IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR JUNE 22, 2016

6:00 p.m.

______________________________________________________________________

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                                        City of Calexico           Joong Kim

                                                                        City of Calipatria          Maria Nava-Froelich

                                                                        City of El Centro          Cheryl Viegas-Walker  

                                                                        City of Holtville           James Predmore

                                                                        City of Imperial            Doug Cox

                                                                        City of Westmorland    Lawrence D. Ritchie

                                                                        County of Imperial       Ryan Kelley

                                                                        County of Imperial        Jack Terrazas

NON-VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:                   

                                                                        Caltrans District 11       Bill Figge

STAFF PRESENT:     Mark Baza, Kathi Williams, Virginia Mendoza, Cristi Lerma, AJ Gaddis

OTHERS PRESENT:  Eric Havens: ICTC Counsel; Sam Amen, Marcelo Peinado: Caltrans; David Salgado: SCAG;

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 June 22, 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 6:52 p.m.  Roll call was taken and a quorum was present.

II.                 EMERGENCY ITEMS

            There were none.

III.              PUBLIC COMMENTS

Laurel Driscoll, resident of El Centro stated that she is concerned for pedestrians crossing the intersection off of Park Avenue on Hwy 86 (Adams Ave). It is a State Hwy and Caltrans will review the area to see if anything can be done to address safety concerns.

IV.              CONSENT CALENDAR

A.                 Approved ICTC Board Draft Minutes:                                        May 25, 2016

B.                  Received and Filed:     

1.                   ICTC Management Committee Draft Minutes:               June 8, 2016

A motion was made by Cox and seconded by Sierra-Galindo to approve consent items A and B, Motion carried with 2 abstentions (Nava-Froelich and Kim). 

V.                 REPORTS

A.                 ICTC Executive Director

                        Mr. Baza and staff had the following announcements:

-          The IVT Ride El Centro Service Area operations contract will begin on July 1, 2016. Public Outreach workshops were held in May on the 25th and the 27th.  To date, approximately 120 persons have registered for the new service. Additional hours will be added on Saturdays with 4 vehicles in operation.

o   Additional Public Outreach workshops in June are scheduled for:

§  Wednesday, June 15, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Day Out - El Centro

§  Thursday, June 16, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Desert Villas Apts. 1755 W. Main St., Senior Nutrition Site  in El Centro

§  Wednesday, June 22, 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at City of El Centro Council Chambers

§  Friday, June 24, 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at City of El Centro Council Chambers

-          The IVT MedTrans operations contract is scheduled to begin on July 1, 2016.  A new brand and logo has been developed and new vehicles have been delivered. A local phone number and a toll free phone number has been confirmed for the IVT MedTrans service.  ICTC staff have been in contact with existing passengers and various social service and medical care providers. Passengers are able to call and make reservations starting June 1, 2016 for July 1 service. There will be 2 vehicles in operation 4 days a week with one vehicle departing at 7 a.m. and returning at 3 p.m. and the second vehicle departing at 11 a.m. and returning at 6 p.m.

-          Caltrans and ICTC will have their quarterly team building meeting on June 23rd at 9 a.m. at the IID Water Control Conference Room.  

-          Recruitment is underway for two positions at ICTC.  Applications for both positions are due on June 24, 2016 by 3 p.m. 

-          On April 15, 2016 ICTC launched a demonstration project of free public Wi-Fi aboard all sixteen (16) of the 40ft Gilligs on IVT regular fixed, Express and Direct routes.  Passengers now have access to view the IVT bus route and schedule information at www.ivtransit.com, as well as, have an opportunity to visit the internet while they “Ride with Us”.  To date there have been approximately 65,000 times that passengers have logged on to various websites daily.

-          The Regional Mobility Hubs Strategy for Imperial and San Diego Study is funded by Caltrans and will develop a Regional Mobility Hubs Implementation Plan for San Diego County and Imperial Valley. This project will be led by SANDAG in collaboration with ICTC. The focus of the plan will be to develop recommended improvements, conceptual designs, and implementation strategies for different mobility hub station place types for both regions. Consultant work is underway with preparation for a full range of stakeholder outreach. Mobility hubs can help maximize the capital investment in transit services and support the emphasis on smart growth and transit-oriented development. The project and Consultant team hosted an agency workshop in Imperial County on December 2, 2015.  The meeting covered the study purpose, roundtable discussion of criteria for locating mobility hubs, amenity priorities, and what are potential locations.  The Consultant team conducted “pop-up” outreach events to gather public and transit users input at the following locations: Tuesday, May 31st at the Brawley Transit Terminal, Wednesday, June 1st at IVC Main Transit Station, and on Thursday, June 2nd at the El Centro Regional Transit Terminal.  All outreach events were held from 6:30am to 6:30pm to maximize public input.  A total of 249 responses were gathered from the 3 day outreach event. 

-          The San Diego State University / Imperial Valley College Transit Shuttle Analysis will assess the feasibility of an inter-college shuttle service in Imperial County.  ICTC and SCAG staffs worked together with Imperial Valley College and San Diego State University staff to complete the consultant selection process. SCAG staff completed the contract agreement with the selected consultant AECOM.  Student surveys and campus workshops at SDSU-Calexico and IVC were held on Wednesday, November 18, 2015 and Thursday, November 19, 2015.  The existing conditions analysis has been completed.  The 3rd Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) meeting was held on April 19, 2016 at the ICTC office to discuss the draft route alternatives and next steps.  In addition to the TAC meeting on April 19th, the consultant team conducted the 2nd round of outreach at SDSU-Calexico, IVC and SDSU-Brawley campuses to obtain input from the student body regarding the proposed route alternatives. The project was presented to the IVC Board of Trustees on June 15, 2016.  The IVC Board of Trustees expressed support for the project and looked forward to the final product.  The consultant team is working on the draft final report scheduled for approval during the month of July.

-          A complete list of ICTC updates can be found on Page 9 of the agenda.

B.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

                        Mr. Salgado had the following announcements:

-          On April 7, 2016, SCAG’s Regional Council adopted the 2016 RTP/SCS, and is available for download by chapter or as one file. The executive summary is available upon request.

-          The 2017 Active Transportation Program (ATP) application deadline was June 15, 2016. The ATP will award approximately $240 million to infrastructure, non-infrastructure and planning projects with funding available in fiscal years 2019/20 to 2020/21. As with previous cycles, applicants will have two opportunities to receive funding, either through the Statewide and Small Rural and Urban process (Projects selected in December 2016) or the Regional Program (projects selected in March 2017).  If you have any questions please contact SCAG’s ATP Program Manager, Stephen Patchan, patchan@scag.ca.gov.

-          In April and May, SCAG’s GIS Services staff trained over 100 participants at various locations throughout Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. In July, SCAG will host special topic GIS training in Imperial County, covering advanced geoprocessing and editing techniques. Please contact Javier Aguilar aguilar@scag.ca.gov with questions or comments on SCAG’s GIS Services program.

-          SCAG will be hosting its next Regional Council and Joint Policy Committee meetings on July 7th, 2016.

-          A Demographic workshop will be held on June 30, 2016.

-          SCAG awarded 2 Imperial Valley students scholarships. The scholarship also includes a 2 week internship.

-          SCAG will be dark in August.

-          A SCAG report can be found on page 21.

C.                  California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)

                        Mr. Figge had the following updates and announcements:

-          The California Transportation Commission (CTC) has on the agenda to fund Phase 1B (Ollie Avenue to V. V. Williams Avenue) for $13 million on June 29. If approved by the CTC, Caltrans could advertise the project as soon as August with construction beginning in October. The project will widen SR-98 from two to four lanes from Dogwood Road to west of Ollie Avenue and from four to six lanes from Ollie Avenue to State Route 111 (SR-111). The work will be done in several phases and will help to increase capacity and relieve congestion on SR-98.

-          Caltrans closed the Two Rivers Roadside Rest area on SR-111, near Calipatria due to lack of use and high cost of maintenance. The site will be used by the Caltrans Maintenance Unit.

-          The first three segments of the Interstate 8 Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement Project began construction. KPBS-FM and KQVO-FM radio spots in Imperial County and across the Mexico border have been running three times a day since March. A third round will begin in July and run through mid-August.

o   Segment 1, is near El Centro from 0.6 mile west of Anderholt Road Overcrossing to 0.5 mile east of the East Highline Canal Bridge, was awarded to Coffman Specialties, Inc. on November 18, 2015. Construction began the first week of February. Construction is expected to be completed early 2018. Segment 1 and Segment 2 crews are combining forces to complete eastbound paving before the hottest part of summer.

o   Segment 2, 26 miles east of El Centro from 0.8 mile west of SR-98/I-8 separation to 0.6 mile east of the All American Canal, was awarded to Coffman Specialties, Inc. on December 15, 2015. Construction began early March 2016 and is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2019. Summer work includes removing old pavement, remove and widen inside shoulders on westbound I-8, west of SR-186 and install crossovers at various locations.

o   Segment 3, near Winterhaven from 0.7 mile west of SR 186/I-8 separation to 0.3 mile east of Fourth Avenue Overcrossing, was awarded to Security Paving Company, Inc. December 22, 2015. Construction began mid-March 2016 and is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2018.

The other 2 segments are scheduled to begin construction in February 2017. These 2 segments are:

o   Segment 4, near El Centro from 0.6 mile west of I-8/SR-111 separation to 0.6 mile west of Anderholt Road overcrossing and from 0.5 mile east of the East Highline Canal Bridge to 0.8 mile west of I-8/SR-98 separation.

o   Segment 5, near Winterhaven from 0.7 mile west of Ogilby Road Overcrossing to 0.7 west of the I-8/SR-186 separation.

-          Construction on the I-8/Dogwood Interchange is nearing completion. The project will widen the ramps from one to two lanes and replace the bridge overcrossing, which will also be widened from two to six lanes including two turning lanes. Construction started in 2014 and is expected to be completed in October 2016. The bridge lanes are expected to open the first week of September and will be celebrated shortly thereafter with a ribbon cutting event.

-          Phase 1 construction on the Caltrans El Centro Maintenance Station is expected to be completed as early as September. Caltrans will plan a ribbon cutting event to celebrate opening of the new Maintenance Station.

-          The County of Imperial was one of the statewide applications that was awarded for their “Active Transportation Plan.” The Plan will address issues such as safety and security; liability, environmental concerns, convenience, accessibility, usage; connections and linkages for bicycle users, as well as pedestrians and safe routes to school planning efforts. It will identify and prioritize active transportation projects and potential funding opportunities.

-          A full report of Caltrans updates can be found on page 23of 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.              INFORMATION CALENDAR

A.                 Regional Pavement Management System Overview 

The Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS) requires the calculation of operations and maintenance needs for the SCAG region’s local streets and roads. Maintenance (or sometimes referred to as capital maintenance) consists of activities that extend the useful life of the roadway asset by five or more years. Maintenance operations of local streets and roads include preventive maintenance such as surface seals as well as rehabilitation (e.g., overlays and reconstruction).  All SCAG region local jurisdictions were surveyed for information on pavement treatment unit costs, nonpavement asset inventories and revenues available for local street and road maintenance activities. This regional database of survey information, combined with condition, inventory and cost data derived from jurisdictions was used to calculate the long-range local street and road needs and revenues incorporated into the RTP/SCS. Updates to the regional database will inform the 2020 RTP/SCS update and provide SCAG’s policy makers investment options and performance implications for consideration.

Mr. Baza included a PowerPoint presentation on the Regional Pavement Management System.  This is an essential tool for estimating system preservation n needs in the SCAG region and was used for setting investment levels in the 2016-2040 RTP/SCS.

VII.            ACTION CALENDAR

A.                 Continuing Resolution for the FY 2015-16 Overall Work Program (OWP) and Budget

The Overall Work Program and Budget for FY 2016-17 is under development, however, a detailed report is not ready to submit for approval at this time. There were key factors that have caused the delay, i.e., finalizing our projected revenue estimates, and our work to finalize contract extensions for our major transit services for the region, Imperial Valley Transit (IVT) Fixed Routes and our IVT Access – the complimentary paratransit service.  It is anticipated that a final draft of the budget will be submitted for approval at our Commission meeting on July 27, 2016. The continuing resolution for the interim period of time in order to meet commitments with vendors, contractors and payroll for was presented.

1.       Authorized the Chairman to sign the continuing resolution in order to pay expenditures, including payroll of the ICTC prior to the adoption of the Overall Work Program and Budget for Fiscal Year 2016-17, at the levels set by the Overall Work Program and Budget for Fiscal Year 2015-16 (adopted on June 24, 2015).

                        A Motion was made by Cox, seconded by Kelley, Motion Carried.

VIII.         CLOSED SESSION

A.                 Motion to Adjourn to Closed Session

            A Motion was made by Kelley, seconded by Nava-Froelich, Motion Carried.

B.                  PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION (Government Code § 54957          

                        Title:  ICTC Executive Director

C.                  CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS (Government Code § 54957.6)

            Agency Designated Representative:  AJ Gaddis

            Unrepresented Employee:  Executive Director

D.                 Announcement of Closed Session Action(s)

1.       No Action(s) were taken on item B and direction was given to ICTC Counsel;

2.       For item C, a 5% merit increase was approved by the Commission for the Executive Director beginning on July 1, 2016.

3.       Add a closed session item to the agenda for the July meeting.

IX.               ACTION CALENDAR (CONTINUED)

A.                 Discussion / Action regarding the Employment Agreement for the Position of Executive Director

No action was taken.

X.                 NEXT MEETING DATE AND PLACE

A.                 The next meeting of the Imperial County Transportation Commission will be held on Wednesday, July 27, 2016 at 6:00 p.m., at the County of Imperial Board Chambers, at 940 W. Main Street, El Centro, CA.

XI.              ADJOURNMENT     

A.                 Meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Motion by Kelley, seconded by Nava-Froelich, Motion Carried.