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Minutes Transit Board of Trustees 3 12 09 MINUTES Dubuque Transit Trustee Board Date: March 12, 2009 Time: 4:15 p.m. Place: Carnegie Stout Public Library Auditorium Eleventh & Bluff Streets, Dubuque, Iowa Members Present: Joel Lightcap; George Enderson, Jr; Don Stedman; John Curtis Members Absent: Ruth Scharnau Others Present: Jon Rodocker-Joanne Kiefer / Keyline; Dave Heiar / City of Dubuque March Lightcap called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m. Agenda Approval The Board reviewed the agenda and Rodocker would like to add a discussion of the proposed Draft of the East Dubuque contract. Curtis moved to approve the agenda with the addition mentioned, Stedman . seconded. All ayes.Motion carried Minutes There are no Minutes to approve, since the previous meeting scheduled on January 8, 2009 was not convened due to the lack of a quorum. Managers Rodocker reviewed the January 2009 Operational Report for the Board. Report The number of riders on the Fixed Route and Mini-bus are remaining strong and fairly consistent from month to month. The budget is on target. He believes the expenses have been accurately predicted, and he is happy that fuel costs are remaining low. Overall, Rodocker is pleased with the status of the operational budget for this fiscal year. KeyLine and the City of Dubuque have been awarded $237,500 for an Intermodal Feasibility Study and Design Analysis through the Omnibus Appropriations Bill. Unless the money is frozen as the result of a political agenda, KeyLine will work with the City of Dubuque to implement a feasibility study. The LSC Consultants, who are completing a Comprehensive Operational Analysis of KeyLine, have scheduled a work session with the City Council on Monday, April 6, 2009 at 4:30 pm. The Transit Board members are encouraged to attend that session at the Federal Minutes - 2 Building. Rodocker appreciates any insight the Board may have as KeyLine strives to improve their service to the community. Heiar asked the Board members if anyone had an opportunity to watch the recent Budget Hearings. Stedman commented he was very disappointed that the funding for transit had been decreased. Stedman said he understands each city department wants money, and increased financial support is necessary; but wonders how KeyLine can meet the growing needs of the community for public transportation on a smaller budget. Lightcap thought the City Council had provided more direction for Transit than it has in some past hearings. Heiar stated his impression is that the City Council does not think the value of transit meets the money that is spent to provide the service. He believes the City Council would like to know what the City of Dubuque could implement if there was no transit, as if to say start the entire process from scratch. The Council is not looking for minor changes or tweaks, but for a thorough analysis that would propose several options for transit service. Heiar thought that bus service times need to be adjusted so individuals could travel back and forth to work, and perhaps add Sunday service. Lightcap noted that the transit system has not changed very much over the years, and is comparable to when Interstate Power ran the system. He asked if the IBM shuttle and the West End Tripper service had been approved, and if the service would start on July 1, 2009. Rodocker replied that the City Manager had approved the IBM shuttle and the West End Tripper. The details for the service are still in the planning stages, but it has been approved for next year’s budget. Several options are on the drawing board, from trolleys to buses. There will be on-going meetings between IBM representatives and the City of Dubuque to help determine the best way to meet their service needs. Rodocker is excited about developing new service options. In addition, he announced the trolley will be operating fare-free when the season starts. Since the trolley is often used by tourists throughout the summer, the fare-free concept will hopefully help promote more business for downtown merchants. Mini-bus There is nothing new to report about Mini-bus service at this time. Operations The rides remain fairly constant . Fixed Route The number of student riders remains strong during peak times, and Operations the numbers of other riders has increased slightly. Overall the number of riders on the Fixed Route from January to February has increased by 1,954 rides. General Transit Rodocker has prepared a bi-monthly schedule for the Board members, and he will review past minutes to determine if an action item is needed to adjust the meeting schedule to the format that had been used prior to his coming aboard at KeyLine. Rodocker had asked at the time he arrived at Minutes - 3 KeyLine to change the meetings from bi-monthly to monthly in an effort to be more responsive to the needs of the community and better inform the Board members of any recommendations. At this point, Rodocker feels bi-monthly meetings will be a better option, until proposals from the results of the Study are ready for consideration. In the recent past, several meetings were cancelled due to the lack of a quorum. Heiar understood Rodocker’s point, but felt the City Council might be alarmed at the schedule change to bi-monthly, especially with the Comprehensive Analysis occurring and so many other proposals on the drawing board. Heiar recommended continuing the monthly meetings until after the study is completed. Heiar is aware that a few Transit Board meetings were cancelled due to the lack of a quorum since the Board was missing two members. Rodocker explained that the Board will probably hold additional meetings to address the results of the Comprehensive Analysis, or to respond to the needs of the consultants. He feels such meetings may be more valuable and offer better opportunities for Board members to provide their expertise. Over a year ago the Transit Board held a meeting to discuss improving routes and making changes that would enhance service. After that meeting, a member of the Transit Board went to the City Council meeting and stated that KeyLine would be deleting and changing routes. Consequently, KeyLine management was asked to put their ideas and recommendations on hold. The Transit Board was just initiating the process to discuss changes and follow the appropriate procedures when all ideas had to be put on hold. Rodocker presented bound copies of the Technical Memorandums that had been prepared by LSC Consultants to each of the Transit Board members. Rodocker noted that KeyLine management has several ideas to present to LSC, but will wait until the Consultants meet with KeyLine to request input. There is a short, general survey on the City of Dubuque website for Transit that Randy Gehl placed there in an effort to gain more responses from members of the community about bus service. The results from that survey are passed on to LSC. The survey corresponds to a similar survey that had been distributed to Fixed Route passengers earlier this year by LSC. Rodocker asked the Board members to pay special attention to the customer comment sections in each of the Memorandums prepared by LSC. The comments from the public are very interesting. Heiar asked the Board members to prepare Executive Summaries prior to the work session scheduled with the City Council, since time will be at a premium for that session. Lightcap mentioned that in the past there has been excitement about studies that had been conducted, and then there was a lot of disappointment experienced by Board members when recommendations for change were not supported by the City Council. He believes this new Council will make a difference. Rodocker reminded the Board that they are welcome to attend the Stakeholders Meeting to be held on April 7, 2009. Minutes - 4 Stimulus funds – Rodocker explained that KeyLine Transit will be eligible to receive one new bus from the stimulus money. The funding sheet of $333,000 for the grant needs to be written, along with a request for the bid and proposal. The money will need to be spent by March 1, 2010. Rodocker has been researching other Iowa transit systems that have initiated the process to purchase buses, so that KeyLine could piggy-back on to the procurement and spec options. Rodocker is looking at a Gillig low floor bus as one of the better buses to add to the KeyLine fleet. This particular bus purchase will be 100% funded by the federal government, as opposed to the usual 83% funding by the feds with the balance secured through a local match. Rodocker reviewed various specification options for the new bus. In addition, Rodocker is looking at hybrid options, but the price is prohibitive. Rodocker discussed the FTA conference call he participated in regarding utilizing stimulus funds. He said this is a very dynamic time for transit, especially if the money is allocated as proposed KeyLine may be able to purchase a new hybrid bus. At this point, around 5:30 pm, Heiar had to leave to attend another meeting. Proposed Draft of the East Dubuque Contract – Rodocker reviewed the history of the East Dubuque contract process with the Board. East Dubuque had failed their Tri-Annual Review by drawing down money that they had not spent. It was not fraudulent activity; the staff of East Dubuque just did not understand how to draw the money according to the federal guidelines. East Dubuque was required to pay all the money back, which they did. Consequently, Region 5 in Illinois will not fund East Dubuque at this time. KeyLine and the City of Dubuque have proposed one vehicle that will serve East Dubuque during the same hours that KeyLine operates its buses. By doing this, the hours of service to East Dubuque will be expanded from the current schedule of 9:30 am through 1:30 pm, to approximately 6:00 am until 6:00 pm. Rodocker will coordinate the contract with the City’s legal department, and present it to the City Manager and the City Council for approval. Rodocker feels this service expansion to East Dubuque might open the door for more opportunity for service in Illinois. The Board discussed the success story of the monthly pass offered by KeyLine. Originally the pass was offered with little response from the riders. Currently, we sell an average of 12 – 15 passes each month. The free rides offered to Dubuque Community School students continue to be a success this year as well as last year. Rodocker is looking forward to productive changes in the coming year as the LSC Consultants complete their analysis and the need for public transit in the community continues to grow. Lightcap asked for a moment to reflect on the contribution of a long time Transit Board member, Harry Bemis. Mr. Bemis had passed away a few weeks ago. Lightcap commented that Bemis had worked on the Transit Board before KeyLine and the City of Dubuque had become involved with Minutes - 5 public transit. He had a strong commitment to transit in the community, and was responsible for getting a lot of work done on the Board over the years. Stedman remembered Harry as always present for meetings with a positive attitude and was always very nice to everyone. Bemis was the Chairperson of the Transit Board during the renovation of the KeyLine facility in the late 1980’s. Enderson remembers Bemis as always coming to meetings prepared to discuss the issues and make a difference. Board Comments Lightcap asked if KeyLine operators might be interested to start coming to Transit Board meetings again. He noted that he has not seen any operators at meetings for several months. Rodocker said he can remind operators of the Transit Board meetings at the Labor Management Committee meetings held each month. Public Comments None Adjournment Lightcap asked for a motion to adjourn. Curtis so moved. Stedman seconded. All ayes. Motion carried. The meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 14, 2009 at 4:15 pm. Respectfully submitted, Joanne Kiefer Secretary These minutes passed, approved and adopted on this _____ day of May, 2008. ___________________________________ Joel Lightcap, Chairperson Dubuque Transit Trustee Board