IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR May 22, 2024

6:00 p.m.

__________________________________________________________________­­­­___________________

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                                City of Brawley                                       George 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, Michelle Bastidas, Katie Luna, Maricela Galarza, Angela Delgadillo, Marlene Flores, Esperanza Avila

OTHERS PRESENT:            Javier Moreno; City of Calexico, Eric Havens: Counsel; John Garcia, Gerard Chadergran: Caltrans David Salgado: SCAG

PUBLIC:                                Keith Everage, Joe Escobedo, Loraine Lopez

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, May 22, 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 6:06 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.            ICTC Commission Minutes:                                           April 24, 2024

                B.            Received and filed:

1.                   ICTC Management Committee Minutes: April 10, 2024

2.                   ICTC TAC Minutes:                                           April 25, 2024

3.                   ICTC SSTAC Minutes:                                      April 03, 2024

C.            Application for Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5311 Program Funds FFY 2024

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

1.                Authorize the Chairman to sign the resolution authorizing the Interim Executive Director to sign the FTA 5311 FFY 2024 grant application with all supporting documentation.

2.                   Direct staff to submit the application to Caltrans.

D.            FY 2024-25 Ninth Revision to Memorandum of Understanding (MOU); ICTC - Quechan Indian Tribe - Yuma County Intergovernmental Public Transit Authority (YCIPTA) for Turquoise Route #10 and Blue Route #5

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

1.                   Authorize the Chairperson to sign the Ninth Extension to the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Yuma County Intergovernmental Public Transportation Authority (YCIPTA), The Imperial County Transportation Commission (ICTC) and the Quechan Indian Tribe for the continued implementation and operation of a regional connector bus service (YCAT Turquoise #10) between Yuma AZ, Winterhaven and El Centro, California; and, a circulator route from Yuma with stops in the eastern Imperial County area (YCAT Blue #5) effective July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 and provide a not to exceed subsidy to the Quechan Tribe and YCIPTA in an amount of $224,163.14.

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

                                Motion Carried.

V.                  ACTION CALENDAR

A.                  Unmet Transit Needs Public Hearing Process - Fiscal Year 2024-2025

The ICTC Management Committee met on May 8, 2024, and forwarded this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.            Adopted the FY 2024-25 “Findings” and the prioritized 2024 ICTC Unmet Transit Needs List as presented or amended.

                                2.            Authorized the Chairman to sign the attached resolution.

3.            Directed staff to forward the FY 2024-25 “Findings”, and all other public hearing documentation and resolution to the State Department of Transportation.

4.            Adopted the definition of “Unmet Transit Needs” and “Reasonable to Meet” as published and utilized by the Executive Committee of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) in 1981, Imperial Valley Association of Governments (IVAG) in 1992 and ICTC in 2017.

A motion was made by Nava-Froelich and seconded by Goodsell to approve the Action A as presented, roll call:

                                Motion Carried.

B.            Calexico Intermodal Transportation Center – Award of Contract for Resident Engineering/Construction Management Services

The ICTC Management Committee met on May 8, 2024, and forwarded this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Approved the award of the Agreement for the Calexico Intermodal Transportation Center Project – Construction Management/Resident Engineering Services to Jacobs in the amount of $1,968,942.61.

2.                   Authorized the Chairperson to sign the agreement.

A motion was made by Garcia and seconded by Nava to approve the Action B as presented, roll call:

                                Motion Carried.

C.            Calexico East Port of Entry Bridge Widening Project – Contract Change Order No. 8 Supplement 1 (8.1)

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

1.                   Approved Change Order No. 8.1 to Hazard Construction Company for the Calexico East Port of Entry Bridge Widening Project in the amount of $450,000.00 modifying the total contract value to $21,350,448.33.

2.                   Authorized the Executive Director to sign Change Order No. 8.1.

A motion was made by Nava and seconded by Nava-Froelich to approve the Action C as presented, roll call:

                                Motion Carried.

D.            Calexico East Port of Entry Bridge Widening Project – Contract Change Order No. 9

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

1.                   Approved Change Order No. 9 to Hazard Construction Company for the Calexico East Port of Entry Bridge Widening Project in the deductive amount of ($104,294.72) modifying the total contract value to $21,246,153.61.

2.                   Authorized the Executive Director to sign Change Order No. 9.

A motion was made by Amparano and seconded by Garcia to approve the Action D as presented, roll call:

                                Motion Carried.

VI.                REPORTS

A.                  ICTC Executive Director

-          ICTC/IVT Operations and Maintenance Facility: The next steps include executing a Letter of Intent with the property owner, continuing coordination with the city of El Centro, and to begin conducting the required environmental studies like a Phase 1 Site Assessment. ICTC will also continue to work on grant opportunities to fund the acquisition of the property. The site plan will also be shared with the commission upon completion.

-          Niland Bus Stop Implementation and Improvements: ICTC staff has evaluated a few locations that may be suitable to integrate a potential bus stop. ICTC will continue to evaluate proposed locations and look for opportunities to potentially integrate the additional stop into its existing route.

-          Active Transportation Program, Cycle 7: Imperial County anticipates approximately $1.2 million in ATP Cycle 7 Regional Funds will be available for all applicants who are not successful in the statewide call.  Applications will be due to the CTC by June 17, 2024. Imperial County applicants must also submit a copy of their applications to the Imperial County Transportation Commission (ICTC). The ATP document is on the ICTC website at https://www.imperialctc.org/assets/documents/transportation-plans-and-studies/ICTC-ATP_Final-Document_2022.02.28_Reduced-Size.pdf

-          Imperial Valley Transit and Associated Services Operations and Maintenance Request for Proposals: ICTC received multiple responses to its RFP and is currently evaluating the responses. Staff will attempt to award the contract in the month of June 2024.

-          Imperial County EV Charging Infrastructure Feasibility Study – ICTC recently submitted a grant application under the Carbon Reduction Program (CRP) to prepare a Countywide EV Charging Infrastructure Feasibility Study. The project will aim to identify strategic locations within the county for EV Charging Infrastructure. Caltrans is currently developing a similar project for locations along State facilities.

-          Calexico East Port of Entry Bridge Widening Project: The project is estimated to be completed in June 2024.

-          Calexico Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC): The project construction management RFP ended on March 22, 2024. The action item for the proposed award of a contract for construction management services is included in the May 2024 agenda.

-          Bus Stop Improvement Project: The contract was awarded at the April Commission meeting. ICTC has already participated in a kickoff meeting with the consultant and will be reaching out to each of the affected agencies to coordinate a kickoff.

-          Transit Comprehensive Operational Analysis: Staff is currently working on the development of the Request for Proposals (RFP) and it is anticipated that the RFP will be released in the coming months.

-          State Route 86 (Northbound) Border Patrol Checkpoint: The improvement plans have been prepared in final draft form and have been submitted to Caltrans for review. Caltrans has provided review comments on the project improvement plans. ICTC will work with the design engineer to complete the required updates. Environmental submittal is pending submittal by CBP.

-          All other updates are on the Executive Director report on page 49 of the agenda.

B.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

-          REAP 2.0 Update: Program Development Framework Information Sessions: SCAG staff will host two information sessions. Register online for a session on Tuesday, May 14 at 10 a.m. or Wednesday, May 15 at 1 p.m. REAP 2.0 awardees are invited to attend the information sessions and provide input.

-          SCAG GIS Training Program: SCAG, in collaboration with Cal Poly Pomona's Department of Urban and Regional Planning, is organizing an upcoming GIS training program. This comprehensive training program will take place from May 29 to May 31 at the ICTC Office. To register for this program, please visit the following link: SCAG GIS Training Program Registration Form (jotform.com)

-          General Assembly Elects 2024-2025 Board of Officers: The General Assembly approved the nominations for the SCAG 2024-25 Board Officers as recommended by the Regional Council.

-          12 Scholarships awarded to Southern California Students: SCAG announced the awardees of its 14th annual scholarship program, helping to inspire and support the next generation of public servants. SCAG received a record total of 115 applications from throughout the SCAG region.

-          All other updates are on the SCAG report on page 57 of the agenda.

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

-          SR-98 Widening Project: Completion of stage 4 is estimated for the end of June 2024.

-          Maintenance and Traffic Operations: El Centro Traveled Way Crew – Fence repair: I-8/SR-111, Sealing intersections: SR-86, El Centro Functional/Marking Crew – Sign/Landscape maintenance, Refresh pavement markings-SR-7/Carr Road. Storm damage repair/drain cleaning: I-8.

-          California Department of Technology’s (CDT) Middle Mile Broadband Network has routes going through Imperial County and they are being delivered by multiple methods. Two are being built by Caltrans and two are built by a third party (Lumen).

-          HSIP Trainings: Statewide Webinar for all local agencies in California (online attendance only): Caltrans and FHWA will hold a webinar on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM. Please register for this event at https://dot.ca.gov/programs/local-assistance/fed-and-state-programs/highway-safety-improvement-program/apply-now

-          Imperial County Training for Imperial County local agencies: Thursday, June 27, 2024, from 1:00 PM – 4:00 PM. The training will be offered in-person (can also attend online at Zoom link below) at the ICTC office in El Centro

-          All other updates are on the Caltrans report on page 60 of the agenda.

D.                  Commission Member Reports

-          Updates were provided by various commissioners.

VII.              The next meeting will be on June 26, 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.

VIII.            ADJOURNMENT

A.                  Meeting Adjourned at 8:08 p.m.