IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR MAY 25, 2016

6:00 p.m.

______________________________________________________________________

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                                        City of Brawley            George A. Nava

                                                                        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

                                                                        IID                               Norma Sierra-Galindo

NON-VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:                   

                                                                        Caltrans District 11       Bill Figge

STAFF PRESENT:     Mark Baza, Virginia Mendoza, Michelle Bastidas, Cristi Lerma, Guillermo Gonzalez, AJ Gaddis

OTHERS PRESENT:  Eric Havens: ICTC Counsel; Sam Amen, Marcelo Peinado: Caltrans; David Salgado: SCAG; John Gay: Imperial County Public Works

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 May 25, 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 7:12 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.                 Approved ICTC Board Draft Minutes:                                        April 27, 2016

B.                  Received and Filed:     

1.                   ICTC Management Committee Draft Minutes:               May 11, 2016

2.                   ICTC TAC Draft Minutes:                                            April 28, 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 Imperial Valley Economic Summit and General Assembly was held on May 18-19, 2016. It was well attended, with an abundance of information from Healthcare, Housing and Capital to the keynote presentation by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia.

-          As part of the POE Expansion project, traffic will be rerouted from the existing roadways to SR-98 and Cesar Chavez Boulevard which are not designed to handle the high volumes of traffic associated with the border travel. As result, ICTC submitted a 2016 TIGER grant in the amount of $12,046,400 to improve SR-98 and Cesar Chavez Boulevard. Improvements will include widening, signalization, channelization, lighting, pedestrian/bicycle and ADA improvements.  The TIGER grant application was submitted on April 29, 2016.

-          ICTC has initiated discussions with management and staff with Customs and Border Protections (CBP) Border Patrol regarding the potential to add a second inspection lane at this very busy checkpoint. Coordination efforts will follow with Border Patrol, Caltrans and the region to determine feasibility, costs and funding of required improvements within Caltrans right-of-way. Mr. Figge stated that he would check about permitting. Ms. Sierra-Galindo suggested ICTC write a letter to Congressman Vargas.

-          The joint grant funded transit vehicle procurement project with Antelope Valley Transit Authority (AVTA) under the Air Resources Board Zero Emission Bus and Truck Commercialization Project was not selected for funding under the program. The proposal would have funded the purchase of 6 electric buses to be used on the IVT intracity circulator bus routes. ICTC will continue to explore ways to fund zero-emission or electric bus technologies in the future. The State of California is moving towards requiring all public transit fleets be zero-emission vehicles in order to meet the future emission reduction target goals for the state.

-          A complete list of ICTC updates can be found on Page 13 of the agenda.

B.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

                        Mr. Salgado had the following announcements:

-          The SCAG General Assembly and Regional Conference was held on March 5-6, 2016 in La Quinta. It was well attended. Mr. Salgado thanked everyone that attended. Ms. Viegas-Walker was appointed immediate past president.

-          Project proposals for ATP Cycle 3 are due June 15, 2016.

-          A SCAG report can be found on page 19.

C.                  California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)

                        Mr. Figge had the following updates and announcements:

-          Interstate 8 Pavement Project Update Outreach: A second round of KPBS radio spots in San Diego and Imperial counties began on May 12 for six weeks/3x a day. The KPBS-FM San Diego broadcast is broadcasted simultaneously on KQVO-FM 97.7 FM Calexico, Imperial Valley www.kpbs.org/radio/calexico/. The spots are in English only, however, the coverage extends into Mexico. The spots provide Caltrans with maximum reach as many San Diegans use this corridor going east and likewise, many Imperial County residents do regular shopping in San Diego.  Caltrans Project Manager Pye Salazar will give a project presentation to the El Centro Rotary Club in early June. There have been no reports of excessive congestion or construction complaints for the project.

-          ATP applications are due June 15, 2016.

-          Systemic Safety Analysis Report Program (SSARP) Phase 2 Call-for-applications: The purpose of the SSARP is to assist local agencies in performing collision analysis, identifying safety issues on their roadway network, and developing a list of systemic low-cost countermeasures that can be used to prepare future HSIP and other safety program applications. Caltrans is now accepting applications for the SSARP Phase 2. Applications must be received or postmarked by May 27, 2016.

-          A full report of Caltrans updates can be found on page 21of 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.

-          Ms. Nava-Froelich stated that both the League of California Cities meeting and the LAFCO meeting were on May 26th, and she would be attending both.

-          Mr. Kim stated that Assemblymember Garcia and Senator Hueso were in Calexico to urge approval of the funds for the Port of Entry expansion in the budget during a press conference.

-          Mr. Nava stated that the Executive Director evaluation would be on the next agenda and asked Commissioners to submit the evaluation to him.  Ms. Sierra-Galindo and Mr. Kim stated that they did not want to evaluate Mr. Baza because they are new Commissioners.

-          Ms. Viegas-Walker thanked that evaluation committee and introduced David Salgado as the new SCAG Regional Affairs Officer for Imperial County.  It was stated that Dogwood overpass should be done in November, and Euclid Avenue between Imperial and La Brucherie is almost done.

-          Ms. Sierra-Galindo expressed concern over the safety of a bridge on Willoughby and Dogwood. Mr. John Gay was present. John Gay was present and stated that the County is working with the IID and Ormat to replace the structure. The consultant firm NV5 was hired for the study.

-          Ms. Sierra Galindo brought up a concern regarding safety concerns on Austin and Keystone. Mr. Gay stated that the County is working on installing flashing lights, skid plates with HSIP grant funds.

-          Mr. Terrazas stated that he attended both the SCAG General Assembly and the Imperial Valley General Assembly.

-          Mr. Predmore stated that he celebrated his 60th birthday at the SCAG General Assembly. He also stated that the City of Holtville State of the City Address will be on June 13, 2016 at the Imperial Palms Resort.

-          Mr. Baza stated that ICTC met with SunLine Transit to discuss exploring opportunities to the West and East Shores. Mr. Kelley thanked Mr. Baza for attending the Town Hall meeting in West Shores. Staff is proposing to change the stop from Westmorland to Brawley beginning July 1, 2016.

VI.              INFORMATION / DISCUSSION CALENDAR

A.     2015 Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) Amendment No. 15-19

Ms. Mendoza stated that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) approved the 2015 Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) submitted by the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). The FTIP is the document prepared by SCAG in collaboration with ICTC that lists projects to be funded with Federal Highway Admiration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funds for the next one- to four-year period. The 2015 FTIP is the list of projects, using a combination of federal, state and local funds that will implement a four year period consistent with SCAG’s long range plan, the 2016 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (2016 RTP/SCS).

Amendments are submitted to the 2015 FTIP to update and/or include new projects.  Amendment 15-19 submitted to SCAG included 11 new projects all programmed in Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2016/2017.  For project details refer to the project listing attached to this letter.  The 2015 FTIP Amendment 15-19 was submitted to SCAG on April 26, 2016 and is anticipated to receive federal approval in July 2016.

This item is for information purpose only no action is required.

B.      Calexico East Port of Entry Expansion – FASTLane grant program and 2016 TIGER program

Ms. Mendoza presented the following.

-          $65 Million estimated Project Cost

-          Widen bridge over the All American Canal

-          Add 3 new Commercial Inspection lanes (from 3 to 6 lanes)

-          Add 6 new northbound POV lanes (from 8 to 14 lanes)

-          Road construction

-          Pedestrian pathway improvements including shaded sidewalks and cell phone/transit lot

-          Implement ITS & air quality monitoring technologies

-          Toll collection administration & operations facility

C.      Improvements on SR 98/Cesar Chavez Blvd. at Calexico West Port of Entry – 2016 TIGER program

Ms. Mendoza presented the following.

Widening of SR 98/Cesar Chavez Blvd. at Calexico West Port of Entry

-          $12 Million TIGER Fund Request

-          Widening, signalization, channelization, lighting, pedestrian/bicycle & ADA improvements

-          Widening of Cesar Chavez Blvd. from 4 to 5 lanes

-          2 Northbound

-          3 Southbound

-          Widening of SR-98 from 4 to 6 lanes from VV Williams Ave. to Rockwood Ave.

            US Expansion Project at Calexico West

-          $98 Million for Phase 1 – Southbound Vehicle Bridge, Northbound Vehicle Inspection and Headhouse

-          Construction began November 2015

-          Completion March 2018

-          President’s 2017 Budget Request Includes Funding for Phase 2

-          GSA proposes $248 million to undertake the last phase of a two-phase construction project for the reconfiguration and expansion of the existing land port.

VII.            NEXT MEETING DATE AND PLACE

A.                 The next meeting of the Imperial County Transportation Commission will be held on Wednesday, June 22, 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 8:14 p.m. Motion by Nava, seconded by Cox, Motion Carried.