IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR April 26, 2023

6:00 p.m.

_______________________________________________________________­­­­________________

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                                City of Brawley                                       George Nava

                                                                City of Calipatria                                    Michael Luellen

                                                                City of Calexico                                      Absent

                                                                City of El Centro                                    Martha Cardenas-Singh

                                                                City of Imperial                                      Robert Amparano

                                                                City of Holtville                                       Mike Goodsell                

                                                                City of Westmorland                           Ana Beltran (zoom)

                                                                County of Imperial                                John Hawk

                                                                County of Imperial                                Luis Plancarte

                                                                Imperial Irrigation District                 Javier Gonzalez

STAFF PRESENT:               David Aguirre, Cristi Lerma, Maricela Galarza, Angela Delgadillo

OTHERS PRESENT:            Eric Havens: Counsel; Rafael Reyes, Ann Fox, Everett Townsend: Caltrans; David Salgado: SCAG

PUBLIC:                                None

The following action minutes are listed as they were acted upon by the Imperial County Transportation Commission and as listed on the agenda for the meeting held Wednesday, April 26, 2023, together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                    CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 

Chair Goodsell called the Commission meeting to order at 6:06 p.m. Roll call was taken, and a quorum was present.

II.                   EMERGENCY ITEMS

                There were none.  

III.                PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were none.

IV.                CONSENT CALENDAR

A.                  ICTC Commission Minutes:                                           March 22, 2023

B.            Receive and File:                                                                                                 

1.                   ICTC Management Committee Minutes: March 8, 2023

2.                   ICTC TAC Minutes:                                           March 23, 2023

3.                   ICTC SSTAC Minutes:                                       March 1, 2023

A motion was made by Cardenas-Singh and seconded by Amparano to approve the consent calendar as presented, roll call:         

                Motion Carried.

V.                  REPORTS

A.                  ICTC Executive Director

-          Drivers, utility workers, and maintenance staff are currently on strike associated with the operator First Transit. The Union, which covers the drivers, utility workers, and maintenance staff, was elected to go on strike on April 25th. Since then, IV Transit has been operating daily under while obtaining other drivers from other locations. Due to the strike, the Saturday schedule is being operated. All services are still available but limited. ICTC Staff have been to all the communities, having conversations with the public trying to use the transit service. All information was posted on social media and on the website. While the strike is going on, ICTC is not charging any fares on all services given the inconvenience.

-          FY 2023-24 Unmet Transit Needs Public Hearing Process: ICTC has collected public feedback on public transportation needs. This involves funding for various public transit services. ICTC had previously posted an online survey and physical surveys were available on our vehicles for passengers to complete. The UTN Findings meeting took place on April 24, 2023, at 3 p.m. at ICTC offices and via Zoom.

⁻          ICTC has prepared surveys available on all services websites. There are also physical surveys available on the vehicles for passengers to complete.

-          2022 Long Range Transportation Plan: This plan is currently being developed and it is planned to be completed in September 2023. There have been various outreach events:

-          El Centro Annual Air Show: March 11, at 8:30 a.m. 2024 Bennet Road, El Centro

-          Children’s and Family Health Fair: Wednesday, March 15, at 1:30 p.m. Grace Smith School Gym, 9 East 4th Street, Niland

-          Calexico Wellness Center Health Fair: March 22, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. 420 Heffernan Avenue, Calexico

-          Cesar Chavez Celebration Festival: Thursday, March 30, at 2 p.m. Rockwood Avenue Promenade in Downtown Calexico

-          42nd Annual Children’s Fair: Saturday, April 1, at 10 a.m. Bucklin Park, 8th Street and Ross Avenue, El Centro

⁻          Calexico Microtransit Service - Calexico on Demand went online on January 9th. It has been a big success so far. There was a period of a month when it was free. This ended on February 9th. When the service was free, there were about 180 passengers per day. Now that there is a fee, there are about 150 passengers per day. This is a ride-share program that operates within the city of Calexico. Three vehicles operate it daily. Monday-Friday 6 am-6 pm. The regular price is $2 per ride. Seniors (55+) and riders with disabilities ride for $1. This service was not affected by the strike.

⁻          Forrester Road Project Study Report (PSR): Caltrans District 11 has been working on a project report on behalf of ICTC. The PSR will analyze safety and operation improvements along Forrester Road between I-8 and SR86/SR78. Other improvements include the Westmorland bypass. A meeting to discuss the draft PSR was held at the ICTC offices on Wednesday, March 29, 2023, at 9 a.m. An updated PSR should be given to ICTC and will be brought to the Commission in the next couple of months.

⁻          Imperial Mexicali Binational Alliance (IMBA): The IMBA meeting was held on April 13, 2023, in the City of Mexicali. The meeting was available via Zoom and in person.

⁻          Calexico East Port of Entry Bridge Widening Project: This project is about 82% complete in construction efforts. The project is on hold until they receive the presidential permit to move forward.

⁻          State Route 86 Border Patrol Checkpoint is moving forward and there have been some additional design features that have been incorporated. The design is expected to be completed in late April 2023. There are continuous meetings that are held with CBP.

⁻          All other updates are on the Executive Director report on page 19 of the agenda.

B.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

⁻          The SCAG 2023 Regional Conference & General Assembly will be held May 4th-5th. It is free of charge for elected officials.

⁻          All other updates are on the SCAG report on page 26 of the agenda.

C.                  California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)- District 11   

-          The SR-98 widening project has its Stage 1 has been completed. After discussions between the construction team and the local stakeholders, it was decided to go to Stage 3, which is the Westbound direction from SR-111 to Rockwood. This decision was made due to it not having any businesses around it. This will minimize the impact on businesses during the holiday season. Following Stage 3, Caltrans will start with Stage 2.

-          I-8 Colorado River Bridge Rehab project will impact travel to Yuma. There were detours and construction that started in mid-February. Detours and temporary closures are expected and will be announced as the project progresses. Construction started in February 2023 and estimated completion is early 2021.

-          I-8, SR-78 Bridge Rehab at Various Locations: Started construction in mid-March and will continue for the next couple of months.

-          I-8 Roadside Safety Improvements: This project was approved and has a 55-day start. Construction is expected to start in May 2023 and estimated completion is spring 2024. The total project cost is estimated at $4.6 million.

-          Middle Mile Broadband Initiative: Caltrans is in the final stages of identifying a contractor that will help develop these projects. CDT has approved segments on SR78, SR86, SR111, and SR115 totaling 178 miles of middle-mile broadband deployment. Caltrans has begun design work for these segments. The total capital cost for construction is estimated at $62.3 million and the target completion date is December 2026.

-          Call for Projects for the Clean California Local Grant Program is out as of last week. The state is looking for applications for eligible projects that are either infrastructure or non-infrastructure projects that reduce litter, beautify public spaces, and improve public health. The grants are up to 5 million dollars. The deadline for application projects is April 28th.

-          Many maintenance and traffic operations are ongoing throughout the Imperial Valley.

-          July 10, 2023 – Deadline for Safe Streets & Roads for All (SS4A) Grant Program

-          Reconnecting Communities: Highways to Boulevards Pilot Program will have applications due in the summer.

-          Community Response Initiative to Strengthen Emergency Systems Grant (Pilot): Applications will be due to CDSS on July 14, 2023.

-          All other updates are on the Caltrans report on page 31 of the agenda.

D.                  Commission Member Reports

-          Updates were provided by various commissioners.

VI.                The next meeting will be on May 25, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at the ICTC Offices, 1503 N. Imperial Ave., Suite 104, El Centro, CA 92243, and via Zoom Meeting for the public.

VII.              ADJOURNMENT

A.                  Meeting Adjourned at 6:45 p.m.