IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF March 12, 2025

10:30 a.m.

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

STAFF PRESENT: Marlene Flores, Esperanza Avila, Cristi Lerma, Michelle Bastidas.

OTHERS PRESENT: John Garcia, Alejandro Lopez-Rangel: Caltrans, David Salgado: SCAG. Manuel Soto: Jarret Walker & Associates, Roger Martinez: Vasquez & Co, Coley Delaney: The Pun Group

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The following minutes are listed as they were acted upon by the Imperial County Transportation Commission Management Committee and as listed on the agenda for the meeting held Wednesday, March 12, 2025, together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                    CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

Vice-Chair Laura Gutierrez called the meeting to order at 10:31 a.m., roll call was taken, and a quorum was present.

II.                  EMERGENCY ITEMS

There were none.

III.                PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were none.

IV.               CONSENT ITEMS

A.                 Approval of Management Committee Draft Minutes:      February 12, 2025

B.                 Received and Filed:

1.                  ICTC Commission Minutes:                                    January 22, 2022

2.                  ICTC TAC Minutes                                                     January 23, 2025

3.                  ICTC SSTAC Minutes                                                 January 2, 2025

A motion was made by Paramo seconded by Wells to approve the consent calendar as presented; Motion carried unanimously.

V.                 INFORMATION CALENDAR

              A.     Imperial Valley Transit – Comprehensive Operations Analysis

                       Presentation by the consultant team from Jarrett Walker + Associates

o   Exclusively focused on transit service design and related issues.

VI.               REPORTS

A.                 ICTC Executive Director

                               Mr. Aguirre had the following updates:

o   ICTC is scheduled to meet for their Annual Unmet Transit Needs Hearing on April 7, 2025. At the hearing the panel will listen to testimony regarding any unmet transit needs users of the service are experiencing. The follow up “findings” meeting will be held on April 28, 2025. At this meeting staff will return with findings from the hearing including those that are able and unable to be met at this time.

o   Staff is preparing for the upcoming CMAQ and STBG Call for Projects. This item was taken to the ICTC TAC agenda in February and will be presented to the Management Committee and Commission agendas, respectively, in March 2025.

o   It is anticipated that the Calexico Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC) project will start construction in the March/April timeframe. The project is anticipated to take a year to complete. We had a successful groundbreaking ceremony on February 28, 2025, at 11 a.m. at the project site.

o   A New Border Express Route begun on February 10, 2025. The demonstration route will operate Monday through Friday at select times between the 3rd and Paulin Bus Stop to the Calexico East POE. This is being demonstrated in anticipation of a larger scale route associated with the upcoming transit facility that is anticipated to begin when the new East POE facility is completed. There is also an additional IVC Express Trip embedded in the new service, which will help alleviate some of the congestion we see on some of our IVC Express trips. Staff will be providing updates as it pertains to the development of the service. 

o   The next IMBA meeting is scheduled to be held in Imperial County on March 13, 2025, at the ICTC offices.

o   The Bus Stop Improvement Project is underway. The 65% percent improvement plans have been completed and were distributed to participating agencies. ICTC has received agency comments, and the comments have been forwarded to the consultant for incorporation into the project improvement plans. The improvement plans are being finalized to obtain 90% completion level.

o   Imperial County EV Charging Infrastructure Feasibility Study is in development. Staff are currently working on the development of the Scope of Work (SOW) for the project to proceed to the issuance of a Request for Proposals. Staff reviewed the proposed SOW with the ICTC TAC to obtain additional feedback. Staff are anticipating releasing the RFP in the coming weeks.

o   All ICTC Executive Directors’ updates can be found on page 22.

B.                 Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)  

                               Mr. Salgado had the following updates:

o   The 2025 SCAG Scholarship Program is now open. The program, in partnership with the California Transportation Foundation, provides nine $4,000 scholarship awards for high school or community college students from the SCAG region. Students of any field of study are invited to apply; however, preference is given to applications that demonstrate a commitment to community planning, regional planning, urban planning, civil engineering, political science, public administration, sustainable development, or other related fields. Applications are due electronically by Friday, March 21. If you have questions about the program, please contact Rachel Wagner at wagner@scag.ca.gov.   

o   Join SCAG for the 2025 Regional Conference and General Assembly, May 1-2 at the JW Marriott in Palm Desert. This year, SCAG will celebrate its 60th anniversary. For more information or to register click on the following link: https://scag.ca.gov/ga2025

o   Surface Transportation Block Grant and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program Guidelines Now Available. On March 6, the SCAG Regional Council approved the federal fiscal year 2026-27 and federal fiscal year 2027-28 Surface Transportation Block Grant program (STBG) and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement program (CMAQ) Program Guidelines. The upcoming call for project nominations will make an estimated $1.2 billion available for eligible transportation projects in the SCAG region in federal fiscal years 2026-27 and 2027-28. The online application will be available from March 31 through May 16. Award recommendations will be presented to the SCAG Regional Council by December 2025. 

o   SCAG updates can be found on page 58 of the agenda.

C.                 Caltrans Department of Transportation – District 11

                                Mr. Garcia and Mr. Lopez-Rangel provided the following updates:

o   SR-111 Roadside improvements have been completed.

o   A list of completed projects in 2024 are listed on page 68 of the agenda.

o   Caltrans, in coordination with the County of Imperial are working on the Intersection widening and Installation of Traffic Signals at SR-86 and Dogwood Road. The project is currently in the design phase with a tentative construction date by Autumn 2025.

o   Caltrans staff and Calexico City staff met on January 17, 2025, to go over the short-term alternatives and to conduct a field visit at key intersections along SR-111 and SR-98. 

o   Local Assistance Engineer (DLAE) Deadline for California Transportation Commission (CTC) Requests is Friday, March 14, 2025, for the May 15-16, 2025, CTC meeting.

o   Caltrans updates can be found on page 62 of the agenda.

D.           Committee Member Reports

o   There were no other reports.

VII.              ACTION CALENDAR

A.                   Call for Projects - Project Prioritization Framework- Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) and Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) – FFY 2026/27 to FFY 2027/28

The ICTC Technical Advisory Committee met on February 27, 2025, and forwarded this item to the ICTC Management Committee and Commission for review and approval after public comments, if any:

1.                   Approved 2025 Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) and Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) Call for Projects Nominations Schedule.

2.                   Approved the Project Prioritization Framework for the 2025 Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) and Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) Call for Project Nominations.

3.                   Directed staff to convene an evaluation committee to score and rank the projects; and,

4.                   Directed staff to return with a list of recommended projects for approval by the Commission.

A motion was made by Contreras seconded by Ortiz for approval as presented; Motion carried unanimously.

B.                   ICTC Fiscal Audit for FY 2023-24

The auditor provided a brief presentation to the committee.

It was requested that the ICTC Management Committee forward this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.                   Received and filed the fiscal audit for the Imperial County Transportation Commission, for FY 2023-24.

2.                   Directed staff to transmit the fiscal audit to the State Controller’s Office and Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

A motion was made by Paramo seconded by Wells for approval as presented; Motion carried unanimously.

C.            Imperial County Local Transportation Authority Annual Financial Audit for Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 2024

The auditor provided a brief presentation to the committee. It was noted that the LTA Local Taxpayer Supervising Committee was scheduled to meet the next day.

It was requested that the ICTC Management Committee forward this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

3.                   Received and filed the fiscal audit for the Imperial County Transportation Commission, for FY 2023-24.

4.                   Directed staff to transmit the fiscal audit to the State Controller’s Office and Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

A motion was made by Contreras seconded by Wells for approval as presented; Motion carried unanimously.

VIII.            The next meeting is scheduled for April 09, 2025, at 10:30 a.m. At the City of Brawley.

IX.                ADJOURNMENT

                The meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m.