IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR FEBRUARY 26, 2020

6:00 p.m.

______________________________________________________________________

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                            City of Brawley                        George Nava - Chairman

                                                            City of Calipatria                      Maria Nava-Froelich

                                                            City of Calexico                       Lewis Pacheco

                                                            City of El Centro                      Cheryl Viegas-Walker

                                                            City of Holtville                       James Predmore

                                                            City of Imperial                        Robert Amparano

                                                            City of Westmorland                Larry Ritchie

                                                            County of Imperial                   Luis Plancarte

                                                            County of Imperial                   Ryan Kelley

NON-VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:        Caltrans District 11       Gustavo Dallarda

STAFF PRESENT:     Mark Baza, David Aguirre Cristi Lerma, Marlene Flores, Eric Havens (Counsel)

OTHERS PRESENT:  David Salgado: SCAG; Ann Fox, Daniel Hernandez, Jose Ornelas: Caltrans; Ginger Ward: Area Agency on Aging

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 26, 2020 together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                    CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 

Chair Nava called the Commission meeting to order at 6:05 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 Nava-Froelich and seconded by Ritchie to approve the consent calendar as presented; Motion carried.

A.        Approval of the ICTC Commission Draft Minutes:         January 29, 2020

B.                  Receive and File:

1.                   ICTC Management Committee Draft Minutes:   January 8, 2020

2.                   ICTC SSTAC Minutes:                                     January 9, 2020

3.                   ICTC Draft TAC Minutes:                                January 23, 2020

V.                 REPORTS

A.                 ICTC Executive Director

Mr. Baza had the following updates:

-          The UTN Hearing is scheduled for March 4th, 2020 at 3 p.m. at the County of Imperial Board Chambers, 940 W. Main St. in El Centro. Several other outreach opportunities were also scheduled specifically in the North-end of Imperial County. This allowed more opportunity for transit users that are not able to attend the hearing to submit their comments for the record. Other outreach opportunities were as follows:

o   January 27, 2020 – Calipatria North-end Advisory Meeting, 6 p.m.

o   February 3, 2020 – Westshores Council Meeting, 6 p.m.

o   February 24, 2020 – Brawley Council Chambers, 3 p.m.

o   February 24, 2020 – Bombay Beach North-end Advisory Meeting, 6 p.m.

-          Funding for phase 2B of the Calexico West Port of Entry is in the President’s Budget Proposal in the amount of $99.7 million. Work for phase 2B will include demolition of the old port building and construction of the new pedestrian building. The total estimated cost for phases 2A and 2B is $276 million.

-          The groundbreaking for the I-8 / Imperial Interchange project is scheduled for end of April.

-          The Calexico East Port of Entry Bridge Expansion over the All-American Canal Project proposes to widen the bridge over the All-American Canal at the U.S./Mexico border approximately 0.7 miles south of State Route (SR) 7. The project proposes to widen the existing structure by adding four-lanes: Two New Northbound Auto Lanes and Two New Northbound Commercial Vehicle Lanes. In May 2018, Caltrans and ICTC received $3,000,000 from the California Transportation Commission and the Trade Corridor Enhancement Program (TCEP) to complete the Project Approval and Environmental Document (PA/ED) for the project.  In June 2018, Caltrans completed a Project Initiation Document (PID). In Fall of 2018, the PA/ED phase was initiated by Caltrans, technical studies for the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) document under Federal Highway Administration as the NEPA lead are in progress and is scheduled for completion in May 2020. In December, ICTC in partnership with Caltrans was awarded $20 million under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s BUILD discretionary grant program to complete the Design-Build construction phase.  NEPA studies are in progress and scheduled for approval in May 2020. Upon NEPA approval, ICTC will request authorization for the $20 million in federal funding and proceed with the Request for Proposals for Design-Build in Fall 2020. Right-of-way and design phases will immediately follow environmental completion. 

-          ICTC has begun the transition of the IVRMA administration from the City of El Centro to ICTC. Cal Recycle does not recognize ICTC as a JPA therefore ICTC will continue same efforts the city was doing.

-          Ms. Nava-Froelich requested that the bus stop in Niland be relocated to the new fire station. Staff will follow up on this request.

-          Ms. Viegas-Walker asked about finalization of the priority list of the bus stop bench and shelter inventory project. Mr. Aguirre stated that priority list is complete and differs from city/county. Staff will continue to look for funding opportunities.

-          A full list of updates and announcements can be found on page 18 of the agenda.

B.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

            Ms. Viegas-Walker had the following updates:

-          Invited all to attend the SCAG General Assembly on May 6-8, 2020 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Report in Palm Desert.

-          Encouraged agencies to apply for 2021 cycle 5 ATP Grant.

-          RHNA methodology will be approved in the March/April with formal ratification at the General Assembly.

-          The SCAG scholarship program is now accepting application until April 3, 2020. High School seniors attending college in the fall are encouraged to apply.

-          A full list of updates and announcements can be found on page 27 of the agenda.

C.                  California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)       

            Mr. Dallarda had the following updates:

-          The I-8/Imperial Avenue interchange replacement project is expected to begin construction in April 2020. The contract was awarded to Granite construction.

-          Mr. Cory Binns the District 11 Director was on special assignment in Sacramento and was recently appointed as the Deputy Director of Maintenance and Operations. Mr. Dallarda stated that he will continue as the Acting District Director.

-          District 11 will be doing outreach in Imperial County regarding the Active Transportation Plan being developed for District 11.

-          There has been no change in the mud pots since the last report. The detour plan is still in place.

-          A full list of updates and announcements can be found on page 33 of the agenda.

D.                 Commission Member Reports 

-          Commissioners had various announcements regarding events occurring in their jurisdictions.

VI.              ACTION CALENDER

            A.        Imperial County Transportation Commission (ICTC) resolution for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2020/2021 – 2025/2026 Federal Transportation Improvement Program

                        The ICTC Management Committee met on February 12, 2020 and forwarded this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

                        1.         Authorize the Chairman to sign the resolution that certifies funding has been identified for the projects in the FFY 2020/2021 - 2025/2026 FTIP and affirms our commitment to implement all projects in the program.

A motion was made by Kelley and seconded by Pacheco; Motion carried unanimously.

VII.            NEXT MEETING DATE AND PLACE

A.                 The next meeting of the Imperial County Transportation Commission will be held on March 25, 2020 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 6:40 p.m.