IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR April 24, 2019

6:00 p.m.

______________________________________________________________________

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                            City of Calipatria                      Maria Nava-Froelich

                                                            City of Calexico                       Lewis Pacheco

                                                            City of Brawley                        George Nava                           

                                                            City of Imperial                        Robert Amparano (Chair)

                                                            County of Imperial                   Luis Plancarte

                                                            City of Westmorland                Ana Beltran

NON-VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:        Caltrans District 11                   Ann Fox

STAFF PRESENT:     Mark Baza, Kathi Williams, Vicky Hernandez, Michelle Bastidas, Virginia Mendoza

OTHERS PRESENT:  David Salgado: SCAG, Eric Havens: County Counsel, Jesus Vargas: Caltrans, Gerard Chadergian: Caltrans, Helio Sanchez, Jose Guillen:  First Transit, A.J. Gaddis, William Roller: I.V. Press.

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, April 24, 2019 together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                    CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 

Chair Amparano called the Commission meeting to order at 6:03 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 Plancarte and seconded by Nava-Froelich to approve the consent calendar as presented. Motion Carried unanimously.

A.        Approved of the ICTC Commission Draft Minutes:                    March 27, 2019

B.                  Received and Filed:

1.                   ICTC Management Committee Draft Minutes:               April 10, 2019

2.                   ICTC TAC Minutes:                                                     February 28, 2019

3.                   ICTC SSTAC Minutes:                                                 March 6, 2019

C.                  Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) Application for FY 2018-19 Funds

1.                   Authorized the ICTC Chairperson to sign the attached resolution;

2.                   Authorization for the Execution of the LCTOP Project: New Senior and Disabled Dial-a-Ride service between El Centro and Heber;

3.                   Authorization for the Execution of the LCTOP Project: Capital construction costs for the Calexico Intermodal Transportation Center.

V.                 REPORTS

A.                 ICTC Executive Director

            Mr. Baza had the following announcements:

-          Asked members of the commission to please “Save the Date” for the FY 2019-2020 ICTC Budget Workshop on May 22, 2019 at 4 p.m., to be held at the County of Imperial Administration Center, Conference Room C & D in El Centro.

-          The 5th Annual Imperial Valley Economic Summit and General Assembly will be held on May 30, 2019 at the Old Eucalyptus Schoolhouse. Registration is now open and can be accessed at tinyurl.com/ESGA2019.  This year our guest speakers will be Michael Bracken of Development Management Group; Sunne Wright McPeak of California Emerging Technology Fund; and, Bill Higgins of California Association of Council of Governments. Panel discussions will include: “Smart and Connected Cities”; Access to Education”; “Environment”; “Access to Capital”; Bi-national Opportunities” and, “Infrastructure”.

-          ICTC staff submitted the 2018 State Transportation Improvement Plan to the CTC on December 15, 2017 for the I-8/ Imperial Avenue Interchange Reconstruction project. ICTC staff coordinated a meeting with Caltrans and City of El Centro staff to discuss the project schedule of the interchange and the Imperial Avenue Extension South projects. The project schedules will be compatible and the closure of the I-8/Imperial Avenue Interchange Bridge is scheduled to begin February 2020.

-          Ms. Virginia Mendoza announced there was a Public Workshop on April, 18, 2019, at the Carmen Durazo Cultural Arts Center between the hours of 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm. to inform the public of the details regarding the additional traffic circulation changes necessary to access the Calexico West POE.

The changes will begin in June 2019.

-          Mr. Baza stated that a meeting will be held on April 23, 2019 at the ICTC office to review the 65% design regarding the State Route 86 (North end) Border Patrol Checkpoint project.

B.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

            Mr. Salgado had the following announcements:

-          SCAG will be supporting AB 335. It is on the Legislative Committee for review and potential support.

-          Following an extensive search from the SCAG Committee, Kome Ajise was appointed the new SCAG Executive Director at the April 4th Regional Council meeting. Kome has served as Planning Director since November 2017 and will continue in an interim role as Executive Director until a contract can be formally approved. He was previously a Deputy Director at Caltrans.

-          2019 SCAG 54th Regional Conference and General Assembly will convene on May 1-3 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, CA.

-          SCAG will be hosting an Imperial County CONNECT SOCAL 2020-2045 RTP-SCS Workshop on Monday, June 3rd from 4:00pm to 7:00 pm at the El Centro Regional Medical Center (ECRMC) Event Center at the Imperial Valley Mall, 34151 Dogwood Rd., El Centro, CA  92243. Please contact Imperial County Regional Affairs Officer (RAO) David Salgado at (760) 457-6930 with any questions.

-          SCAG scholarship applications are due this coming Friday (4/26/19).

C.                  California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)

                        Ms. Fox had the following announcements:

-          Ms. Viegas-Walker inquired about the sign on Dogwood Rd. Ms. Fox stated that Caltrans is currently working with the local Caltrans maintenance crew to get it installed.

-          Caltrans maintenance crew is working on the pad for the additional parking at the CHP station in Imperial.

-          The Imperial County limits signs have been installed on Hwy. 86, 111 and 78.

-          In 2018 Caltrans had 5 deaths in the work zone for District 11. Caltrans Director Laurie Berman announced that there will be incentives developed to improve the safety of employees, such as improved CHP presence, double fines in work zones.

-          Mrs. Nava-Froelich asked if something can be done about the entrance and exit of the Chabelas Restaurant in Brawley, CA. Ms. Fox stated Caltrans would look into it and bring it back for the next meeting.

D.                 Commission Member Reports 

-          Mrs. Nava-Froelich announced that there was an approval for the funding on Fremont Street. The City is reestablishing a committee of for the Parks and Recreation department; also establishing a Lions Club with 23 members; the Chamber of Commerce is opening again; no 4th of July event will be held this year however there will still be a fireworks show.

-          Mr. Pacheco announced the City of Calexico started paving on Hwy 98. The Mariachi Festivities are underway and planning the event with the Calexico Chamber.          

-          Mr. Amparano thanked everyone, including ICTC staff for attending the City of Imperial Transit Center Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.     

VI.              ACTION CALENDER

A.                 2018 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Programming Project List – FY 2019/2020 to                         

         FY 2021/2022

The Management Committee met on April 10, 2019 and forwarded this item to the    Commission for review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.       Approved the 2018 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Programming    Project List   FY2019/2020 to FY 2021/2022 and;

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

A motion was made by Nava seconded by Beltran, Motion Carried unanimously.

B.                  2018 Surface Transportation Block Grant Program Programming Project List – FY     

         2019-2020 to FY 2021/2022

The Management Committee met on April 10, 2019 and forwarded this item to the Commission for review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Approved the 2018 Surface Transportation Block Grant Program Programming Project List – FY 2019/2020 to FY 2021/2022and;

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

A motion was made by Nava-Froelich seconded by Plancarte, Motion Carried unanimously.

C.                  Unmet Transit Needs Public Hearing Process - Fiscal Year 2019-20

The Management Committee met on April 10, 2019 and forwarded this item to the Commission for review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Adopted the FY 2019-20 “Findings” and the prioritized 2019 ICTC Unmet Transit Needs List as presented or amended, after a review of the SSTAC response.

2.                   Authorized the Chairman to sign the attached resolution.

3.                   Directed staff to forward the FY 2019-20 “Findings”, and all other public hearing documentation and resolution to the State Department of Transportation.

A motion was made by Nava-Froelich seconded by Pacheco, Motion Carried unanimously.

D.                 Agreement for Human Resource Services, FY 2018-19 to FY 2019-20

The ICTC Executive Director requested that this item be forwarded to the Commission for review and approval pending the receipt of public comment if any:

1.                   Authorize the Chairman to sign the agreement for Human Resource Consultant Services with Argelia M. Gaddis,

a.   for the fee of $3,990 effective May 1, 2019 through June 30, 2019.

 b.  for the fee of $22,800 effective July 1, 2019 through

      June 30, 2020.

The item was tabled pending the approval of the Commission. Staff was instructed to take this item to the Management Committee meeting in May.

E.                  ICTC Overall Work Program (OWP) and Budget FY 2018-2019, Amendment #1

The ICTC Executive Director requested that this item be forwarded to the Commission for review and approval pending the receipt of public comment if any:

1.          Approve the FY 2018-19 Overall Work Program and Transit Finance Plan Budget   A

        Amendment #1

The item of the Overall Work Program (OWP) and Budget FY 2018-2019, Amendment #1 was tabled pending the approval of Commission. Staff was instructed to take this item to the Management Committee meeting in May.

VII.     CLOSED SESSION

A.                 A motion was made by Plancarte seconded by Pacheco, to proceed into Closed Session.

B.                  PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION (Government Code §54957) Title: ICTC Executive Director

C.                  The Board met in Closed Session, direction was given under (Government Code §54957) and no actions were taken.

VIII.         NEXT MEETING DATE AND PLACE

A.                 The next meeting of the Imperial County Transportation Commission will be held on Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 6:00 p.m., at the County of Imperial Board Chambers, at 940 W. Main Street, El Centro, CA.

IX.              ADJOURNMENT

A.                 Meeting adjourned at 7:40p.m.