IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR May 24, 2023

6:00 p.m.

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VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                                City of Brawley                                       George Nava

                                                                City of Calipatria                                    Maria Nava-Froelich

                                                                City of Calexico                                      Raul Ureña

                                                                City of El Centro                                    Martha Cardenas-Singh

                                                                City of Imperial                                      Robert Amparano

                                                                City of Holtville                                       Mike Goodsell                

                                                                City of Westmorland                           Ana Beltran (zoom)

                                                                County of Imperial                                Absent

                                                                County of Imperial                                Luis Plancarte

                                                                Imperial Irrigation District                 Absent

STAFF PRESENT:               David Aguirre, Virginia Mednoza, Cristi Lerma, Gustavo Gomez, Maricela Galarza, Angela Delgadillo

OTHERS PRESENT:            Eric Havens: Counsel; Rafael Reyes, Ann Fox: Caltrans; David Salgado: SCAG, Rebecca Terrazas Baxter: County of Imperial, Esperanza Colio-Warren: City of Calexico, Kelly Watts, Analy Castillo: Stantec

PUBLIC:                                Rebecca Lemon, Daniela Flores

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 24, 2023, together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                    CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 

Chair Goodsell 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

-          Daniela Flores, the Executive Organizer from the Imperial Valley Equity and Justice Coalition, expressed her appreciation for the Budget Workshop and looks forward to all projects. She stated that she had some questions about the budget workshop and will speak to David Aguirre about those.

IV.                CONSENT CALENDAR

A.                  ICTC Commission Minutes:                                           April 26, 2023

B.            Receive and File:                                                                                                 

1.                   ICTC Management Committee Minutes: April 12, 2023

2.                   ICTC TAC Minutes:                                           April 27, 2023

3.                   ICTC SSTAC Minutes:                                       April 5, 2023

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

                Motion Carried.

V.                  ACTION CALENDAR

A.                  IMPERIAL VALLEY TRANSIT (IVT) – Fixed Route Transit Services Operating Agreement, Fiscal Year 2023-24 - Extension 2

The ICTC Management Committee met on April 12, 2023, and forwards this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Authorized the Chairperson to sign extension #2 to the operating agreement with First Transit Inc. for the continued operation of Imperial Valley Transit, effective July 1, 2023:

a.       IVT Fixed Route - For the period July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, the annual not to exceed subsidy is set at $4,189,334.

b.       IVT Blue and Green Lines - For the period July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, the annual not to exceed subsidy is set at $672,437.

c.       IVT Gold Line - For the period July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, the annual not to exceed subsidy is set at $350,094.

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

B.                   IVT ACCESS – ADA Paratransit Service Operating Agreement Fiscal Year 2023-24 – Extension 2

The ICTC Management Committee met on April 12, 2023, and forwards this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Authorized the Chairperson to sign extension #1 to the operating agreement with First Transit Inc. for the continued operation of IVT ACCESS, effective July 1, 2022:

a.       For the period July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, the annual not to exceed subsidy is set at $1,641,553.

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

C.                   IVT RIDE – Senior/Paratransit Dial-A-Ride Service Operating Agreement Fiscal Year 2023-24 – Extension 2

The ICTC Management Committee met on April 12, 2023, and forwards this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Authorized the Chairperson to sign extension #2 to the operating agreement with First Transit Inc. for the continued operation of IVT RIDE, effective July 1, 2023:

a.       For the period July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, the annual not to exceed subsidy is set at $1,788,823.

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

D.                  IVT MEDTRANS – Non-emergency Transportation to Medical Facilities in San Diego Service Operating Agreement Fiscal Year 2023-24 – Extension 2

The ICTC Management Committee met on April 12, 2023, and forwards this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Authorized the Chairperson to sign extension #1 to the operating agreement with First Transit Inc. for the continued operation of IVT METRANS, effective July 1, 2023: For the period July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, the annual not to exceed subsidy is set at $594,554.

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

E.                   Transportation Development Act (TDA) Triennial Performance Audit Findings, Responses, Action Plan and Authorization to Submit Audits to Appropriate Agencies

The ICTC Management Committee met on May 10, 2023, and forwards this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Received and filed the TDA Triennial Performance Audit(s) for the Imperial County Transportation Commission, Imperial Valley Transit (IVT), IVT Ride, IVT Access, IVT Ride, and the YCAT East County Service.

2.                   Directed staff to transmit the performance audit(s) to Caltrans and other state agencies as required.

A brief presentation was provided by Kathy Chambers regarding the Transportation Development Act (TDA) Triennial Performance Audit Findings, Responses, and Action Plan.

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

F.                   ICTC Zero Emission Bus Plan - California Air Resources Board (CARB) Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) Rollout Plan

The ICTC Management Committee met on May 10, 2023, and forwards this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Approved and adopted the ICTC CARB ICT Rollout Plan.

2.                   Authorized staff to file all necessary documents on behalf of ICTC pertaining to the California Air Resources Board Innovative Clean Transit Regulation.

A brief presentation was given by Analy Castillo from Stantec explaining the ICTC Zero Emission Bus Plan - California Air Resources Board (CARB) Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) Rollout Plan.

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

G.                  Unmet Transit Needs Public Hearing Process - Fiscal Year 2023-24

The ICTC Management Committee met on May 10, 2023, and forwards this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.            Adopted the FY 2023-24 “Findings” and the prioritized 2023 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 2023-24 “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 and the Imperial Valley Association of Governments (IVAG) in 1992.

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

VI.                REPORTS

A.                  ICTC Executive Director

-          As a part of the IVT Free Fares Program, ICTC will continue to provide free fares to the public until further notice. 

-          Bus Stop Improvement Project, which will include the installation of bus shelters and other amenities throughout various cities is anticipated to be completed in FY 2023-24

-          Staff will be working on an EV charger installation project that will include multiple cities throughout the county. This is projected to be completed in FY 2023-24

-          The Calexico microtransit program, Calexico on Demand service had a celebration event in May. Currently, the average number of passengers per day is 170, with 231 being the highest. The program recently received $500k that will be used to expand the use of another vehicle. 

-          The next IMBA meeting is scheduled to be held in Imperial County on June 8, 2023. More details to come.

-          All other updates are on the Executive Director report on page 375 of the agenda.

B.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

-          Great attendance at the General Assembly, thank you for your participation! 

-          Toolbox Tuesday was held on May 16, 2023. The topic was GIS Modeling and analytics in regional planning. 

-          The public input effort for Connect SoCal 2024 continues with the goal of having a draft by the end of the year with approval in May at the General Assembly.

-          REAP 2.0 has $220 million available for housing and housing planning, several presentations have been made to the TAC committee. 

-          A GIS training will be held at the end of June in Imperial County.

-          Go Human materials are available.

-          A big thank you to SCAG and Commissioner Luis Plancarte for honoring our very own Angela Delgadillo, a recipient of the 2023 SCAG Scholarship Program.

-          All other updates are on the SCAG report on page 383 of the agenda.

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

-          Deputy of External Affairs, Caridad Sanchez, was present and introduced by Ms. Fox.

-          Nikki Tiongco was recently promoted as the South County and Trade Corridor Director, effective June 1. She will oversee all border programs. 

-          SR-98 Widening project stage 2 is still underway. Paving and stripping should be completed in early June.

-          I-8 Colorado River Bridge rehab continues. Road closures are anticipated for May 30-31. 

-          New deadline for Clean California Local Grant Program Cycle 2: May 31, 2023.

-          All other updates are on the Caltrans report on page 387 of the agenda.

D.                  Commission Member Reports

-          Updates were provided by various commissioners.

VII.              The next meeting will be on June 28, 2023, 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 7:48 p.m.