IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR December 11, 2024

6:00 p.m.

__________________________________________________________________­­­­___________________           

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                                City of Brawley                                       Gil Rebollar

                                                                City of Calipatria                                    Maria Nava-Froelich

                                                                City of Calexico                                      Absent

                                                                City of El Centro                                    Martha Cardenas-Singh

                                                                City of Imperial                                      Robert Amparano

                                                                City of Holtville                                       Mike Goodsell          

                                                                City of Westmorland                           Absent                                        

                                                                County of Imperial                                Luis Plancarte            

                                                                County of Imperial                                Absent

                                                                Imperial Irrigation District                 Absent                                                                                         

STAFF PRESENT:               David Aguirre, Cristi Lerma, Esperanza Avila

OTHERS PRESENT:            Eric Havens: Counsel; Davis Salgado: SCAG; Ann Fox, John Garcia: 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, December 11, 2024, together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                    CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 

Chair Plancarte called the Commission meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Roll call was taken, and a quorum was present.

II.                  EMERGENCY ITEMS

                None.

III.                PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were none.

IV.               CONSENT CALENDAR

A.           ICTC Commission Minutes:                                                         October 23, 2024

                B.            Received and filed:

1.                  ICTC Management Committee Minutes:                             October 09, 2024

2.                  ICTC TAC Minutes:                                                         October 24, 2024

3.                  ICTC SSTAC Minutes:                                                     November 06, 2024

C.                    Amendment to the California Vanpool Authority Joint Powers Agreement (JPA)

The ICTC Management Committee will meet on December 11, 2024, and it is anticipated that they will forward this item to the Commission for their review and approval after any public comment, if any:

1.       Approved the Amendment to the California Vanpool Authority Joint Powers Agreement(JPA)

                               2. Authorize the Chairperson to sign the agreement.

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

                               Motion Carried.

V.                  REPORTS

ICTC Executive Director

-          ICTC and IVT celebrated Veterans on November 4-11th with free rides on IVT, IVT Access and IVT Ride. We also just concluded our Stuff-a-Bus campaign and donated just under 1,600 pounds worth of canned and dried goods. The food was delivered to the Imperial Valley Food Bank for distribution to residents in need. 

-          ICTC was awarded $12.6 million by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) through its Transit Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) to acquire, design and construct a transit facility at the Calexico East Port of Entry (POE). The project will have several phases with an estimated completion date in 2030.  

-          ICTC is currently pursuing the implementation of an electronic fare payment system to its fixed route transit services. The system would allow all of its fixed route buses to take card payments in addition to its existing cash payment system. ICTC is working on securing the grant funds to implement this project. Staff are currently working on the scope of work. 

-          Reap 2.0-Subregional Partnership Program, ICTC was awarded a total of $274,133 in funding from the Reap 2.0 Subregional Partnership Program to provide technical support to our local agencies with housing planning and to facilitate housing production. The selections will be brought forth at the January meeting.

-          Calexico Microtransit Service – Calexico On Demand, ICTC was awarded a grant from the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program in the amount of $520k to continue funding operations for the service. ICTC is finalizing the submittal of an additional grant through the CMO program to continue funding the service. ICTC also received an additional funding commitment to further continue the service beyond the current grant funding received.

-          ATP applications were due to the CTC by June 17, 2024. Agencies were encouraged to submit an application to the statewide ATP to be eligible for ATP regional funds. Five applications were received for the Imperial County Region. Applications were submitted by the City of El Centro, Imperial County Office of Education, Heber Public Utility District, City of Calipatria and City of Holtville. The CTC released the scoring for all submitted projects. The Imperial County Region was not awarded a statewide award; however, statewide applications will be eligible for regional share consideration. Of the five Imperial County projects, the highest scoring projects were submitted by the Imperial County Office of Education and the City of Holtville. The selections will be brought forth at the January meeting. 

-          The Transit Comprehensive Operational Analysis was awarded in October. The COA is a comprehensive evaluation of ICTC's existing transit services. Staff will be having a project kick-off meeting soon. It is anticipated that the analysis will take a year to complete.

-          All ICTC Executive Directors’ updates can be found on page 42 

A.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

                                Mr. Salgado had the following updates:

-          A 'Southern California Economic Update’ Presentation was held at the December Regional Council meeting titled, “2024 Southern California Economic Update.” The 2024 Southern California Economic Update presented a detailed economic outlook for the region, highlighting that growth in sectors such as goods movement, healthcare, and tourism will drive the economy in the coming year. SCAG link for more information: The 2024 Southern California Economic Update Is Now Available Online - Southern California Association of Governments

-          Nominations are open for SCAG's Sustainability Awards. For more information please visit the 2025 Sustainability Award Nomination site at: Sustainability Program Awards - Southern California Association of Governments

-          No project applications were submitted from Imperial County for the 2024 Sustainable Communities Program. These projects will be funded through ATP Cycle 7. SCAG staff attended the ICTC TAC meeting, held numerous presentations, and met directly with potential applicants in Imperial County. Unfortunately, no applications were received from Imperial County. SCAG staff will continue to make themselves available and support agencies for all future opportunities. 

-          SCAG will be dark in January.

-          All other updates on the SCAG report on page 50 of the agenda.

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

                Ms. Fox had the following updates:

-          SR-111 Roadside Improvements at various locations that includes upgrading guardrail, ADA curb ramps, and rumble strip installations will be completed on December 19th. 

-          I-8 overlay project right before Exit 159 will be completed in December 2024. 

-          SR-86 at Salton Dr. Bridge Preservation is currently in construction and will be completed in February 2025. 

-          Upcoming projects: Intersection Widening and Installation of Traffic Signals at SR-86 and Dogwood Road currently in design with a current construction date of mid-2025. A new bridge will be constructed at SR-186 All American Canal. The project is currently in the environmental phase and plans to have clearance by December 2024.  

-          Maintenance and Traffic Operations were highlighted from the report. 

-          Mr. Amparano brought up some road issues on Southbound SR-86 in Salton City and right before the checkpoint.

-          Caltrans updates can be found on page 54.

C.               Commission Member Reports

-          Updates were provided by various commissioners.

VI.                ACTION CALENDAR

A.                       Second Amendment to the Employment Agreement for the Position of Executive Director

Following ICTC Counsel review, staff forwarded this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

                               1.            Approved the Executive Director Agreement, Amendment #2

                               2.            Authorized the Chairman to sign Amendment #2

VII.              CLOSED SESSION CALENDAR

A.                 Motioned to Adjourn to Closed Session

B.            CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY, Government Code §54956.8

Property: 2204-2208 La Brucherie Rd., El Centro, CA, Assessor’s Parcel Number

#064-450-076.

Agency negotiator: David Aguirre. Negotiating parties: Sandra Joy Hoskins et al.

Instructions to negotiators will concern price and terms of payment.

B.                 Announcement of Closed Session Action(s)

VIII.             

The next meeting will be on January 22, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. at the ICTC Offices, 1503 N. Imperial Ave., Suite 104, El Centro, CA 92243, and via Zoom Meeting for the public.

VIIII.      ADJOURNMENT

a.       Meeting Adjourned  at p.m.