TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES

May 28, 2020

            Present:          

                Gordon Gaste                           City of Brawley

            Veronica Atondo                       County of Imperial

            Jesus Villegas                           City of Imperial

            Joel Hamby                              City of Westmorland

            Others:

            Virginia Mendoza                     ICTC

            Marlene Flores                          ICTC

            David Salgado                           SCAG

            Javier Aguilar                           SCAG

            Felix DeLeon                            City of El Centro

            Javier Luna                               City of El Centro

            Christian Rodriguez                   City of El Centro

            Catherine Gutierrez                   City of El Centro

            Frank Pacheco                          City of El Centro

            Isabel Garcia                             City of Imperial

            Robert Urena                            County of Imperial

            Develine Villasenor                   IVRMA

            Beth Landrum                           Caltrans

            Ben Guerrero                            Caltrans

            Jose Ornelas                             Caltrans

Due to the COVID-19 and Executive Order N-25-20, teleconferencing is recommended for the public, however measures will be taken to have access for those who wish to participate in person while still abiding by local, state and federal mandates. Following is teleconference information.

            The meeting was called to order at 10:11 a.m. A quorum was present, and introductions were made. There were no public comments made.

1.       Introductions

2.       A motion was made to adopt the minutes for April 23, 2020 (Gaste/ Atondo) Motion Carried.

3.       Local Transportation Authority (LTA) Ordinance Requirements

(Presented by ICTC Staff)

Virginia Mendoza provided information on the LTA Ordinance Requirements. Maintenance of Effort (MOE) will be required from all agencies. Agencies that have not submitted MOE’s in the past will be provided instructions on future submittals.

5 Year Program of Projects – All agencies shall submit a 5 Year Program of Projects yearly.

Need to approve ASAP:

Brawley FY 19-20 thru FY 24-25

Holtville FY 19-20 thru FY 24-25

Current but will need update:

El Centro FY 20-21 thru FY 25-26

County FY 20-21 thru FY 25-26

DEADLINE: JUNE 30, 2020

All agencies must submit to ICTC a list of completed projects funded by LTA for FY19/20. This will be an annual requirement moving forward. Submit list to Michelle Bastidas and Cristi Lerma at ICTC.

4.       Imperial County Aerial Imagery

(Presented by SCAG, Javier Aguilar)

Javier Aguilar from SCAG provided TAC members with a brief update on the Aerial Imagery Project. He mentioned that SCAG is still willing to contribute with $350,000 to the project. This project has been discussed with local agencies as well as other stakeholders. Javier provided a brief summary on estimated contributions amounts based on different SOW considered, provided an estimated timeline as well as the two proposed options. During TAC, it was proposed to bring this item back or make a separate meeting with more detailed information. SCAG and ICTC will create a Zoom meeting to discuss the project in more detail with stakeholders.

5.       2021 eFTIP Performance Measures Requirements

(Presented by ICTC Staff)

Federal law and regulations governing metropolitan transportation planning and programming require that Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs), in coordination with the State and public transportation providers, must establish performance measures and targets and report on progress towards meeting those targets in its long-range planning and programming documents.

SCAG’s forthcoming FY21 Federal Transportation Improvement Program (FTIP) must include, to the maximum extent practicable, a description of the anticipated effect of the FTIP toward achieving the targets identified in Connect SoCal, linking investment priorities to those performance targets.

The performance measures provide a standardized quantitative metric for evaluating progress toward meeting each of the national goals. Performance targets provide a numeric threshold by which the performance measures can be interpreted as having made acceptable progress toward achieving a specific performance goal.

ICTC’s current plan is to create with these new requirements a excel sheet filtered with all of the agency projects with columns per Performance Measure question.  Local agencies will need to answer the questions with dropdowns across the row, save the file, and send it back to ICTC staff.  ICTC will individually update the projects in the FTIP database. There is a deadline for this requirement, June 19th, 2020 please submit your answers to ICTC.

6.       Imperial Valley Resource Management Agency (IVRMA) Updates

(Presented by Daveline Villasenor, Project Manager

ICTC staff welcomed Daveline Villasenor to ICTC and to TAC members. Daveline is the new Project Manager for IVRMA and she will be part of the TAC meeting providing us with the latest news on IVRMA as well as providing us with upcoming events.

7.       ICTC Updates / Announcements

(Presented by ICTC Staff)

a.       Transit Planning Updates- Virginia Mendoza provided a brief update on the transit side. Based on the current events surrounding the COVID-19 Pandemic, ICTC is still operating under COVID-19 requirements.

b.       Transportation Planning Updates (by Virginia Mendoza):

-          Regional Climate Action Plan (CAP)- Ms. Mendoza provided an update on the CAP. Due to recent COVID-19 state-wide shelter in place, ICTC is shifting our Community Outreach and Stakeholders meeting to a more virtual approach (website, online community surveys, social media). In regards to the Data Inventory, all local agencies have provided information for the data collection.

c.       FFY 2019-20 Programmed Project Updates: (by Virginia Mendoza) Update on State and Federal funding obligations. A complete list of programmed projects was provided as an attachment to the agenda. Each agency provided an update on the current status of each project.

d.       LTA Updates 2012 and 2018 (by Virginia Mendoza):

-          2012 LTA Bond- City of Brawley still has a balance on their respective 2012 LTA Bond account of ($668,871).

-          2018 LTA Bond- The City of Holtville already utilize all their 2018 LTA money and City of Calexico ($8,019,678) and City of Calipatria ($1,396,017).

8.       SCAG Updates / Announcements (by David Salgado)

-          Connect SOCAL: The SCAG Regional Council (RC) met on May 7th and voted to approve the Final Connect SOCAL Regional Transportation Plan and Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS). The plan was approved with a 120 day hold on the SCS component to allow for further analysis of the current COVID situation.

-          RHNA Update:  The Regional Council adopted both the Connect SoCal (2020 RTP/SCS) and RHNA Appeals Procedures. Staff will provide each local jurisdiction its draft RHNA allocation. Per Government Code Section 65584.05(b) within forty-five (45) days of receipt of the draft RHNA allocation, a local jurisdiction (city or county) within the region or the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) may appeal for a revision of the share of the draft regional housing need proposed to be allocated to one or more local jurisdictions. SCAG staff has developed 6th Cycle RHNA Appeals Procedures that outline the appeals process, and includes information on bases for appeals, the public hearings to hear appeals, and the reallocation of successful appeals.

-          2020 SCAG General Assembly: SCAG is currently anticipating the convening of the General Assembly on Thursday June 4th, 2020 at 10:00am. The meeting will be held remotely and will only contain regular business matters such as the confirmation of incoming SCAG Regional Council Executive Members. The incoming SCAG President will be City of Long Beach Vice Mayor Rex Richardson, the SCAG First Vice President will be City of Eastvale Councilmember Clint Lorimore, and Second Vice President will be Palm Desert Councilmember Jan Harnik. Current SCAG President Bill Jahn (Big Bear) will become the Immediate Past President. There will be no programmatic content like previous SCAG General Assembly programs.

-          2021 Cycle 5 Active Transportation Program (ATP) Grant: The Active Transportation Program (ATP) is a competitive statewide program created to encourage increased use of active modes of transportation, such as biking and walking. Senate Bill 99 (Chapter 359, Statutes of 2013) and Assembly Bill 101 (Chapter 354, Statutes of 2013) created the ATP, and Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) (Chapter 2031, statutes of 2017) directs additional funding from the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Account to the ATP.

Currently there is a total of $445 million available for fiscal years 2021 to 2025. The “Call for Projects” was released earlier in March 2020. The deadline for applications has been extended to September 15th, 2020. Quick Build applications are still due July 15th, 2020. SCAG is working towards holding an ATP workshop in Imperial County concurrently with the ICTC Technical Advisory Committee meeting at a future date.

9.       Cities and County Planning / Public Works Updates:

-          Local agencies gave an update on their local projects in progress.

10.   Caltrans Updates / Announcements (By: Ben Guerrero and Beth Landrum)

Local Assistance: Mr. Guerrero provided updates on local assistance.

Inactive Projects- As of May 22, 2020, the INACTIVE and FUTURE Inactive list was updated. An invoice is not cleared from either “Inactive” or “Future Inactive” lists until paid by the State Controller’s Office. Provided local agencies adhere to the format described in Chapter 5 of the Local Assistance Procedures Manual (LAPM), invoices typically are paid by check within 60 days of receipt (or 50 days if paid through Electronic Funds Transfer).

Summer 2020 Deadline: Active Transportation Program (ATP) Cycle 5 Call for Projects- The California Transportation Commission call for Active Transportation Program (ATP) projects began March 25, 2020. The extended deadline is June 15, 2020.  September 15,2020 is the new deadline for all other ATP project types.

Quality Assurance Program (QAP)- A quick reminder, City of Calexico, City of El Centro and City of Westmorland need to renew the QAP if federal funds are anticipated for future projects. A list with specific dates for each agency was provided. An updated QAP package must be submitted as soon as possible to the Local Area Engineer, Ben Guerrero.

Preparation Schedule for California Transportation Commission (CTC)-Mr. Guerrero provided the schedule with deadlines to send allocation request packages for CTC approval. Please review the preceding schedule of deadlines to send allocation request packages for California Transportation Commission (CTC) approval by the July 2020 CTC meeting. All documents must be received by the Caltrans District 11 Office at least two months prior to the preferred CTC meeting date. Friday, June 12, 2020 is the next deadline (for the meeting in August 12-13, 2020).

Temporary Exception for Requiring “Wet” signature on Invoices- The current process of requiring wet signatures on invoice documents in order to process for payment is

temporarily exempted. Until further notice, scanned copies of invoices will be accepted.

For questions, please contact either the Local Area Engineer, Mr. Guerrero, or Local Assistance Program Support Analyst, Alma Sanchez, via email at Alma.Sanchez@dot.ca.gov

Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE)- Mr. Guerrero provided a brief update on DBE procedures. For projects awarded after March 1, 2020, when submitting an invoice for reimbursement that includes a payment to a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE), no later than the 10th of the following month, the prime contractor/consultant shall email a complete LAPM Exhibit 9-F: DBE Running Tally of Payments to business.support.unit@dot.ca.gov (with a copy to local administering agencies).

Planning: Mrs. Landrum provided an update on the SR-78/Glamis Multiuse Grade Separated Crossing Feasibility Study. The fourth TWG meeting was on Thursday, May 21, 2020 to discuss the alternatives analysis report. The next step will be to work on the cost estimates.

11.   General Discussion / New Business

- Virginia Mendoza provided information on the Service Authority Freeway Emergency (SAFE) program. Adoption of Assembly Bill 335 (AB 335), which gives ICTC the authority to administer non- transportation programs both IVRMA and SAFE programs can now be administered by ICTC.

- Next TAC meeting will be on June 25, 2020 via Zoom.

12.   Meeting adjourned at 11:49 a.m.