IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

DRAFT MINUTES FOR November 09, 2022

6:00 p.m.

_______________________________________________________________­­­­________________

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                                City of Brawley                                       George Nava

                                                                City of Calipatria                                    Maria Nava-Froelich

                                                                City of Calexico                                      Raul Urena

                                                                City of El Centro                                    Cheryl Viegas-Walker

                                                                City of Imperial                                      Robert Amparano

                                                                City of Holtville                                       Mike Goodsell                

                                                                City of Westmorland                           Absent

                                                                County of Imperial                                Ryan Kelly  

                                                                County of Imperial                                Luis Plancarte

                                                                Imperial Irrigation District                 Javier Gonzalez

STAFF PRESENT:               David Aguirre, Virginia Mendoza, Cristi Lerma, Michelle Bastidas, Angela Delgadillo

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

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, November 09, 2022, together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                    CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 

Chair Nava-Froelich called the Commission meeting to order at 6:08 p.m. Roll call was taken, and a quorum was present.

II.                  ACTION CALENDAR

A.                  Adopted resolution authorizing remote teleconference meetings in accordance with Assembly Bill 361

1.            Approved the resolution of the Imperial County Transportation Commission authorizing remote meetings in accordance with the provisions of the State Assembly Bill (AB) 361.

2.            Authorized the Chairperson to sign the resolution.

A motion was made by Viegas-Walker and seconded by Amparano, roll call:

                                Motion Carried.

III.                 CLOSED SESSION CALENDAR 5:00 PM TO 6:00 PM

A.                  Motion to Adjourn to Closed Session

                A motion was made by Amparano and seconded by Viegas-Walker to approve the closed                 session, roll call:               

                                Motion Carried.

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

                Agency Designated Representative: Pam Derby

                Unrepresented Employee: Executive Director

C.                  PUBLIC EMPLOYEE APPOINTMENT (Government Code §54957)

                Title: ICTC Executive Director

            D.            CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATOR, Government Code (§ 54956.8)

Property: 450 W. Aten Road, Imperial, CA, Assessor’s Parcel Number #064-230-015.

Agency negotiator: David Aguirre, ICTC. Negotiating parties: Miguel Figueroa, County of Imperial. Instructions to negotiator will concern price, terms of payment.

D.                  Announcement of Closed Session Action(s)

                Mr. Havens stated the following:

·         The Commission met in closed session regarding CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS (Government Code § 54957.6), direction was given, and final action will occur at the next meeting as a part of the approval of the employment agreement.

·         The Commission met in closed session regarding PUBLIC EMPLOYEE APPOINTMENT (Government Code §54957), the commission voted unanimously absent Westmorland and the IID to appoint David Aguirre as Executive Director contingent on final approval of the employee contract in open session pursuant to the Brown Act.

·         The Commission met in closed session regarding CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATOR, Government Code (§ 54956.8) for the property at 450 W. Aten Road, Imperial, CA, direction was given, and no reportable action was taken.

IV.                EMERGENCY ITEMS

                There were none.  

V.                  PUBLIC COMMENTS

                There were none.

VI.                CONSENT CALENDAR

A.                  ICTC Commission Minutes:                                           October 26, 2022

B.            Receive and File:

1.                   ICTC Management Committee Minutes:                October 12, 2022

2.                   ICTC TAC Minutes:                                           September 22, 2022

3.                   ICTC SSTAC Minutes:                                       October 5, 2022

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

                Motion Carried.

VII.              SPECIAL PRESENTATION

-          Plaque Presentation to Cheryl Viegas-Walker for her Commitment and Dedication to ICTC

VIII.            REPORTS

A.                  ICTC Executive Director

⁻          Orchard Road & SR 115 Traffic Concept Report: There are continuous meetings with Caltrans, County of Imperial and ICTC to discuss next steps.

⁻          Calexico East Port of Entry Bridge Widening Project: This project is full on construction. The bridge portion is completed. This is the most critical portion of the project. The next portions are the roadway portions which are a lot easier. Target completion date: March 2023.

⁻          The Free Fares Program grant was approved for $492K which will cover about 9 months of free fares for transit riders. In November, a program is offered for free transportation for veterans from November 12th to November 18th. The annual “stuff a bus” campaign is from November 1st to November 18th. This campaign lets people ride the bus for free if they donate a canned good. Essentially, all the canned goods that are generated, are donated to the food bank before the Thanksgiving holiday. These two programs are put out for the public before the Free Fares Program takes place. The Free Fares program will likely start around January 2023.

⁻          Ms. Mendoza stated that the next IMBA meeting is scheduled for December 8, 2022, in the City of Mexicali at 9:30 a.m. The meeting will be available via Zoom and in person.

-          There was massive public outreach in different cities for the Long Range Transportation Plan. Starting at the Heber Fall Festival on October 29th at 4 p.m. Then, at Holtville’s Farmer Market and Street Fair on November 5th at 11 a.m. Finally, at Brawley’s Cattle Call Chili Cookoff on November 5th at 5 p.m. ICTC inquired about the public priorities and any other priorities they would like to see. There are currently ongoing meetings with each of the cities, as well as with the IID and Caltrans. ICTC also had the opportunity to meet with SDSU and IVC to receive feedback.

⁻          All other updates are on the Executive Director report on page 25 of the agenda.  

B.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

-          The SCAG 2022 Economic Summit is still currently open. If anyone is interested in attending, please contact David Salgado.

-          SCAG approved REAP 2 Program with different opportunities coming forward to fund housing opportunities.

-          Virtual Information Session #1 opens on November 10, 2022, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. about Sustainable Communities Program (SCP) Call 4.

-          The San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman was elected as the Regional Council Second Vice President for the balance of the 2022-2023 term. This was a special election resulting from a vacancy.

-          Ms. Cheryl Viegas-Walker is not running for re-election so that will open up a SCAG Regional Council District seat for District 1. There will be a special election held for this seat at some time in December. All elected officials are eligible to run for the Regional Council. SCAG’s Regional Council is made up of about 89 elected officials that represent the six counties of SCAG’s region.

-          The state did approve the 2023 Active Transportation Program grant applications. Unfortunately, the Imperial County region was not awarded any funding under this program.

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

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

-          I-8/Imperial Avenue Interchange: Caltrans and the City of El Centro have come to an agreement on landscaping maintenance responsibilities. The agreement will go to City Counsel, and it is expected to have this agreement in late November. There is about a year left until this project is completed.

-          The SR-98 widening project has its Stage 1 wrapping up and is on target to be completed before Thanksgiving. After discussions between the construction team and the local stake holders, 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 impacts on businesses during the holiday season. Stage 3 is looking to start as soon as Stage 1 is completed. Following Stage 3, Caltrans will start with Stage 2.

-          There are many maintenance and traffic operations that are ongoing throughout the Imperial Valley.

-          Clean California Local Grant Program-Cycle 2: The next proposed workshop is in December. That date has not yet been determined. There will be a Call for Projects next year in January with an application deadline of April 2023.

-          All other updates are on the Caltrans report on page 34 of the agenda.

D.                  Commission Member Reports

-          Updates were provided by various commissioners.

It should be noted that the action calendar was moved after public comments during the meeting to ensure there was a quorum.

IX.                ACTION CALENDER

A.                  Extension of the ICTC Lease and Sublease Agreements – 1503 N. Imperial Ave., Suite 104, El Centro, CA  92243, Addendum 4

The Management Committee met on September 14, 2022, and forwarded this item to the Commission for review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                  Approved the fourth amendment of the current lease and sub-lease agreements with Pico Group, LLC for the property on 1503 N. Imperial Ave., Suite 104 in El Centro; and authorize the Executive Director to execute the lease agreement.

2.                  Authorized the Executive Director to sign the sub-lease amendments between ICTC and SCAG with same terms as the original agreement.

A motion was made by Viegas-Walker and seconded by Amparano, roll call:                                                         

Motion Carried.

B.                   Mini Call for Projects - Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) and Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) Programming Project List – FFY 2025/26

The ICTC Management Committee met on November 9, 2022, and forwarded this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Approved the 2022 Mini Call for Projects -Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) and Surface Transportation Block Grant Program (STBG) Programming Project List for FFY 2025/26.

2.                   Directed staff to program projects in the next available Federal Transportation Improvement Program Formal Amendment.

A motion was made by Amparano and seconded by Viegas-Walker, roll call:                                         

Motion Carried.

X.                  MEETING DATE AND PLACE

A.                  The next meeting will be on December 14, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. at the ICTC Offices, 1503 N. Imperial Ave., Suite 104, El Centro, CA 92243 and via Zoom Meeting.

XI.                ADJOURNMENT

A.                  Meeting Adjourned at 7:14 p.m.