 Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes Astoria Transit Center Meeting Room 900 Marine Drive, Astoria Friday, August 22, 2003 |
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| CALL TO ORDER | ||
| Chair Shannon called the meeting to order at 9:06 am | ||
| ROLL CALL | ||
| Commissioners Present: | ||
| Chair David Shannon Vice-Chair Bob Gannaway Secretary/Treasurer Jack Harris Commissioner Charlotte Mendenhall Commissioner Marcia Fenske |
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| Commissioners Excused: | ||
| Commissioner Vic Kee Commissioner Rae Goforth |
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| Staff Present: | ||
| Cindy Howe, Executive Director
Patsy Chapel, Executive Secretary |
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| COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE: | ||
| Steve Hausner of 40918 Highway 30, Svenson, Oregon asked to speak. He said he had questions about breaks and lunchtimes for drivers during their routes. He asked if the breaks and lunches were scheduled and if not, why not. He stated that the drivers can sometimes drive eight hours without breaks. He went on to say that TriMet gives their drivers breaks and asked why this bus system does not work it into the schedule. Ms. Howe responded that the Bureau of Labor and Industry rules state that a driver must be given a certain amount of break time during a shift and SETD's driver's schedules are such that they get five to twenty minutes at the end of each circuit and consequently they have breaks spread throughout the day. She went on to say that Dial-A-Ride drivers have scheduled lunch times. Mr. Hausner asked again why a regular break is not scheduled. Ms. Howe asked Mr. Hausner to put his questions in writing and said she would have the Human Resource Officer respond to his letter. | ||
| There were no other audience comments. | ||
| CHANGES TO THE AGENDA: | ||
| :Ms. Howe asked to add one item to New Business, that of the purchase of two low-floor buses. The Board agreed. Chair Shannon stated that at the end of the Executive Sessions there may also be a need for a motion regarding the purchase of property. | ||
| MINUTES: | ||
| Board Action: Motion by Secretary/Treasurer Harris, second by Commissioner Gannaway to approve the minutes of the July 15, 2003 meeting as presented. Chair Shannon and Vice-Chair Gannaway, Secretary/Treasurer Harris, and Commissioners Mendenhall and Fenske voted yes. Motion passed. | ||
| REPORT FROM CHAIR AND COMMISSIONERS: | ||
| Secretary/Treasurer Harris: Stated that he had been riding the bus all summer and he said it had never been more efficient or more on-time than it has been this year. He said he had brought a card for the Commissioners to sign for driver John Thoennes. Ms. Howe reported to the Board the Mr. Thoeness was now at Suzanne Elise Assisted Living facility in Seaside and was being very well taken care of. She went on to say that he will stay there until he is able to put weight on his broken leg and able to do things for himself. She also reported that SETD employees have been donating sick leave to make up the difference between what he is receiving and full pay. Ms. Howe stated that insurance company had totaled the bus. | ||
| Commissioner Fenske: No Report: | ||
| Commissioner Mendenhall: No Report | ||
| Vice-Chair Gannaway: Stated he had been attending the Construction meetings but that since the Board would be getting a report from Steve Anderson of Baugh Skanska, he would let Mr. Anderson bring everyone up to date. He did say however, that they were going like gangbusters and that watching them compact the sand as it goes in is an interesting process. | ||
| Chair Shannon: No Report | ||
| FINANCIAL REPORTS: | ||
| : Ms. Howe passed out new Profit and Loss reports to the Commissioners and stated that on the profit and loss report, the bus fares included money from Cannon Beach for their service for the entire year, the administrative expenses included the payment for the flex lease loan that had been paid at the end of last fiscal year. She went on to say that capital included payment for work on the Transit Center as well as purchase of new radios for the buses, half of which will be paid for with grant money. She also reported a glitch in the NW Ride Center figures, they are repeating numbers, but that the totals are correct and they are working to find the glitch in the program. | ||
| Board Action: Motion by Commissioner Mendenhall, second by Secretary/Treasurer Harris to accept the Financial Report for July 2003 as presented. Chair Shannon, Vice-Chair Gannaway, Secretary/Treasurer Harris, and Commissioners Mendenhall and Fenske voted yes. Motion passed.. | ||
| PUBLIC HEARINGS : | ||
| Americans with Disabilities Act Paratransit Plan Chair Shannon opened the public hearing at 9:23 am and called for comments from the audience. Brian Borton, representing the Dial-A-Ride Advisory Committee said he felt the plan was very thorough. Ms. Howe told the Board that Mr. Schauer had attended a meeting of the Dial-A-Ride Advisory Committee and had gone through the plan with them. She said members of the committee had offered suggestions that had been included in the final document. There were no other comments and Chair Shannon closed the Public Hearing at 9:27 am. | ||
| Chair Shannon asked for Board comments or questions. Commissioner Fenske said the map on the first page does not show service to Svenson or east of Astoria. Ms. Howe explained that the ADA law requires that disabled people have access to goods and services just like everyone else and since 1992 that has also included transportation. Paratransit service must be provided on all the days and hours that the fixed route service is provided but it only applies to people living within three quarter's of a mile of the fixed route. Since the District does not provide fixed route service to Svenson and east of Astoria, consequently it does not provide Paratransit service there either. She went on to say that the District now has eight people signed up for Paratransit service and explained that it is up to SETD to decide how the service will be provided, either by a Dial-A-Ride bus to take the person to the fixed route or deviate the fixed route bus to pick the person up. She also stated that the District cannot charge more than twice the amount of fixed route service for the Paratransit service. Ms. Fenske asked if all the District buses had lifts and Ms. Howe stated that they did. | ||
| CORRESPONDENCE: None | ||
| RESOLUTIONS : None | ||
| OLD BUSINESS | ||
| a. | Adoption of the MEAD
Document: Chair Shannon stated that he had asked Ms. Howe to use this time as training for the Board on the MEAD Document. Ms. Howe said she had planned to bring the over-head projector, but had forgotten it. She said staff was already using the document and she recommended that since some Board members were not present and not everyone had their document along, perhaps it would be best to hold the training over till the next meeting. Vice-Chair Gannaway asked if there were any areas that could be covered at this meeting. Ms. Howe replied that under the heading Plan Ahead and Anticipate it was the Board's responsibility to be reality based and data driven and it was the staff's responsibility to provide the Board with reports that were in a readable and understandable format and to do that the Board should let the staff know about any way the reports could be improved. |
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| Board Action: Motion by Commissioner Mendenhall, second by Secretary/Treasurer Harris to table the Adoption of the MEAD Document until the next meeting. Chair Shannon, Vice-Chair Gannaway, Secretary/Treasurer Harris and Commissioners Mendenhall and Fenske voted yes. Motion passed. | ||
| NEW BUSINESS | ||
| a. | Acceptance of Executive Director
Evaluation: Chair Shannon asked if discussion of the Executive Director Evaluation should be in Executive Session. Ms. Howe said she was comfortable with it in open meeting. Vice-Chair Gannaway asked Ms. Howe if she would be comfortable with it if a motion was made and passed. Ms. Howe said she was ecstatic and thanked the Board for their feedback on her performance. Chair Shannon said, as part of the process, he was appointing Secretary/Treasurer Harris and Commissioner Mendenhall to a sub-committee to prepare the proposal for Ms. Howe's contract and to bring it to the Board. He also suggested they consider retroactive compensation in the proposed contract since Ms. Howe did not take a pay increase this time. |
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| Board Action: Motion by Commissioner Mendenhall, second by Vice-Chair Gannaway to accept the Executive Director evaluation as presented including the discussion of this meeting. Chair Shannon, Vice-Chair Gannaway, Secretary/Treasurer Harris and Commissioners Mendenhall and Fenske voted yes. Motion passed. | ||
| b. | Adoption of the Americans with
Disabilities Act Paratransit Plan: Chair Shannon noted that the Board had discussed this during the Public Hearing. |
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| Board Action: Motion by Commissioner Fenske, second by Vice-Chair Gannaway to adopt the American with Disabilities Act Paratransit Plan as presented including the discussion of this meeting. Chair Shannon, Vice-Chair Gannaway, Secretary-Treasurer Harris and Commissioners Mendenhall and Fenske voted yes. Motion passed. | ||
| c. | Authorizing Filing of Section 218
with Social Security Administration: Ms. Howe explained that this problem had come to light in December after SETD took over the Cannon Beach Shuttle and one Cannon Beach employee chose to come to work for SETD. This was a government to government transfer and the District was obligated to provide equal or better pay and retirement benefits to the employee for one year. Cannon Beach is part of the Pers program, so the District had to open up a Pers account to pay this employee's retirement. A Pers employee, who had never seen SETD's name, pulled the District's information and discovered that a Section 218 form had never been filed. Ms. Howe went on to explain that when Social Security was first enacted, governments were not allowed to participate since the lawmakers believed governments would provide retirement for their employees. Later when it was discovered that this was not always the case, each state passed a law and Oregon's law says you have to file a Section 218 form saying you whether or not you are going to pay social security. A lot of little districts like SETD don't pay social security. Ms. Howe stated that the District would probably never have known about this if it had not taken over Cannon Beach and went on to explain, that if the Board does not want to pay Social Security for its employees, then the District and employees would have to be reimbursed for what has been paid into Social Security. Ms. Howe recommended to the Board to continue paying into Social Security for its employees. Chair Shannon asked if there was specific wording for the motion. Ms. Howe said there was not. |
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| Board Action: Motion by Vice-Chair Gannaway, second by Commissioner Mendenhall that the District should continue to pay into Social Security for its employees and that Ms. Howe is directed to work through the necessary steps to file the Section 218 document. Chair Shannon, Vice Chair Gannaway, Secretary/Treasurer Harris and Commissioners Mendenhall and Fenske voted yes. Motion passed. | ||
| d. | Purchase of Two Low-Floor
Buses: Ms. Howe informed the Board that she had been working closely with Ft. Clatsop and the National Park Service for the purchase of the buses that will be used inside the Park. She said they had spent many hours of discussing what kind of bus the Park Service wanted with the understanding that the bus ride would be a part of the over-all park experience. This meant that the buses had to have two doors for entrance and exit ease, perimeter seating to make room for strollers, they need to be ultra-quiet and interior appointments such National Park colors and back-lit panels were very important. Consequently, Ms. Howe recommended award of the bid to Western Bus Sales. Commissioner Fenske asked what the National Park Service would be contributing to the shuttles if SETD purchases the buses and provides the drivers. Ms. Howe told her Ft. Clatsop will pay for the operation of the five new shuttle routes that are being planned. Vice-Chair Gannaway asked if both bidder's specifications met the Altoona testing and Ms. Howe said they did so. She explained that Schetky could not meet the specifications on brakes, on the back-lit panels inside the bus and the doors were slightly smaller, which were all issues with Ft. Clatsop. Chair Shannon called for a motion. |
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| Board Action: Motion by Secretary/Treasurer Harris, second by Commissioner Mendenhall to approve the Western Bus Sales bid as described by Staff and to authorize purchase of two low-floor buses from Western Bus Sales. Chair Shannon, Vice Chair Gannaway, Secretary/Treasurer Harris and Commissioners Mendenhall, and Fenske voted yes. Motion passed. | ||
| REPORT ON TRANSIT CENTER CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY | ||
| Steve Anderson of Baugh Skanska arrived and Chair Shannon said they would go back to Item 7 on the Agenda and hear the report on the Transit Center Construction Activity at this time. Ms. Howe informed the Board that the City of Astoria had received a call from some of the neighboring businesses around the Transit Center and they had asked to be put on the Council Agenda for the September 8th City Council meeting. She stated that she and Mr. Anderson would be making a presentation to the City Council that night and hopefully will be able to address most of the concerns of the neighboring businesses. She went on to say that these business people have concerns, but the District and Baugh Skanska are doing everything exactly the way they explained they would in the open-house held before construction started. Mr. Anderson described the construction site to the Board and stressed that all construction parking is being kept on Astor Street and that they have someone on site at all times. He said he understands parking is an issue with the tenants on 10th Street and it is Baugh Skanska's goal to keep all parking within the construction site once the fill is all in place. Vice-Chair Gannaway asked where the Commissioners should park if they come to the site. Mr. Anderson stated that all Board members were very welcome to come and have a look around and that they should check-in with personnel in the field office and will be directed where to park. | ||
| Mr. Anderson went on to report that there had been no safety incidents to date and that September 10th is a milestone date and they hope to have the site filled by that date. He went on to say that it will take 11,000 cubic yards of material to fill the site. He reported that demolition inside the building is 90% complete and that concrete cutting inside was happening now. He reported that they had found no surprises so far and that they would be taking the sidewalk off on the 9th Street side to look for the oil tank the first part of next week. Mr. Anderson stated that the seismic upgrades would happen in September and they will be filing in the openings, doors and windows, in the basement in two weeks. | ||
| Mr. Anderson stated that they had filled in around the chair wall on the northeast corner and there had been no movement, but he said Marine Drive and its chairwall will be a challenge. Other challenges up-coming are the oil tank and removing the billboard sign on the roof. Mr. Anderson reported that a lead survey had been done on the paint and there were no issues with lead or asbestos. He finished his report by saying they were making good progress. | ||
| Ms. Howe told the Board that the former owner of the billboard had sold it just before construction began. She said the new owner, Dale Clark of Clark Signs in Longview, had asked the City Planning Department to move the sign to another location and was denied. Ms. Howe stated that the original Agreement says once the District has a building permit in hand and sends a letter to the owner, he has 90 days to remove it. Mr. Anderson stated that they are working around it now, but at some time it will impact the work. She went on to say that Mr. Clark wants to try to find a way to keep the billboard on the roof and that he will be bringing an engineer from Chicago to the site this week, at his expense, to look at the sign and the building. Commissioner Harris asked if once the sign is down there would be any way to keep from putting it back. Ms. Howe replied that after the elevator shaft is remodeled there is no reason it could not go back. Mr. Anderson stated they would be able to work around it until September 25th. | ||
| Ms. Howe told the Board that Mr. Mitch Mitchum, of the City, had suggested the District make some kind of concession to the neighborhood business owners. Vice-Chair Gannaway said the District could offer the employees bus passes. Commissioner Fenske asked if the truck noise and vibration would stop after October and Mr. Anderson assured her it was a temporary. Ms. Howe noted that Mr. Chris Bautista, of OTAK, had photographed the site, so if there is some movement the District would have documentation. Mr. Anderson added that Baugh Skanska had a soils engineer on site. Chair Shannon asked if the District's general liability insurance would cover this and Ms. Howe said she would have to check. | ||
| EXECUTIVE SESSION | ||
| Chair Shannon called an Executive Session at 10:45 am. Executive Session closed and regular business resumed at 11:43am. | ||
| NEW BUSINESS Continued: | ||
| e. | Proposed Rate Increase for
Dial-A-Ride: Ms. Howe stated that the current Dial-A-Ride rates are very low. She said the District currently charges $7 round trip from Warrenton to Elsie and actually the trip costs $27.50 to make. She went on to say that Staff has been working on this since January. At that time, Staff believed the District would loose its Senior Transportation Funds and they were trying to find a way to defray the cost of Dial-A-Ride. Ms. Howe said now that the District knows it will not lose the STF money she agrees with Chair Shannon that perhaps this is not a good time to make changes in the Dial-A-Ride prices. She suggested the District take this fiscal year to work with the Dial-A-Ride Advisory Committee and ask for their input and then bring that information back to the Board next spring and perhaps raise the rates in the summer of 2004. Secretary/Treasurer Harris recommended letting the DAR Committee take a look at the report and the Board agreed. |
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| STAFF REPORTS | ||
| Ms. Howe pointed out Mr. Smith's report on the Cannon Beach Shuttle Task Force and how pleased they are with the service Cannon Beach has received from SETD. Ms. Howe said Mr. Smith has been working with the Task Force and has done a great job and she asked the Board to commend Mr. Smith. Secretary/Treasurer Harris said thought that would be a great idea and also a letter to the Task Force thanking them for their hard work. | ||
| Ms. Howe spoke to the Board about Board Orientation and said she felt both old and new Board members should attend. She said it will include a visit to Operations to meet the Staff, a tour and a ride on the routes. She also invited interested Board members to ride the routes and participate with the up-coming rider survey. She pointed out question 9 on the survey which asks, if the Bus had only certain stops where you could catch the fixed route where you like the stops to be. Ms. Howe said this is the direction that the fixed routes are heading because it will eliminate the Driver's being asked to stop in places that aren't safe to pull off and it will eliminate the need for the Driver's to watch for riders all along their routes. | ||
| Ms. Howe spoke briefly about the Columbia Forum. She said the District would pay for Board members to attend but they would have purchase their own meal. She said spouses would be $5 extra plus the cost of their meal. | ||
| Secretary/Treasurer Harris noted that on the Operations report passengers were up by 2,500 and passengers per revenue hour was way up. He said this was an excellent sign of efficiency. | ||
| Mr. Howe reported that the District has earned $4,000 on service to the Lewis and Clark Explorer Train. | ||
| Chair Shannon asked about Cruise ships and Ms. Howe reported that there was another one due in on Monday. | ||
| Secretary/Treasurer Harris asked about the garbage around the bus shelter at Fred Meyers and what could be done about it. Ms. Howe responded that a District employee cleans it up almost daily and that a letter has been written to Fred Meyer's Corporation requesting them to put a trash can and cigarette butt receptacle at the shelter. | ||
| There were no further questions or comments. | ||
| ADJOURNMENT: Chair Shannon adjourned the meeting at 11:57 am. | ||
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| Secretary/Treasurer | ||
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