Western Piedmont Regional Transit Authority

MINUTES OF REGULAR BOARD MEETING

Western Piedmont Regional Transit Authority (WPRTA) Board of Directors

Time and Place: Thursday, February 21, 2013 at 10:00 a.m.

Location: Greenway Conference Room, 1515 4TH ST. SW, Conover, NC 28613

Members Present: Rick French, Lance Hight, Sean Hovis, Mike Bennett, Jacky Eubanks, Stan Kiser and Bryan Steen

Others Present: Suzette Bradshaw, Camille Sterling, Brian Pearson, Jeff Blalock, Erin Todd, John Marshall (Authority Clerk) and Terry Taylor (Authority Attorney)

1.  Call to Order – Mr. French, Chairman called the meeting to order and welcomed all present at 9:59 AM. Mr. French introduced Sean Hovis (Newton’s Assistant City Manager) to the Board as Newton’s new alternate for Todd Clark.

Items for Individual Consideration

2.  Authority Update – Ms. Bradshaw updated the Board on the following:

a.  Ms. Sterling and other Executive Board members of the North Carolina Public Transportation Association (NCPTA) met with the new NC Secretary of Transportation, Tony Tata. The meeting was an opportunity to introduce the Association to Mr. Tata and learn of his goals and expectations for Public Transportation in North Carolina. It was also an opportunity for the Association to express to Mr. Tata, the current concerns of public transit systems in NC. NCDOT will be aligning goals and priorities to the Governor’s overall goals for the state. The primary focus will be the economy, budget and jobs. Mr. Tata stated he is interested in learning about public transportation in North Carolina and how it supports the Governor’s initiatives.

b.  Staff corrected classification of drivers over the past month into the proper full and part-time status. There are currently 37 full time drivers (30 van and 7 bus drivers).

c.  WPRTA now has 22 part-time drivers, with 5 of these being new hires in January. These new drivers are completing their comprehensive training program and will soon be out in the field.

d.  Driver overtime has been reduced by 50%, with overtime previously averaging more than 136 hours per pay period. Overtime for last pay period was 66 hours.

e.  All WPRTA supervisors and managers completed a six-week in house supervisory training program program. This will improve consistency in procedures and management across the board for WPRTA.

f.  The WPRTA Safety Plan has been finalized. This plan is required by the FTA and the NCDOT and has very specific standards. WPRTA staff has been working on this project for several months. Ms. Bradshaw indicated that she felt Patti Shoemaker and Brian Pearson deserved special recognition for their hard work on this. In addition staff resolved the few minor safety findings that resulted from the safety review/inspection the Authority had in November 2012.

g.  Authority staff updated the inclement weather procedures. One portion of these updates included strengthening the communications plan for disseminating information to the public, other agencies and employees in the event of a weather event which would result in WPRTA service delays or closure.

h.  Cash flow is going well, costs are being controlled and there have been some service restrictions. No shortage of operating funds is anticipated for FY 2013. Work is ongoing to complete the FTA funding application for FY 2014.

i.  Staff is still waiting to learn the fate of Medicaid Transportation in North Carolina. The RFP’s for brokerage service were due by February 6, 2013, and no further extensions were made. If the decision is made that there will be no brokerage service, counties and transit systems may be required to be paid under a “Per Medicaid Member, per Month” system. This type system would be nearly impossible for WPRTA to provide. The Medicaid services provision would revert back to the individual counties if this happens. Staff does not have a positive view of WPRTA’s chances of continuing the Medicaid service in the future. Once a determination is made, staff will need to make a quick decision on what action they will need to take. The Authority brought in $500,000 in Medicaid services this year, this loss will have major impacts on the budget for FY 2014, that budget cannot be completed until this issue had been resolved.

j.  Field work for the 2012 financial audit has been completed and the final report is expected within the next two weeks. It is anticipated that the report will be presented at the March Board meeting.

k.  The bus shelter installation project is nearing completion. Once complete, this will finish all outstanding ARRA projects so that the urban ARRA grant can be closed. The grant was funded in 2009, so completion of the project is happily anticipated by staff.

3.  January Financial Report – Ms. Bradshaw gave a brief review of the WPRTA Operating Income/Expense January 2013 and FY 2013 YTD Actual to Budget and January 2012 and FY 2012 YTD Actual to January 2013 and FY 2013 YTD Actual for the Board members present. Total expenses actual percentage of Budget is around 50% for Revenue to Expenditure. Cash on hand February 15, 2013 was $853,452.65, current cash on hand today is just over one million dollars. This was informational only, no action was needed.

4.  Conover Office Lease – Ms. Bradshaw requested that the Board approve amending the lease with Spartan Group, LLC to extend with all the same terms and conditions effective through June 30, 2014. This amendment would also allow for two additional extensions of one year each. After a brief discussion, a motion to approve as presented was made by Mr. Eubanks. The motion was seconded by Mr. Steen and approved unanimously.

5.  Eaglewood Contract Amendment – Ms. Sterling requested the Board approve a fourth contract amendment with Eaglewood Inc. for the installation of bus shelters. The fourth and final amendment in the amount of $5,862.70 includes additional costs incurred by Eaglewood for permitting, shelter storage and insurance. Twenty-four out of twenty-five shelters will be installed on the contract. The twenty-fifth shelter will be stored until a shelter site is located, or used for parts if needed. Projected total cost to install twenty-four bus shelters is estimated to be $96,498.70. After a brief discussion, a motion to approve the contract amendment as presented was made my Mr. Hight and seconded by Mr. Bennett. The motion was unanimous.

6.  Mobile Advertising Program Guideline Change – Ms. Sterling reviewed the proposed revisions to the Mobile Advertising Program Guidelines. Guidelines are being revised to exclude placement of advertising on the windows and doors of WPRTA vehicles which include wrapped buses and LTV’s. The wrap film over the windows and doors causes visibility issues for drivers during rain, as well as for the police when they ran SWAT drills using a WPRTA vehicle. This revision does not include a rate change. Costs associated with the removal are the responsibility of the advertiser. Staff requested that the Board approve the changes as presented. Mr. Eubanks made a motion to approve the changes as presented. Mr. Hight seconded the motion and it was approved by a unanimous vote.

7.  Upcoming Courtesy Transportation – Ms. Sterling updated the Board on Promotional (Special Courtesy) Service and Governmental Courtesy Service as follows:

FY 2013 Service / Date / Description / Anticipated # Served / Estimated # of Hours
Growing a Green Future (Salt Block) Hickory / April 20, 2013 / Citizens of Catawba County / 100 / 6
Earth Day 2013, Morganton / April 20,2013 / Citizens of Burke County / 100 / 6
Unity Fair, Hickory / May 2013 / Citizens of Hickory / 100 / 8
FY 2014 Service / Date / Description / Anticipated # Served / Estimated # of Hours
City Wide Event, Hickory / Sept. 2013 / One day festival @ Mostellar Mansion / 500 / 8
Folk Festival / Oct. 6, 2013 / Sherrills Ford, NC / 500 / 16
Oktoberfest, Hickory / Oct. 2013 / Downtown Hickory / 500 / 10
Taylorsville Apple Festival / Oct. 2013 / Main Street/Taylorsville / 200 / 10
Burke Monster / Oct. 2013 / Race Shuttle Service / 150 / 16
FY 2013 Govt Courtesy Service / Date / Description / Anticipated # Served / Estimated # of Hours
Foothills Higher Education Center (FHEC) / April 8-12, 2013 / Shuttle from FHEC to/from Area Motels / 120 per day / 10
FY 2014 Govt Courtesy Service / Date / Description / Anticipated # Served / Estimated # of Hours
Foothills Higher Education Center (FHEC) / August 2013 / Shuttle from FHEC to/from Area Motels / 120 per day / 10
Newton 101 / August 2013 / Shuttle Newton 101 class participants / 25 / 5
Foothills Higher Education Center (FHEC) / October 2013 / Shuttle from FHEC to/from Area Motels / 120 per day / 10
League of Municipalities / TBD (Oct) / Hickory Metro Convention Center / TBD / TBD

This is informational only; no action is needed at this time. Further updates will be provided as needed.

8.  Free Fare Day on April 22 - Staff is requesting a free fare day on the fixed route buses on Earth Day, Monday, April 22, 2013. Greenway has traditionally offered free fares on this day to customers on the bus systems fixed routes as a way to encourage the general public to use public transportation. With Board approval, staff will begin promotional and media efforts to inform the general public, and contact potential corporate sponsors. A motion to approve as presented was made by Mr. Bennett and seconded by Mr Steen. The motion was approved unanimously.

9.  Consent Agenda – Mr. French announced consideration of consent items and asked if a Board member wished to remove an item for discussion. As there was no need for discussion, Mr. French asked for a motion from the Board to approve the consent agenda. A motion to approve the consent agenda was made by Mr. Hight. The motion was seconded by Mr. Steen and approved by a unanimous vote.

a.  WPRTA Board of Directors meeting minutes, January 17, 2013

b.  WPRTA System Safety Program Plan approval

10.  Discussion of Items Removed from the Consent Agenda – There were no items removed from the consent agenda.

11.  Public Comment - There was no one present for public comment at this time.

12.  Other Business –The next Board meeting will be on Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 10:00 AM in the Greenway Conference Room.

13.  Adjournment – As there was no other business, Mr. French adjourned the Board meeting at 10:40 AM upon a motion by Mr. Hight and a second by Mr. Kiser.

Respectfully Submitted,

______

Todd Clark, Secretary John Marshall, Clerk