IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF November 13, 2019

10:30 a.m.

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

City of Brawley                        Rosanna Bayon Moore

                                    City of Calipatria                      Rom Medina

City of Calexico                       David Dale

                                    City of El Centro                     Marcela Piedra

City of Holtville                       Nick Wells

City of Imperial                        Stefan Chatwin

County of Imperial                    Esperanza Colio-Warren

County of Imperial                    John Gay

STAFF PRESENT:     Mark Baza, Virginia Mendoza, Cristi Lerma

OTHERS PRESENT:  David Salgado: SCAG; Beth Landrum, Jesus “Chi” Vargas, Jose Ornelas, Hanh-Dung Khun: Caltrans; Sean Wilcock, Glenna Barrett, Victor Ramirez: IVEDC

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, November 13, 2019 together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                    CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL

Chair Wells called the Committee meeting to order at 10:41 a.m. Roll call was taken, and a quorum was present.

II.                 EMERGENCY ITEMS

A.                 There were none.

III.              PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were none.

IV.              CONSENT ITEMS

A motion was made by Chatwin seconded by Bayon Moore to approve the consent calendar as presented, Motion carried unanimously.

A.                 Approved Management Committee Minutes for October 9, 2019

B.                  Received and Filed:

1.                   ICTC Commission Meeting Notes for October 23, 2019

2.                   ICTC TAC Minutes for September 26, 2019

3.                   ICTC SSTAC Draft Minutes for October 2, 2019

C.                  Quality Assurance Program (QAP) Adoption

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

            1.         Approve the proposed 2019 Quality Assurance Program (QAP).

V.                 REPORTS

A.                 ICTC Executive Director

-          Mr. Baza stated that a meeting will be held on November 20, 2019 at ICTC with local leaders to discuss regional priorities regarding several topics following attendance at the State Economic Summit. Mr. Baza stated that this will be a good opportunity to discuss Imperial Valley priorities with State leaders of California Forward.

-          Ms. Barrett and Mr. Wilcock were present to give an overview of the efforts with the Southern Border Broadband Consortium. Ms. Barrett stated that the goal for Imperial County is 98% deployment. Mr. Wilcock stated that working with City Managers will help see where easements are needed. Staff will be in contact to schedule meetings soon. Mr. Baza stated that the next steps after needs are identified will be infrastructure implementation and additional funding will be needed for that effort.

-          A report with additional updates can be found on page 54 of the agenda.

B.                  Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

-          The Draft Connect SOCAL Plan was released on Thursday, November 7th by the Regional Council at its regular meeting. The plan incorporates the Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS) for a second time. All the documentation is available on the Connect SOCAL website. The Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) will be released concurrently for comment and review. SCAG will be traveling the region to brief officials and solicit feedback from folks through January 2020. Public Hearings are also scheduled for January 2020. The Regional Housing Needs Assessment was also approved at the last meeting.

-          Mr. Salgado stated that a response is needed from Imperial County to Javier Aguilar at SCAG regarding the GIS Aerial Imagery Project. Mr. Baza stated that a new meeting will have to be scheduled with Mr. Aguilar. Ms. Colio-Warren stated that the County of Imperial will be taking the lead on this project, however a person has not been identified yet.

-          A report with additional updates can be found on page 62 of the agenda.

C.                  Caltrans Department of Transportation – District 11

                        Mr. Vargas provided the following updates:

-          The I-8 concrete project is still scheduled to be completed by the end of the year. Other projects are also on time. No delays have been reported.

-          Regarding the mud pots in Niland, phase 1 and 2 are complete. Phase 3 detour will not begin until mud pots begins shifting.

-          The I-8/Imperial Interchange project is still expected to begin construction in February 2020. A public outreach campaign is underway between Caltrans, City of El Centro and ICTC staff.

Ms. Khun had the following updates:

-          There have not been any changes to the SR-86/Customs and Border Protection Checkpoint expansion project.

-          Sign installation and pavement refreshment was completed on October 24, 2019 for the road at SR-98 and Barbara Worth just outside of Calexico. The sign reads, “Cross Traffic Does Not Stop Here.”

Ms. Landrum had the following updates:

-          A Feasibility Study is underway for a possible Grade Separated Crossing at SR-78 and Glamis. The Technical Working Group meetings have begun and initial outreach to the PHV community will occur in January 2020.

-          A draft report is being circulated for public comment with copies placed in City Hall and the Library regarding the City of Calipatria – Railroad Corridor Multi-Use Bikeway Master Plan. Comments are due on December 4, 2019.

-          A Technical Working Group is being formed to seek input regarding the Active Transportation Plan in San Diego and Imperial Counties.

D.                 Committee Member Reports

-          Ms. Bayon Moore thanked ICTC staff for their efforts in preparing funding parameters for Legion road.

VI.               ACTION CALENDAR

A.        Resolution for the Imperial Valley Resource Management Agency (IVRMA) and the Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies (SAFE) transition to ICTC

            In early 2018, the Commission directed the Executive Director to work with the City/County Managers to discuss the potential benefits for creating a Council of Governments (COG) for regional non-transportation programs. City Managers, County CEO, and the ICTC Executive Director developed a strategy for creation and development of a Council of Governments (COG). On October 24, 2018, the Commission directed staff to meet with legislative staff to pursue legislation that give ICTC the authority to administer non-transportation programs.

            As originally proposed the COG was to take on the administration of two existing programs: The Imperial Valley Resource Management Agency (IVRMA) and the Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies (SAFE) with the City of El Centro and County Public Works continuing to administer the programs, respectively. However, with the adoption of Assembly Bill 335 (AB 335), both IVRMA and SAFE programs can now be administered by ICTC with majority approval by the member agencies.

            Staff have met and will continue meeting with staff from both the City of El Centro and the County of Imperial in order to move forward with the transition, it is requested that a resolution is adopted, as described in Chapter 11 Section “e” of AB 335. As recommended by legal counsel, this resolution is the first step in the transition. Subsequent approvals/resolutions by each of the member agencies of IVRMA and SAFE will be required.

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

1.         To Authorize the Chairman to sign the resolution for the transition of the Imperial Valley Resource Management Agency (IVRMA) and the Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies (SAFE) to ICTC

A motion was made by Chatwin seconded by Piedra. Motion carried unanimously.

B.         2020 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) Recommendations for Imperial County

The 2020 STIP Consultation Meeting between ICTC staff and Caltrans District 11 staff, a requirement of the STIP process, was held on August 21, 2019 in San Diego. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss options and draft recommendations for the 2020 STIP and future STIP cycles. The discussion included the future funding of Forrester Road with STIP RIP funds, and the possibility of funding the SR-115 Extension project with Caltrans STIP IIP funds. None of these projects were recommended for funding at this time because Project Study Reports required for programming of projects in the STIP have not been developed and funding is limited. The only recommended funding for the 2020 STIP is to fund PPM activities at the levels permitted: $92,000 in fiscal year 2023-24 and $202,000 in fiscal year 2024-25.

The following schedule lists the major milestones for the development and adoption of the 2020 STIP:

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

1.                Approve the 2020 STIP Recommendations for Imperial County, requesting to fund Planning, Programming and Monitoring (PPM) activities in the following distributions: $92,000 in fiscal year 2023-24 and $202,000 in fiscal year 2024-25.

A motion was made by Bayon Moore seconded by Colio-Warren. Motion carried unanimously.

VII.            NEXT MEETING DATE AND PLACE

The next meeting of the Management Committee is scheduled for December 11, 2019 at the City of Imperial, Imperial, CA  

VIII.         ADJOURNMENT

A.                 Meeting adjourned at 11:40 a.m.