IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR October 25, 2017

6:00 p.m.

______________________________________________________________________

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                            City of Calipatria                      Maria Nava-Froelich (Chair)

                                                            City of Calexico                       Lewis Pacheco (alt.)

                                                            City of El Centro                      Cheryl Viegas-Walker

                                                            City of Holtville                       Mike Goodsell (alt.)

                                                            City of Westmorland                Larry Ritchie

                                                            County of Imperial                    Ryan Kelley

                                                            City of Imperial                        Robert Amparano

                                                            County of Imperial                   Ryan Kelley

NON-VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:        Caltrans District 11                   Cory Binns

STAFF PRESENT:     Mark Baza, Kathi Williams, David Aguirre, Virginia Mendoza, Vicky Hernandez, Cristi Lerma, Guillermo Gonzalez

OTHERS PRESENT:  David Salgado: SCAG; Eric Havens: ICTC Counsel; Eric Estell: First Transit; John Gay: County of Imperial; Marcelo Peinado, Jesus Vargas: Caltrans; Robert Menvielle: County Assessor’s Office; Christian Froelich: 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 October 25, 2017 together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                    CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 

Chair Nava-Froelich 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.                 Approval of Commission Draft Minutes:                                    September 27, 2017

                                                                                                            October 17, 2017

B.                  Received and Filed:     

1.                   ICTC Management Committee Draft Minutes:               October 11, 2017

                                                                                                                        September 28, 2017

A motion was made by Viegas-Walker and seconded by Ritchie to approve consent items A and B, Motion carried with 1 abstention by Holtville.

V.                 REPORTS

A.                 ICTC Executive Director

-          Mr. Baza and ICTC staff provided ICTC updates.

-          Executive Director Reports can be found on Page 24 of the agenda.

B.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

-          Mr. Salgado provided SCAG updates.

-          A SCAG report can be found on page 39 of the agenda.

C.                  California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)

-          Mr. Binns provided Caltrans updates.

-          A Caltrans report can be found on page 46 of the agenda.

D.                 Commission Member Reports 

-          There were various reports by Commission members of countywide issues and events happening in each of their respective cities/county.

VI.               INFORMATION / DISCUSSION CALENDAR

A.                 Transit 101 2017 (Mobility Coordination)

Mr. Gonzalez stated that ICTC held its third annual Transit 101 session on October 4, 2017 at the ICTC office. The session is conducted in October during the regular Social Services Transportation Advisory Council (SSTAC) meeting.

Staff from Imperial Valley Transit (IVT); IVT Access, the Americans with Disabilities Act paratransit services; IVT RIDE, paratransit for seniors and persons with disabilities; and IVT MedTrans, the non-emergency transportation to medical facilities in San Diego, presented information on their specific services. In addition, the IVT branded service vehicles were on display in the parking lot.

Each year, a few new agencies attend gaining information that potentially enables them to better serve their client’s needs including but not limited to; the County Health Department, the County Behavioral Health Department, Pioneer’s Memorial Hospital, Access for Independence and the Work Training Center.

B.                  2nd Project Update - Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5310 Grant Program for Elderly and Disabled Transportation Services FY 2014-15 (Mobility Coordination)

In February 2015, the Commission approved ICTC’s submittal of a FY 2014-15 FTA 5310 Grant application. The federal grant program had been revised to include funding for certain transit operational expenses and mobility management program functions.

It was staff’s recommendation to fund a Mobility Management/Coordination position with a new ICTC employee. The position was to be of a professional classification and require a standard recruitment process.   The recruitment process was completed and the staff person has been engaged in Mobility Coordination since February 2016.

The Mobility Coordinator is responsible for assisting existing ICTC transit and contractor staff in addressing two primary areas:

1.       The 2014 Human Services – Public Transit Coordinated Planning efforts goals; to use a bilingual Mobility Coordinator to bridge the gap between current public transit service providers, human service agencies, social service agencies and the senior citizen and disabled communities of Imperial County.  

2.       Address the recommendations in the consultant prepared ADA Certification and Eligibility Process, Demand Management Project; to revise the certification and eligibility process (implemented January 2017)

As of October 2017, several additional presentations have been made to social service agencies, service clubs and agencies such as County Behavioral Health. In addition, continued public outreach was provided for the IVT RIDE within Imperial Valley and IVT MedTrans services in San Diego.

Mr. Gonzalez attached a list of the several individualized coordination and training sessions provided by the Mobility Coordinator directly, or with contractor’s transit staff. He stated that the Mobility Coordinator has provided a needed and appreciated point of contact. This activity has included some personalized case management for the community and in particular for seniors and persons with disabilities. Mr. Gonzalez provided an overview of several key accomplishments to date.

VII.            ACTION CALENDAR

A.                 2018 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) Recommendations for Imperial County

Ms. Mendoza presented this item to the Commission.

The 2018 Fund Estimate also provides $716,000 for Planning, Programming and Monitoring (PPM). This amount is limited to 5% of available RIP funding and is deducted from the RIP funding share. PPM funds are restricted to programming years 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23. Because ICTC has already programmed the maximum 5% allowed for PPM through FY2018/19, PPM funds are not available for programming in FY2019/20.

ICTC staff met with Caltrans District 11 staff and ICTC’s STIP consultant, COH and Associates, Inc., on August 25, 2017 to discuss options and draft recommendations for the 2016 STIP. The meeting between Caltrans and ICTC is required pursuant to the STIP Guidelines. Caltrans staff stated that the cost estimate to complete the I-8/Imperial Avenue Interchange reconstruction project has increased from $39,098,000 to $44,240,000. The reasons for the increase are:

STIP guidelines require that ICTC submit the 2018 STIP Recommendations by December 15, 2017.  It is anticipated that the CTC will adopt the 2018 STIP by March 2018.

The recommended 2018 STIP for Imperial County is summarized in the attachment to this letter. ICTC Management Committee met on October 11, 2017 and forwarded the following recommendation(s) to the Commission, after the review of public comment, if any:

1.                   Approved the 2018 STIP Recommendations for Imperial County, requesting funding for the I-8/Imperial Avenue Interchange project and Planning, Programming and Monitoring (PPM). The funding request is as follows:

2018 STIP Programming Proposed Amendment ($1,000)

A motion was made by Amparano and seconded by Pacheco, Motion carried unanimously.

B.                  IVT Bus Operations Facility Evaluation Phase 1

Property: 1605 Adams Avenue, El Centro, Ca 92243

Mr. Aguirre presented this item to the Commission.

Since 2012, ICTC began the transition of acquiring and taking ownership of the IVT branded services vehicle fleet. The fleet size has grown to 67 total vehicles. Previously First Transit (Operator) provided the vehicles for the operation of service. The acquisition of vehicles was accelerated due additional revenues received as a result of the Point of Sale Transaction sales tax revenues related to solar infrastructure projects within the County of Imperial.

The IVT branded services has also expanded over the past few years with the additions of IVT Ride and IVT MedTrans services. The service expansions created the need to acquire additional bus drivers, dispatching staff and administrative staff. The expansion of the vehicle fleet and services has impacted the available space for parking storage and operations, and has created a need for additional capacity.

Due to the lack of space, IVT currently utilizes two locations to conduct operations. The larger facility located at 792 Ross Road in El Centro has been in use since 2005 and currently stores and maintains all of the IVT service vehicles, dispatching for the IVT service, provides a small area for farebox storage and collection, small offices for safety and security staff and maintenance staff and a small office area for walk up passengers purchasing tickets. The Ross Road facility also provides three bays for bus maintenance, parts inventory and employee parking.

The second facility located one block away on Industry Way has been in use since 2011 and provides dispatching services for the IVT Ride, IVT Access and IVT MedTrans services, offices for senior management and administrative staff, record storage, and a training room for bus drivers and administrative staff.

It is important to note that the two current bus operations and maintenance facility, and administrative office both are leased by First Transit Inc. from local private owners. Many public transit systems own or lease their own facilities in order to be able to better control capital costs and manage the potential for contractor turnover as a result of competitive bids.

Caltrans recently completed the transition to its new facility resulting in the opportunity to possibly acquire the old Caltrans maintenance facility located at 1605 Adams Avenue in El Centro. Caltrans has provided ICTC with the first opportunity to acquire the old Caltrans maintenance facility.

In order to better determine the feasibility of an acquisition, ICTC issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in March 2017 to complete a comprehensive evaluation of the facility. The services requested as part of the RFP included but were not limited to:

1.       Completion of an Assessment of the existing Imperial Valley Transit Bus Operations Yard along Ross Road to obtain critical information pertaining to current operations and existing infrastructure and how those elements will be integrated into the new facility.

2.       Completion of a comprehensive evaluation of the proposed Imperial Valley Transit Bus Operations Yard along Adams Avenue to evaluate existing conditions, note areas of deficiency and issue recommendations for improvements to the facility.

3.       Preparation of a comprehensive evaluation report of the new facility noting the findings pertaining to the assessment of the existing facility and evaluation of the new facility, providing recommendations pertaining to items that require immediate improvement, short term improvement and long term improvement, providing space use projections and site plans, providing information pertaining to required permits, environmental and study documents and various other items.

4.       Providing Project Management/Construction Administrative Support Services.

The contract was awarded to the consulting firm of CH2M Hill to complete a two phase evaluation of the facility. CH2M Hill proposed to complete an initial feasibility assessment (phase 1) to determine if the facility could be converted for the existing and future bus fleet. If it was determined under phase 1 to be feasible for the transition,  phase 2 would complete a more comprehensive evaluation. The award of contract value for phase 1 is $51,780.00 and phase 2 is $180,041.00.

CH2M Hill completed the phase 1 evaluation of the facility and prepared a thorough report noting information pertaining to the existing IVT infrastructure, fleet and operations, substantial critical information about the Adams Avenue facility, information about the viability of the Adams Avenue facility being converted to a transit facility, the viability of the facility being able to accommodate ICTC’s current and potential future fleet and operations, information pertaining to improvements required to possibly make the facility move in ready under existing conditions or eliminating all buildings at the facility and starting with an empty site (ultimate option) and rough order of magnitude cost for the move in ready and ultimate options.

The report noted several required improvements like permitting, coordination with the City, environmental studies, design engineering, construction activities such as demolition, building repair, pavement repair, environmental item mitigation and various other items. The approximate cost to complete the required improvements to make the facility move in ready is approximately 6.5 million while the ultimate option cost is approximately 15 million. The phase 1 evaluation is attached to this letter for review.

Therefore, the following are options for consideration by the Commission:

Option A

Proceed with Phase 2 of the project and complete the comprehensive analysis of the Adams Avenue Facility. In addition, ICTC staff would return to the Commission for instruction to commence negotiations with Caltrans regarding the acquisition of the facility.

Pros:  The site is larger than ICTC’s existing maintenance and operations facilities and could assist with the goal of consolidating both the leased Ross Road and Industry Way locations.

Cons:  Phase 1 has determined that the site would require extensive, costly rehabilitation and demolition to make it functional for the “move in ready” option. The site under the “move in ready” option would provide some upgrades over existing facilities but would not be sufficient for any future needs or expansion.

Option B

Do not proceed with the Phase 2 portion of the project, do not move forward with the acquisition of the Caltrans facility and look at other potential sites suitable for ICTC’s transit and administrative needs as previously directed by the Commission.

Pros: Saves the remaining funds previously allocated towards the Phase 2 of this project ($180,041.00).  Look at various other sites capable of meeting ICTC’s existing and future transit and administrative needs.

Cons: Time required in a search for a new site and continued use of the existing duel site scenario for maintenance and operations services.

Option C

Reallocate the Phase 2 budget ($180,041.00) and utilize a portion of the budget to issue a contract amendment/change order with the existing consultant CH2M Hill to complete an initial study for a new site not to exceed (NTE) $50,000 and work with a real estate consultant to review multiple potential sites. 

Pros: Streamlines the process to complete preliminary engineering services for a new site while also utilizing existing budgeted funds. Engineering services would be performed by a consultant team already familiar with ICTC and the transit operations.   

            Cons: Engineering services would be limited to the existing consultant.

The ICTC Management Committee met on October 11, 2017 and forwarded this item to the Commission for review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Proceeding with Option B:

a.                   Authorizing the Executive Director to cease the pursuit of the Caltrans facility.

2.                   Proceeding with Option C:

a.                   Authorizing the Executive Director to prepare a contract amendment/change order with the existing consultant (CH2M Hill) to complete an engineering analysis for a different potential transit maintenance and operations yard, with ICTC Administration building location from the existing project budget (Not To Exceed $50,000).

b.                   Authorizing the Executive Director to engage a real estate consultant to look at multiple sites from the existing project budget.

A motion was made by Viegas-Walker and seconded by Plancarte, Motion carried unanimously.

C.                  IVT RIDE,  Public Dial-a-Ride Paratransit Services, Triennial Review FY 2014-15 – FY 2016-17

Ms. Williams presented this item to the Commission.

In FY 2014-15 as directed by the Commission, ICTC completed two competitive bids focused on the consolidation of the five public dial-a-ride services: Brawley, Calexico, El Centro, Imperial and the West Shores. Previously, there were multiple operators under separate contracts with these agencies. 

The five (5) agencies were interested in determining if greater efficiencies, better compliance with regulations and cost reductions could be achieved through the consolidation of the management, dispatch, reservationists, maintenance and marketing etc. under one turnkey contractor with one administering agency. This process would be determined through a competitive bid, whereby one (1) operator may be offered a contract for all five services. 

In February 2014, fourteen transportation providers were invited to submit written proposals for consideration for the service branded as IVT RIDE, and with logo colors of yellow, black and white. The providers were requested to submit one proposal for all five of the paratransit services for a five year contract, with three one-year extensions.   The new contract would be administered by ICTC. 

The participating public agencies would terminate their individual contracts during a scheduled transition effective in FY 2014-15. However for accountability, a new Paratransit Coordination Committee (PCC) would be created by which the participating public agencies would review system performance, make recommendations and retain the ability to be responsive to their constituents.

The IVT RIDE Request For Proposal (RFP) written by ICTC required several key issues be addressed in the proposals including compliance with the twenty-four mandatory functional areas in order to be eligible for federal transit funding, i.e., drug and alcohol testing, the Americans with Disabilities Act, performance measures, as well  as, State requirements for driver training and offering employment to incumbent transit drivers and other personnel as necessary, local requirements for facilities, marketing, bilingual drivers and reservationists, and participation with the local agencies’ Offices of Emergency Services for emergency evacuation purposes etc.

Based on the results of the competitive bid process, it appeared that an opportunity to achieve greater efficiencies, better compliance with regulations, new technology for reservations/dispatching and performance management, and cost reductions could be achieved through the consolidation of the operations including; management, dispatch, reservationists, maintenance and marketing under one provider under one contract. Ultimately First Transit Inc. was selected as the most responsive provider.

Included in the service contract was the benefit of coordinated bilingual dispatching and a computerized reservation system,  a fuel escalator for fuel prices that exceed the negotiated price per a gallon, a marketing and public outreach allowance (to be developed annually based on available funding per year), replacement of the any previous  vehicles with fourteen (14) new, smaller and ramp equipped paratransit buses, in house maintenance support services and a dedicated management team.

ICTC procured the paratransit vehicles and service started in Brawley, Calexico, Imperial and the West Shores in FY 2014-15 with El Centro joining in FY 2016-17.

Data from the previous operators was not able to be verified related to passengers per day/hour etc. Therefore, service delivery began with the same service hours/days and fares as had been in operation under the previous City’s contracts.  Shown below are the fares for each service area as follows:

Brawley - $1.50  

Calexico - $1.00

El Centro -$1.25           

Imperial - $1.75

West Shores - $2.00

With the exception of the City of El Centro Service Area, service has been in operation for the demonstration period of three years. Staff have evaluated the services, the Paratransit Coordination Committee (PCC) has met a minimum of twice annually in each of the three years and recommendations for service changes have been developed.

Attached are the system wide recommendations, as well as, specific recommendations for each service area. The triennial performance data is also attached for comparison.

After the recent review by the TDA Performance audit team, ICTC staff recommends that the service changes be implemented effective January 1, 2018, after a period of public notice. However, staff also recommend that any fare increases be deferred until a system wide fare study of all of the transit services can be completed during FY 2018-19.

The ICTC Management Committee met on October 11, 2017 and forwarded this item to the Commission for review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Directed staff to implement the recommend changes to the service operations as of January 1, 2018 after public notice.

2.                   Directed staff to include the IVT RIDE services in a future system wide transit fare study.

A motion was made by Viegas-Walker and seconded by Pacheco, Motion carried unanimously.

VIII.         CLOSED SESSION

A.                 Motion to Adjourn to Closed Session (Viegas-Walker/Ritchie) Motion carried.

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

            Title:  ICTC Executive Director

C.                  Announcement of Closed Session Action(s)

D.                 Mr. Havens stated that the Commission met in Closed session to discuss PUBLIC EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION (Government Code § 54957) and stated that direction was given but no final action was taken.

IX.               NEXT MEETING DATE AND PLACE

A.                 The next meeting of the Imperial County Transportation Commission will be held on Wednesday,  December 13, 2017 at 6:00 p.m., at the County of Imperial Board Chambers, at 940 W. Main Street, El Centro, CA.

X.                 ADJOURNMENT

A.                 Meeting adjourned at 8:28 p.m.