IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR November 13, 2024

6:00 p.m.

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VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                                City of Brawley                                       George A. Nava

                                                                City of Calipatria                                    Maria Nava-Froelich

                                                                City of Calexico                                      Camilo Garcia

                                                                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                                John Hawk

                                                                Imperial Irrigation District                 Absent                                                                                                                 

STAFF PRESENT:               David Aguirre, Cristi Lerma, Gustavo Gomez, Esperanza Avila, Michelle Bastidas(Zoom)

OTHERS PRESENT:            Eric Havens: Counsel; Everett Townsend, John Garcia: Caltrans

PUBLIC:                               

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 13, 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 6:03 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

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

                                Motion Carried.

V.                  REPORTS

A.                        ICTC Executive Director

-          ICTC was recently 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. 

-          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. More information is to come about the potential project selections.

-          ICTC and IVT celebrated Veterans on November 4-11th with free rides on IVT, IVT Access and IVT Ride., with a U.S. Military ID.

-          ICTC and IVT will also be participating in a "Stuff a Bus" Food Drive from November 4-22nd with all donations going to the Imperial Valley Food Bank. Donate a can or dry food item and receive one free ride.

-          Calexico Microtransit Service – Calexico On Demand, ICTC was recently 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.

-          2024 Local Partnership Program, Cycle 5, The Competitive Call for Projects for the CTC opened on August 16, 2024, with a deadline of November 20, 2024. There is also a competitive call for projects that is open for submittal directly to the CTC. ICTC is coordinating with agency staff for project submittals.

-          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. More information to come pertaining to possible regional share award(s).

-          2024 Local Partnership Program Cycle 5: The Competitive Call for Projects for the CTC opened on August 16, 2024, with a deadline of November 20, 2024, for submittal to the CTC. There is also a competitive call for projects that is open for submittal directly to the CTC. ICTC is coordinating with agency staff for project submittals.  

-          It is anticipated that the Calexico ITC project will start construction in January 2025. ICTC is working on integrating CPFCDS funding into its existing FTA RAISE Agreement. The project went out to bid on November 7, 2024. Bids are currently due on December 16, 2024. 

-          All ICTC Executive Directors’ updates can be found on page 16 

B.                Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

                                Mr. Salgado had the following updates:

-          A 'Southern California Economic Update’ Presentation is scheduled for the December Regional Council meeting. The “2024 Southern California Economic Update” will be presented during the SCAG Regional Council’s Dec. 5 meeting alongside regular SCAG business. The update will present SCAG’s annual economic analysis and near-term outlook from SCAG’s Economic Roundtable, followed by an in-depth discussion on the state of the economy among Regional Council members. The 2024 Southern California Economic Update will present 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. Please fill out the form if you would like to receive a reminder about this presentation

-          All other updates on the SCAG report on page 26 of the agenda.

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

                 Mr. Townsend had the following updates:

-           Work on I-8 bridges will be completed by the end of this week. These bridges are located at:

a.       Brock Research Center Rd – Work completed.

b.       All American Canal (left/right) – Bridge deck work and painting is complete.

c.       Winterhaven Dr/4th Street – work began on August 2024.

d.       Palo Verde locations have started and will install a long-term automated traffic control signal at both locations for reversible one way traffic throughout the duration of construction.

-          SR-111 Roadside Improvements: Minor pending work to be completed in November 2024.

-          Ann Fox has been selected as the new Caltrans District 11 Director. Mr. Townsend expressed his appreciation to the ICTC during his time as the interim.

-          Caltrans updates can be found on page 29.

D.                        Commission Member Reports

-          Updates were provided by various commissioners.

VI.                INFORMATION ITEMS

-          An overview of the Calexico East Port of Entry Bridge Widening Project was presented by   David Aguirre

VII.              SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

-          Vice-Chair Amparano with staff assistance presented Commissioners Maria Nava-Froelich, Luis Plancarte, and George Nava with a special recognition for their years of service as ICTC Commissioners. 

VIII.             CLOSED SESSION CALENDAR

A.                  Motion 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 negotiator will concern price, terms of payment.

C.                  PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION (Government Code § 54957)         

Title: ICTC Executive Director

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

                Agency Designated Representative: Eric Havens

                Unrepresented Employee: Executive Director

E.                   Announcement of Closed Session Action(s) 

IX.                The next meeting will be on December 11, 2024, 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.

X.                  ADJOURNMENT

A.                  Meeting Adjourned at 8:33 p.m.