Sunset Empire Transportation District Monthly Commissioners Meeting Minutes Web Page

BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Sunset Empire Transportation District Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes Astoria Transit Center Meeting Room 900 Marine Drive, Astoria Phone (503) 861-0657 Toll Free 866-811-1001 Fax (503) 325-1606 E-mail: cindy@ridethebus.org; sarah@ridethebus.org
July 22, 2008 9:30 a.m.
	: Members Present: Chair Fenske, Commissioners Bline, Gaebel, Gannaway, Goforth

	Members Absent: Conner, Mendenhall

	Staff Present: Executive Director Howe, Executive Assistant Dailey, Brenda Higgins/Bookkeeper, Tammy Slaughter/Bookkeeping Assistant, Scott Smith/Operations Manager, Tami Carlson/Dial-A-Ride Supervisor, John Layton/Information Technology

	Guests: Ella Hill

	Meeting called to order at 9:35 a.m.

	Pledge of Allegiance
	Roll Call


COMMENTS FROM AUDIENCE:
	Community member Ella Hill visited with the board to express her desire to ride the bus for her transportation. The issue is that the bus arrives at 5 minutes after the hour at her bus stop which makes her late to her destinations (work, meetings) when she needs to be there on the hour. She does not care to catch the bus the previous hour because she would be too early to her destination

	Director Howe and the board assured her they are currently working on revising the routes to better meet the needs of the community, and will take her comments into consideration.


CHANGES TO THE AGENDA:
	Two items were added to Old Business to discuss ordering board member business cards and shopping bags for Dial-A-Ride. Election of board members was added under New Business.


APPROVAL OF JUNE 2008 MINUTES:
.	Commissioner Gannaway made a motion to approve the June Minutes with the inclusion of Commissioner Mendenhall's requested change. Commissioner Bline seconded. All were in favor and motion passed.


REPORTS FROM CHAIR AND COMMISSIONERS:
	Commissioner Gannaway said he has been hearing the buzz about the new revised routes. The community is very excited.

	Commissioner Bline attended the NWACT meeting which was held in Banks, OR this time. They reviewed the decisions on the Connect II selections, which are also available online. Two Clatsop County projects were selected: the airport for a carrier to provide commuter flights and the Port of Astoria. They also discussed a packet that the Congressional Delegation assembles.

	The packet contains earmarked funds for Transportation projects around the state. The only project in Clatsop County that ODOT is proposing to improve is the Ave U intersection signal and fix the bridge so that it can support heavy traffic if there should be a tsunami evacuation. He also gave an update on his work with the volunteer group Partners for Seniors. It seems the group feels they should get a more personalized service, even though there is bus service to get to some of the exact same locations they want to go. He is trying to convince them it is unnecessary and they should encourage use of other modes.

	Commissioner Gaebel asked if the group receives any kind of donations.

	Commissioner Bline said donations can be accepted by mail and the volunteers are compensated .20 cents per mile.

	Director Howe commented that maybe the new revised routes will help with local transportation trips.

	Commissioner Gaebel thought it was nice that Rebecca Howe volunteered her services for the new SETD radio ad. She recently used alternative transportation on her vacation: she went on a hot air balloon ride. Commissioner Gaebel also asked when and where this meeting was noticed.

	Director Howe said it was in the Daily Astorian yesterday and it's posted on all the buses and website.

	Commissioner Bline confirmed he saw it in the paper yesterday.

	Assistant Dailey said she has records of the notice requests along with email receipts that show they are received. This shows that SETD is doing their part to post the notice.

	Commissioner Goforth got a call from Darlene Felkins who is the director the local United Way program. Goforth referred her to the NWRC to see if any United Way clients are eligible for transportation services.


FINANCIALS:
	Commissioner Goforth mentioned concern about the $250,000 that was budgeted for fuel cost for 2008-09 budget. She said if the fuel continues around the same price, we will just barely make it within the budgeted amount. She also asked why the parking space rental income has decreased. She also asked if the paving was completed at the Warrenton office.

	Director Howe said the difference in parking lot rental fees is probably due to a cross over in the rental payments because we are in the process of re-assigning 4 parking spaces to the military recruiting office in the Spexarth Building. Paving is complete at the Warrenton office.

	Commissioner Bline asked if we'd received payment for the billboard on top of the Transit Center.

	Director Howe said we get $500 per year.

	Chair Fenske mentioned that we can get it removed in 2012.

	Chair Fenske asked about the increased amount of property taxes received by the district. We thought we'd get $685,000 but we got $645,000. She also would like to know what the $112,000 capital expense was for.

	Director Howe said we actually received more than budgeted in all areas, but we still have some tax revenue to be received. The capital expense was to purchase two new buses. The buses will be paid for with grant money, but the reimbursement request was just recently submitted so it will not appear on the statement yet.

	Chair Fenske asked what the 2007-08 planning expense was, and does SETD pay for employee AFLAC premiums.

	Director Howe said the planning expense was from SETD's donation of the match for the Service Planning Grant that we gave to Columbia County Rider.

	Brenda Higgins explained the AFLAC premiums are deducted from employee's salaries and then paid to AFLAC.

	Commissioner Goforth asked about the $71.25 income from the Cruise Ship Zaandam; she wanted to know if that was the only income received from them. Also, how much do we get out of the $5 Gold sticker.

	Director Howe said we receive our cruise ship payment after we bill the Cruise Ship Committee for the actual cost of the service.

	Brenda Higgins said the $71.25 is income from a special outing Sundial Travel arranged for a group on that particular ship. She said on future financials she will start coding the specials different from the main cruise ship income to make things more clear.

	Commissioner Goforth said the income listed for the special is not correct, because she was part of that trip, and it took about 4 hours.

	There was some discussion regarding this, which concluded in a decision to double check the bus driver's submitted records to see if wait time was charged for the time the bus was parked.

	Commissioner Gaebel asked if the mileage cost has been updated, especially now since fuel costs have increased dramatically.

	Brenda Higgins explained that we charge $1.25 per mile and $35/hour.

	Director Howe said the mileage expense does not pay for operating the service, and the operating expense is reviewed each year before the new season begins. The $1.25 pays for maintenance, not fuel.

	Commissioner Gaebel asked if those rates could be revisited.

	Director Howe said that the $35 is the rate non-profit agencies are allowed to charge, whereas we charge everyone else $75.

	Commissioner Goforth commented that our rates are comparative to a coach company based in Seaside that she sometimes uses for her tour company.

	Commissioner Bline asked if SETD has enough budgeted to cover an increase in medical benefit expenses.

	Director Howe said we had a 12% increase in medical benefits and we did budget for it so SETD is fine.

	Commissioner Goforth made a motion to accept the June financials as presented. Commissioner Gannaway seconded. Commissioner Gaebel opposed and all others were in favor. The motion passed.


OLD BUSINESS :
	Revised Route Plan
	Director Howe said staff Scott, Roni, John, Sarah, Neal, and she have been working very hard to revise our current fixed route system to better meet the needs of the community. The routes are being streamlined so that most riders will not have to transfer more than once to get to their destination. A couple other areas being improved are use of the route symbols and ticket systems. The color coordinated route symbols that are on the bus schedules will be posted on the bus stops, shelters, and buses. There will be community feeder routes that circulate hourly, and feed into a 101 Astoria/Seaside Express Shuttle which also runs hourly.

	Assistant Dailey said staff and students at Clatsop Community College are very excited about the revised routes. A group of staff and student body members still have the goal of getting a transportation surcharge added to the quarterly student tuition fees which would then allow students to ride the bus anywhere, anytime by showing their college I.D. card.

	Director Howe also met with Astoria School District Superintendent to discuss bulk bus passes and the possibility of sharing resources such as fuel, maintenance and training. The staff and students of the school district are very excited about the new revised routes. She also met with Larry Lockett, who is the principle of the Astoria High School. He is interested in the possibility of a high school pass. There are approximately 75 students per term who attend the MERTS program. She has also had talks with the staff at Tongue Point Job Corp about transporting their students. They are willing to discuss setting up a flexible program using their own and our buses to meet the needs of their 2,000 students. She gave a brief overview of the entire steps and planning process the staff have been using along the way. She also discussed the current fare and ticket system and how we are working on simplifying it.

	John Layton presented a draft of the revised routes on a photographic map displayed by a projector. Once finished the revised routes will also be offered on the internet through Google Transit at Google Maps ( http://maps.google.com/ ). The user will be able to enter their address and destination and the webpage will tell them if they can use transit for their trip. It also tells them the bus schedule and where the stops are.

	Neal Smith presented draft versions of the new route signs and symbols. There will be signs on the sides of the buses that show the route symbol in color with a black outline. The symbol will also be posted at the bottom of the bus stop signs or on the shelters to show which routes stop there. There will also be a time symbol that shows when the bus stops there. Another symbol was designed that incorporated a big 'T' to show which stops/shelters are a Transfer point to connect to another route. He also showed a design of a new graphic of the bus fares that is visible to people from the outside of the bus.

	There was some discussion about using the current bus stop sign graphic, however the board agreed they would like to purchase new graphics that include the wording 'bus stop' on them. Neal Smith will look into the design and purchase of the new graphic.

	Assistant Dailey said she is waiting for a quote for a stick-on graphic of the large route/schedule maps that can be pasted to the inside of the glass bus shelter. A poster frame set-up was too expensive, with the least inexpensive frame (that opens and locks), costing approximately $100 each.

	Director Howe spoke with the City of Astoria, who agreed to install the bus stop signs when they are ready.

	Commissioner Bline is going to design a hand-out that he can pass out to the public. He would wear an apron of sorts with The Bus logo on it.

	The board members had a discussion about riding the new revised routes. They set the dates of Wednesday, July 30th and Tuesday, August 5th at 8:45 a.m. at the Transit Center.

	Commissioner Gaebel said we need to post an announcement in the paper that we will be having a work session since at least 4 board members will be meeting.

	Assistant Dailey will send an email to the Daily Astorian to notice the work sessions.

	John Layton explained the handout of the SETD website statistics. He said the difference between a 'visit' and a 'hit' is that a visit is the number of computers that utilize that website, whereas a hit is the actual number of times a site is visited. The number of hits has tripled in the last year and this is important because it shows that people are looking for information on the bus website. Because of this increase we need to update our website and make sure it is correct and current. Neal Smith will be working on the website this week.

	Dial-A-Ride Bag Limit
	Tami Carlson presented information for purchasing cloth shopping bags for the Dial-A-Ride clients. The Dial-A-Ride bag/weight limit is now 25lbs. or 8 bags per client. SETD wants to reduce the number of weight being lifted by the bus drivers. Currently clients are bringing up to 20 bags, which is too much, and very time consuming for the driver. The best quote Tami has received is $1050 for 500 bags, or $1550 for 1000 bags. It would be nice to give the Dial-A-Ride clients a couple bags when notice of the new rule is posted. After the initial change, the bags will be offered for sale.

	Different sizes of bags were discussed, and it was decided that the smaller bag was more appropriate for most of the clients who use Dial-A-Ride. The large bags can be too heavy when full, which can be taxing on the client and the bus driver.

	Commissioner Fenske mentioned that users of the fixed route would probably like to buy the bags also.

	Commissioner Gaebel asked if we have considered partnering with other agencies to help cover the cost of the bags. The other agencies would be allowed to put their logo along with ours on the bags.

	Director Howe said we have never done that because we were advised by our legal counsel not to. If we let other agencies advertise we open the door to other things, like representing groups/agencies that may end up in unethical or unprofessional situations. If we allowed it, polices would have to be made that say exactly what can and can't be allowed, such as no alcohol or tobacco ads. Our attorney advised us not to do it because it is too easy not to cover everything in a policy.

	Chair Fenske also mentioned that we were advised not to partner because it can look like we are endorsing them or whatever they sell or represent.

	It was discussed and decided that the phone number and website should also be printed on the bag with the logo.

	Commissioner Goforth made a motion to approve purchasing 1000 bags for $1550 that will have The Bus logo on them. Commissioner Bline seconded. All were in favor and motion passed.

	Business Cards
	Brenda Higgins asked the board members if they needed more business cards. She will be placing an order soon. The new cards will also feature the Warrenton PO Box for the mailing address.


NEW BUSINESS

	Election of Board Officers
	Commissioner Gaebel made a motion to retain the current slate of officers. Commissioner Bline seconded. Chair Fenske opened up the table to discussion. There being none, a vote was taken and all were in favor. The motion passed.


OTHER ITEMS

	The ADA info included in the board packets is for informational purposes. The ADA is tightening up their definition of service animal. The definition is the same; however it is defined in more detail to make the rules more clear to clients. The new definition has not yet been officially adopted by the ADA. That process will be taking place within the next year.

	SETD no longer monitors the rented spaces in the parking lot. We will still be monitoring the public parking and the employee parking. If an unauthorized car parks in the rented spaces it will now be the tenants' responsibility to have it removed.

	Operations, Human Resources, and NWRC Reports
	The NWRC is ahead of other brokerages in the steps it has taken to advance in technology and training.

	The NWRC has a couple of new gas station providers that have been added to their list. This is good, as it give clients additional location options to get fuel.


	Meeting Adjourned at 11:57 a.m.


	There was some discussion about when the next meeting will be. Chair Fenske reconvened the meeting at 12:02.


	It was decided to cancel the August meeting due to commissioner and staff schedules. The next meeting will be Tuesday September 23^rd at 9:30.


	Meeting adjourned at 12:04.






	Sarah Dailey Recording Secretary








Approved:







	Rae Goforth
	Secretary/Treasurer






THIS MEETING IS ACCESSIBLE TO THE DISABLED, AN INTERPRETER FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED MAY BE REQUESTED UNDER THE TERMS OF OS 192.630 BY CONTACTING SUNSET EMPIRE TRANSPORTATION DISTRICT AT 861-7433