Citizens Advisory Committee Member – Joseph Russell. 15. Citizens Advisory Report 16. Unfinished Business 17. New Business DRPA-21-025 Consideration of Pending DRPA Contracts. (Between $25,000 and $100,000) 18. Adjournment 4 CEO REPORT 5 Report of the Chief Executive Officer March 17, 2021 Board of Commissioners Delaware River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey One Port Center 2 Riverside Drive Camden, New Jersey 08101-1949 To the Commissioners: The following is a summary of recent DRPA activities. The appropriate reports are attached. AROUND THE AUTHORITY Black History is American History Black History is American History — full stop. Last month, our nation celebrated Black History Month. Since 1976, our we have recognized Black History Month in the United States every February. At the beginning of the month, I issued a statement to all employees explaining the origins and purpose of the month-long celebration. For many, the understanding of Black history is limited to the atrocities of slavery or the civil rights era. Yes, these points in our nation’s history are critically important and should never be minimized or 6 forgotten, but Black History Month is about much more. It’s an opportunity for all Americans, not just Black Americans, to learn about and appreciate the many contributions, accomplishments, and achievements of Blacks to our country, in the areas of politics, leadership, invention, culture, community, traditions, among others. While I recognize the value of dedicating a special month to celebrate these rich accomplishments, I am of the opinion that these contributions must be acknowledged every day, not just in February. For these reasons, during Black History Month and year-round, and as part of my continued conversation about race, I am encouraging employees to look for meaningful and thoughtful ways to learn more about important people and events that have helped to shape our nation’s rich history. As a member of the Board of the African American Museum in Philadelphia, I look forward to contributing to the organization as a board member and learning and growing from the experience. I invited employees to tell me what they planned to do to recognize Black History Month, now and throughout the year. I heard from quite a few employees. I plan to continue this important discussion. Update: Successful Completion of OBD&EO 2021 EEO Policy Return On January 19, 2021 Chief Administrative Officer Toni P. Brown sent the 2021 EEO policies to all DRPA & PATCO employees. The policy packet included the 2021 EEO Policy Statement, the Policy Against Sex Harassment, Policy Against Harassment not Related to Sex, Guidance on Email & Internet Use. The packet also included a statement from me on Equal Opportunity, Diversity and Inclusion. In her email, CAO Brown instructed employees to review all policies and return the receipt of acknowledgement to a designated email box before February 5, 2021. This year the process was revised in order to accommodate staff working remotely and staggering schedules. All forms were to be completed electronically, or completed in physical copy, scanned and sent to [email protected]. At this time all active employees have returned their signed EEO receipts. Those forms will be printed and filed in each employee’s personnel file with Human Resource Services. Special thanks is extended to Erin Watterson, EEO Specialist, and Patricia McGuire, Administrative Coordinator in Human Resource Services, for coordinating the collection of the acknowledgment forms under this new process necessitated as a result of some employees working remotely. 7 Your COVID-19 Workplace Resource Center Portal Updated to Include COVID-19 Vaccine Information, Contact Tracing Apps, & Link to V-Safe Site Earlier this month, the employee portal - - Your COVID-19 Workplace Resource Center -- was updated to provide COVID-19 vaccine information. The new section of the portal includes links to sites to register and/or schedule a vaccine appointment in Pennsylvania and New Jersey within the 13-county port district. The portal also now shows an employee, once vaccinated, how to voluntarily register for V-Safe (vsafe.cdc.gov). Once registered, a vaccinated individual uses a smartphone to report side effects from the vaccine to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Depending on the information provided, someone from the CDC may call to check on the person’s symptoms and get additional information. The portal also provides employees who wish to protect themselves, their family and friends, with links to contact tracing apps: https://www.pa.gov/covid/covid-alert-pa/ and https://covid19.nj.gov/pages/app. The Cross-functional COVID-19 Task Force frequently updates the portal to ensure our employees have the most recent information about the COVID-19 pandemic, the vaccines, and the Phased Re-Entry Plan. Our DRPA and PATCO colleagues are encouraged to check the portal for this valuable information. COVID-19 Tracker This COVID-19 Tracker information on the employee portal reflects our commitment to authentic communication and transparency related to the health, safety, and overall well-being of our employees and the community we serve. The tracker, which will be updated on Mondays by 5 p.m., tracks cumulative COVID-19 cases, as well as suspected exposures and quarantine cases since March 19, 2020. We hope employees find this data informative. COVID-19 Weekly Updates - A message from CAO Toni P. Brown For months, Chief Administrative Officer Brown has been providing members of the Administration Division with regular updates related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Until recently, the briefings were verbal and generally occurred during her team’s Monday morning touch points. Because there is so much information (and misinformation) available to all of us, she transitioned her weekly COVID-19 briefings to PowerPoint slide decks. This format allows CAO Brown to share data and links to resources that may add additional context and clarity to the issues discussed. Each slide deck includes: statistics regarding COVID-19 cases (worldwide, in the U.S., and in NJ and PA), vaccine information, other points of interest, including important public service announcements. 8 In keeping with my commitment to authentic communication, I asked CAO Brown to begin to share the weekly slide decks with all DRPA/PATCO employees. She agreed to do so, and also agreed to upload to the COVID-19 portal the prior slide decks (12 decks) that she previously shared with her team. The decks are intended to help employees and their families navigate through the information that is available on the topic. It’s intended to supplement the research we are sure employees are doing on their own. Going forward, all DRPA/PATCO employees can expect weekly slide decks to posted on the COVID-19 portal every Monday, by the close of business. Human Resource Services (HRS) Department and COVID-19 Testing Precautions The COVID-19 Pandemic and its impact on the Authority has sparked innovative ideas and collaboration between Human Resource Services (HRS) and other departments as we find ways to improve the provision of our services. A few months ago, we reported that we recently implemented an online onboarding platform for our new hire orientation process, allowing new hires to be introduced to the Authority and its policies and procedures in a virtual space, keeping everyone safe. HRS currently is conducting hands-on train operator and dispatcher trainee testing at PATCO. We have revised the testing procedures to make sure we are in compliance with the Return to Work Plan as set forth in the “Journey Back to the Workplace” at pages 18 and 19. Specifically, HRS has ensured that: 1. candidates completed waivers of liability (including the COVID-19 waiver) before coming to the test site; 2. candidates did not come to the test site if they were sick; 3. candidates came to the test site with the appropriate PPE; and 4. all testing was conducted with appropriate social distancing. Many thanks to John Barrett, Director, Equipment, for providing additional PPE, for providing custodians to clean and sanitize the train used for testing in between candidates and for working with HRS to come up with a plan to adapt this hands-on test so that we can continue to provide Transit Services with the qualified employees needed to conduct the work of the Authority. We also thank Beth Pratt, Acting Director, Transit Services, and staff and Dave Fullerton, Director, Safety Services and his staff for assisting HRS in the administration of the tests.