IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR FEBRUARY 24, 2016

6:00 p.m.

________________________________________________________________________

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                                        City of Calexico           Maritza Hurtado

                                                                        City of El Centro          Cheryl Viegas-Walker

                                                                        City of Holtville           Jim Predmore

                                                                        City of Westmorland    Lawrence D. Ritchie

                                                                        County of Imperial       Ryan Kelley

NON-VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:                   

                                                                        Caltrans District 11       Bill Figge for Laurie Berman

STAFF PRESENT:     Mark Baza, Kathi Williams, Virginia Mendoza, David Salgado, Cristi Lerma, Guillermo Gonzalez

OTHERS PRESENT:  Sam Amen, Marcelo Peinado: Caltrans; Arnold San Miguel: SCAG; Bill Brunet, Codie Rowin: County of Imperial; Bob Douthitt: IVRMA; Ruben Duran, Aimee Osuna: City of El Centro

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 February 24, 2016 together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                    CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 

Chair Predmore called the Commission meeting to order at 6:01 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 motion was made by Walker and seconded by Hurtado to approve the consent calendar, Motion carried unanimously.

A.                 Approved ICTC Board Draft Minutes:                                        January 27, 2016

B.                  Received and Filed:     

1.                   ICTC Management Committee Draft Minutes:               February 10, 2016

2.                   ICTC TAC Draft Minutes:                                            January 28, 2016

3.                   ICTC SSTAC Minutes:                                                 January 6, 2016

V.                 REPORTS

A.                 ICTC Executive Director

                        Mr. Baza and staff had the following announcements:

-          On January 15th, SeaPort Airlines announced that it will discontinue all scheduled service to destinations in California and Mexico as of 11:59 pm on January 15, 2016.  According to their press release, the company was forced to take this action because of the impact on SeaPort’s business and operations following the effects of the shortage of airline pilots in the United States. Stations will be closed and service is to be ceased at the following California cities: Imperial, Burbank, Sacramento, San Diego, and Visalia, as well as, San Felipe, BC, Mexico.  The U.S. DOT issued an emergency RFP that closed on February 3, 2016.  Three proposals were received.  The proposals received were from Mokulele Airlines, Boutique Air, Inc. and Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd. 

·   The City of El Centro is supporting the proposal from Mokulele Airlines. They are a Hawaii based inter-island carrier and  propose aircraft similar to Sea Port with service to LAX and interoperability with Alaska, Air New Zealand and potential for others coming online.  

·   The County of Imperial is supporting Boutique Air Inc. They are headquartered in San Francisco and has been in operation since 2007 as a charter service provider, and operating as a commuter operator since 2014. Boutique proposes an 8-9 seat, modern, pressurized Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, with a term of 2 years, and 24 nonstop roundtrips to LAX, and one potential roundtrip to Phoenix.

·   The third proposer was Great Lakes Aviation, Ltd and is based in Cheyanne, Wyoming. They have been in operation for over 30 years. Great Lakes proposes 14 roundtrip flights from Imperial to Los Angeles and 14 roundtrip flights from Visalia to Los Angeles in Beech 1900-D aircraft.

-          Every three years, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) conducts an intensive review of practices and procedures to determine compliance with twenty-one (21) areas for the continued use of federal transit grant funding. The FTA review team visited ICTC on February 9th and 10th, 2016. ICTC staff received a comprehensive site review package for the on-site portion of the review. The FTA review team visited transfer terminals and the bus operations yard, and talked with staff from ICTC, Brawley, Imperial and El Centro and Imperial Valley Transit (IVT). The final draft report is anticipated within 30 days. The review was intensive and we received positive feedback on many of our requirements with minor direction for improvements.

-          Guillermo Gonzalez, the recently hired Regional Mobility Coordinator was introduced at the meeting.

-          The second Unmet Transit Needs (UTN) meeting will be held at the City of Brawley Council Chambers located at 383 Main Street on March 16, 2016 and will begin at 3:30 p.m.

-          A complete list of ICTC updates can be found on Page 21 of the agenda.

B.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

                        Mr. San Miguel had the following announcements:

-          The deadline to submit a SCAG Sustainability Award is March 1, 2016 at 2 p.m. Sustainability Awards recognize excellence in green region, active transportation and integrated planning. The award winners will be notified in late March, with an Awards Program to be held at the SCAG General Assembly on March 5-6, 2016 in La Quinta.

-          The SCAG scholarship program is accepting applications from students that are Junior/Seniors in high school with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. The deadline to submit an application is April 1, 2016. For more information go to: http://scag.ca.gov/opportunities/Pages/ScholarshipProgram.aspx

C.                  California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)

                        Mr. Figge had the following updates and announcements:

-          The signal posts are up on SR-78 and Hovley Road in Brawley for the Traffic Signal Project.  Crews were busy raising four posts for the new traffic signals and two posts for flashing beacons. Work will continue next week to install the electrical connections. The job is on track to be completed and the new traffic signals activated in March.

-          Caltrans initiated a traffic investigation to review field conditions, collision history and traffic collision reports for the intersection ofSR-115/Worthington Road in Holtville. The investigation analysis resulted in the recommendation of signing and pavement marking enhancements which are being installed in the next couple of months at different times.

-          Caltrans District 11 will host the 2016 Imperial Transportation Update/Interstate 8 Update Project Groundbreaking Ceremony on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at noon. The event will take place in front of the new El Centro Maintenance Station at 1102 Montenegro Street in El Centro in Imperial County. Featured speakers are Caltrans District 11 Director Laurie Berman, Imperial County Transportation Commission Executive Director Mark Baza and California Highway Patrol Captain Menteck. The event will provide an update to the media about transportation projects and related issues in Imperial County covering FY 16/17 and serve as a groundbreaking ceremony for the I-8 Update Pavement project. The five segments of the project will construct 48 miles of Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement along I-8 from the Arizona border.

-          On March 16, 2016 the California Transportation Commission (CTC) will approve the Cycle 3 ATP Guidelines. The Cycle 3 Call for Projects is tentatively scheduled for late March 2016 through mid-June 2016. And includes 19/20 and 20/21 state funding years totaling about $230M.

-          Caltrans presented the Excellence in Transportation Award to the Imperial County Transportation Commission for the Andrade Port of Entry (POE) – Quechan Crossing Transportation Enhancement (TE) Project. The Project completed pedestrian access and landscaping improvements along SR-186 at the Andrade/Algodones Port of Entry.

o   The Andrade Port of Entry (POE) is located on State Route 186 (SR-186) in Imperial Valley on the Quechan Indian Reservation and is the nation’s 11th busiest crossing for pedestrians entering into Mexico. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection processed over one million pedestrians in 2010, and in the peak season (late September through April) approximately 5,000 pedestrians cross the border every day. Before the project, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards were not met and walkways were inadequate to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers. While deficient by any standards, this was especially problematic in an area where a large proportion of the users are either elderly or disabled.

o   The project has improved the accessibility, character and visual quality of the area with enhancements and design themes reflecting the regional character of the Quechan Indian Tribe and capturing historical context of this very unique area. The Andrade POE project was a collaborative effort with the Tribe, Customs and Border Protection and the Department of General Services Administration; and is a successful project that provides a more effective, safe and pleasant travel experience for all modes of transportation, with an emphasis on pedestrian circulation.

-          A full report of Caltrans updates can be found on page 70 of the agenda.

D.                 Commission Member Report 

-          There were various reports by Commission members of countywide issues and events happening in each of their respective cities/county.

VI.              ACTION CALENDAR

A.                 Imperial County Transportation Commission (ICTC) resolution for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2016/17 – 2021/2022 Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP)

1.                   Authorized the Chairman to sign the resolution that certifies funding has been identified for the projects in the FFY 2016/17-2021/22 FTIP and affirms our commitment to implement all projects in the program.

A motion was made by Hurtado and seconded by Walker, Motion Carried unanimously.

B.                  Resubmit the 2016 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) Recommendations for Imperial County

1.                   Approved the 2016 STIP Recommendations for Imperial County, requesting:

            Imperial Avenue Interchange project

-          Decrease funding for construction by $2.238 million from $27.650 million to $25.412 million (remains programmed in FY17/18).

-          Increase funding for PS&E (Design) by $1.489 million from $1.8 million to $3.289 million (remains programmed in FY14/15).

-          Increase R/W Support by $0.689 million from $0.8 million to $1.489 million (remains programmed in FY14/15).

            Planning, Programming and Monitoring (PPM)

-          Add $300,000 in FY19-20 and $300,000 in FY20-21 to fully-fund PPM activities through the end of the 2016 STIP period.

A motion was made by Walker and seconded by Ritchie, Motion Carried unanimously.

C.                  Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) FY 2015-2016 Funds

1.                   Directed staff to submit an application to the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP);

2.                   Authorized for the execution of the certifications and assurances and authorized agent forms for the LCTOP;

3.                   Authorized  the Execution of the LCTOP Project: Capital construction costs for the Calexico Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC)

A motion was made by Hurtado and seconded by Walker, Motion Carried unanimously.

D.                 Imperial Valley Regional Assembly and Economic Summit – Proposed Dates

1.                   Approved the proposed dates of May 18 – May 19, 2016 for the Imperial Valley General Assembly and Economic Summit

A motion was made by Ritchie and seconded by Hurtado, Motion Carried unanimously.

VII.            NEXT MEETING DATE AND PLACE

A.                 The next meeting of the Imperial County Transportation Commission will be held on Wednesday, March 23, 2016 at 6:00 p.m., at the County of Imperial Board Chambers, at 940 W. Main Street, El Centro, CA.

VIII.         ADJOURNMENT     

A.                 Meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m. Motion by Ritchie, seconded by Hurtado, Motion Carried.