 Board of Commissioners Special Meeting Minutes ODOT Regional Office Conference Room 350 West Marine Drive, Aatoria, Oregon Friday, May 25, 2004 |
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| CALL TO ORDER | ||
| Chair Shannon called the meeting to order at 9:00 am | ||
| ROLL CALL | ||
| Commissioners Present: | ||
| Chair David Shannon Vice-Chair Bob Gannaway Secretary/Treasurer Jack Harris Commissioner Charlotte Mendenhall Commissioner Vic Kee Commissioner Jim Santee |
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| Staff Present: | ||
| Cindy Howe, Executive Director
Patsy Chapel, Executive Secretary |
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| COMMISSIONER REPORTS: | ||
| Chair Shannon stated that at the request of Commissioner Santee he would move Commissioner Reports to the first item on the agenda. | ||
| Commissioner Santee stated he was giving his report in writing to be read at the pleasure of the Commissioners and was handing in his resignation. He presented the Board with some books he said he felt might be valuable tools and wished everyone the best for the future. Chair Shannon wished Mr. Santee the best also and Mr. Santee left the meeting. | ||
| Vice-Chair Gannaway reported that he had recently ridden on the Cannon Beach Shuttle and that it had been a wonderful experience. He said the driver, Mr. Bob Dunton, did a good job driving and it was good to see local people who use the Shuttle. He said he was really impressed with it. Vice-Chair Gannaway also reported that he had attended two Intermodal Center Pre-Construction meetings and was impressed with the process and the people working on it. He reported that $200,000 had been cut from the estimate at the first meeting. Vice Chair Gannaway went on to say that he had attended the March meeting of the Clatsop County Transportation Advisory Committee. He said he felt all of their transit information had been taken from the District's Ten Year Plan and that a lot of it had been completed already. He said perhaps the plan needed to be updated and asked Ms. Howe to meet with him about it soon. Vice-Chair Gannaway stated that during the Transportation Advisory meeting, the Director of the Seaside Chamber, Mr. Ken Meiser, had commented that he had attended an SETD Board meeting four months ago where he requested to be included in scheduling for the Cruise ships and that he had not been contacted. Vice-Chair Gannaway asked Ms. Howe to give Mr. Meiser a written reply and Ms. Howe said she would do so. | ||
| Secretary Harris said he had no report. Ms. Howe gave Secretary Harris the proposal packets for the Lewis and Clark Marketing Plan. She asked him to review and begin scoring the proposals and said there would be a telephone conference after the scores were all completed. | ||
| Commissioner Kee said he had no report. | ||
| Commissioner Mendenhall said she had no report. | ||
| Chair Shannon reported he would be attending a meeting on downtown planning in Astoria. He also reported that the State of California had just passed a landmark bus stop decision, which basically states that if a bus stop is put in the wrong place and proves to be dangerous, the transit agency could be liable. He stated this could ultimately effect the District's insurance and perhaps the safety of each bus stop should be assessed. Ms. Howe stated that one of the District's goals for next year deals with bus stop safety. | ||
| COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE | ||
| Don Webb withdrew his letter of application to serve on the SETD 2003/2004 Budget Committee. He went on to say he was concerned about the safety of the bus stop at 9th and Duane. Ms. Howe explained that this stop was the District's Astoria transfer point and that once the Intermodal Center construction is finished this stop will be moved the Intermodal Center. Mr. Webb said another safety problem he was concerned about was overloaded buses during the Crab Festival and buses speeding during the Festival. He said he was a traffic safety advocate and hopefully these problems would not occur during this year's festival. | ||
| CHANGES TO THE AGENDA | ||
| Ms. Howe asked to have a letter she had received from George Fraser regarding the Intermodal Center Parking Lot entered under Old Business. The Board agreed. | ||
| Ms. Howe requested the addition of appointment of a nominee to the Dial-A-Ride Advisory be added to New Business and the Board agreed. | ||
| APPOINTMENT OF NEW COMMISSIONER | ||
| Chair Shannon noted Commissioner Meyer's resignation letter and with the Board's agreement, swore in Rae Goforth to fill vacant Position 5 on the SETD Board of Commissioners. Commissioner Goforth joined the Board at the table. | ||
| MINUTES | ||
| Board Action: Motion by Commissioner Mendenhall, second by Vice-Chair Gannaway to approve the minutes of the February 2003 and March 2003 meetings. Chair Shannon and Commissioners Gannaway, Harris, Mendenhall, Kee and Goforth voted yes. Motion passed. | ||
| FINANCIAL REPORTS | ||
| Board Action: Motion by Secretary Harris, second by Commissioner Mendenhall to accept the Financial Reports for February 2003 and March 2003 as presented. Chair Shannon and Commissioners Gannaway, Harris, Mendenhall, Kee and Goforth voted yes. Motion passed. | ||
| CORRESPONDENCE | ||
| a. | Letter from Special Districts
regarding Best Practices Self-Assessment Summary Report. Ms. Howe explained that because staff filled out the District Self-Assessment form the District received a discount on its insurance policy next year. |
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| b. | Letter from Special Districts
regarding Special District Insurance Agents Ms. Howe told the Board that the District's Insurance Agent is Dave Corkill. She stated he has given the District excellent service. |
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| c. | Letter from ODOT regarding Review
Report #MS03-016 (Review of Independent Audit) Ms. Howe told the Board that this audit is required when any agency receives more than $300,000 per year and the District passed this audit with flying colors. |
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| d. | Letter from ODOT regarding the
STF Program Ms. Howe explained that the Senior Transportation Fund program is the only place that the Legislature could make cuts that would affect the District's Budget in terms of operating dollars. She stated that the $67,665 the District receives in this program began with the cigarette tax and the Legislature has added more money to the Fund over the years. Ms. Howe said it is possible to plan for the possibility of a cut to this fund and unless something drastic happens she believes the District will have the money available to support Dial-A-Ride. Ms. Howe told the Board that the only other place where the District could face cuts due to the State Budget problems is in the discretionary grant funds for Seniors and Disabled. She said the District usually applies for discretionary grant money for buses for Dial-A-Ride and for bus shelters. She said that two years ago she applied for a grant to pay for the 20% match necessary for the Federal Grant for the Intermodal Center. This grant was approved, but the District has now been asked to delay requesting reimbursement till the new state budget has been completed. Ms. Howe assured the Board that there is only small chance these funds could be lost thanks to efforts by Senator Dukes and Representative Johnson and she said this will not affect the Intermodal Project as it is right now. Chair Shannon asked if OMAP was affected at all and Ms. Howe said no this is federal funding. She explained that the NW Ride Center has seen a reduction in the number of OMAP rides because the eligibility bar has been raised and some people are falling through the cracks. She went on to say that average usage is down but that doesn't change the rate charged for each ride and the District keeps a $100,000 reserve in that account. Ms. Howe said SETD had recently been complemented by OMAP for our "bare-bones operation". |
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| e. | Letter of thanks for Christmas Wishing Tree Ms. Howe praised Mr. Hablewitz' contribution to the Christmas Wishing Tree | |
| f. | Letter of thanks from Ft. Stevens
State Park Ms. Howe explained to the Board that this letter was in response to a presentation on the Lewis and Clark Shuttling System that she gave to the Park employees. She said she had been giving this presentation almost daily at various agencies, for groups around the county and even in Pacific County, Washington and it has been well received. Chair Shannon asked Ms. Howe if she knew why The Oregonian had chided the government for not giving money for Lewis & Clark. Ms. Howe told him the money that the article was talking about was for the trail to Sunset Beach and fortunately it does not affect how the shuttle system will operate. She said the Federal appropriations have not been completed and she noted copies of the appropriation requests the District had filed were in the Board's information packets and said she would probably hear back about them by the end of May. |
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| PUBLIC HEARINGS | ||
| Neighborhood Open House. Ms. Howe explained that this was really a New Business Item, but she would go ahead and talk about it here. She said she had had a lot of conversations with people in the Intermodal Center neighborhood and they had lots of questions about parking during construction and the construction itself. Ms. Howe suggested the Board set a date for a meeting to reassure with them. She said it could be held at the Quilt Store and refreshments should be provided along with a copy of the plans. She said it would be a good idea to have representatives from OTAK and Baugh Skanska attend to answer questions. Ms. Howe suggested holding the meeting in the evening, perhaps 7 p.m. or so and said all Board members would not have to attend. She also suggested holding it the latter part of May so that a final drawing would be ready. No date was set at this time. on passed. | ||
| RESOLUTIONS None | ||
| OLD BUSINESS | ||
| Chair Shannon informed the Board that he had spoken with Mr. Bill Canessa regarding the Intermodal Center parking lot plans. Ms. Howe stated that this may not be an issue if the District owns the entire parking lot, but that she had sent Mr. Fraser a letter on January 21st telling him construction would begin approximately July 1st. Mr. Fraser responded with a letter that quoted a portion of the original contract and went on to speak about the "design done by Spexarth" and asked for the District's approval. Ms. Howe told the Board she had contacted Attorney Heather Reynolds and Ms. Reynolds replied that the agreement says the facility must be built to comply with City codes and standards and is not legally required to be built to Spexarth design. Ms. Howe went on to say that all the District has agreed to, is to provide Spexarth with a parking lot. Ms. Howe suggested she write a letter to Mr. Fraser telling him the District's Attorney has reviewed his letter. She said she would attach a copy of the parking lot plan and tell Mr. Fraser that the plan is what the District is moving towards. The Board agreed Ms. Howe should respond to Mr. Fraser. | ||
| NEW BUSINESS | ||
| a. | Resignation Letter from
Commissioner Meyer: Noted earlier in the meeting. |
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| b. | Appointment of Rae Goforth to the
Board of Commissioners: Completed earlier in the meeting. |
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| c. | Appointment of Budget Committee
Member: Ms. Howe informed the Board that the District had received letters of interest for Budget Committee appointments from three candidates, Marsha Fenske, Kenna Bussert and Bob Coonrad. Commissioner Mendenhall asked if Frank Warren was still interested and Ms. Howe replied that he had withdrawn his letter. She went on to state that Marsha Fenske and Keith Chandler are both running for the vacant Board Position and that she had contacted Mr. Chandler to see if he felt Ms. Fenske's appointment to the Budget Committee would be a conflict of interest. Ms. Howe reported that Mr. Chandler said he did not feel it was a conflict of interest. Ms. Howe stated that Ms. Bussert is a CPA and Mr. Coonrad, who is a retired CPA, serves on the Board of CASA and was recommended by Jan Mitchell. Ms. Howe recommended the Board appoint Kenna Bussert, Marcia Fenske and Bob Coonrad to the SETD Budget Committee. |
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| Board Action: Motion by Commissioner Kee, second by Vice Chair Gannaway to appoint Marcia Fenske, Kenna Bussert and Bob Coonrad to SETD Budget Committee. Chair Shannon and Commissioners Gannaway, Harris, Mendenhall, Kee and Goforth voted yes. Motion passed. | ||
| d. | Appointment of Budget
Officer: Ms. Howe explained to Board that having a Budget Officer was part of the process as put forth in Oregon Statutes. Chair Shannon asked what the role of the Budget Officer was and Ms. Howe read the definition to the Board. |
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| Board Action: Motion by Commissioner Mendenhall, second by Vice-Chair Gannaway to appoint Ms. Howe as the Budget Officer for the 2003/2004 Budget Process. Chair Shannon and Commissioners Gannaway, Harris, Mendenhall, Kee and Goforth voted yes. Motion passed. | ||
| e. | Consideration of Owner's
Representative Contract with OTAK : Chair Shannon requested a recess to read the document. Ms. Howe suggested continuing this item till the next meeting. |
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| Board Action: Motion by Vice-Chair Gannaway, second by Secretary Harris to continue this item until the next Board Meeting. Chair Shannon and Commissioners Gannaway, Harris, Mendenhall, Kee and Goforth voted yes. Motion passed. | ||
| f. | Appointment of Nominee to
Dial-A-Ride Committee: Ms. Howe told the Board that this Advisory Committee was very active and very involved and she complemented Jodi Dickey for designing the Dial-A-Ride informational brochure which explains how to use the service and what it costs. Ms. Howe stated the DAR Advisory Committee had asked for a brochure to be made up and Ms. Dickey took it upon herself to work with Mr. Hablewitz on it and the result is an excellent document. Ms. Howe said Staff would like to make these brochures available. Chair Shannon asked if the brochures would be mailed out and Ms. Howe told him they would not. She said they would be distributed where clients are picked up and at medical offices. The Board gave permission for the brochures to be printed. |
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| Ms. Howe stated that Mr. Brian Borton had attended the last DAR Advisory Committee meeting and the Committee asked to have him appointed. Ms. Howe said she felt Mr. Borton would be a wonderful addition to the Committee. Chair Shannon appointed Mr. Borton to Dial-A-Ride Advisory Committee | ||
| Commissioner Kee said he thought a Letter of Commendation from the Chair should be given to Ms. Dickey. Ms. Howe said she would make up a Certificate and draft a letter for the Chair's signature. | ||
| g. | Calendar After discussion, the following meeting dates were agreed upon: | |
| Special Board Meeting - May 13 - 9:30
am to discuss District Refinancing Budget Committee Meeting - May 20th - 9:00 am Neighborhood Meeting - May 22 - 7 P.M. Second Budget Meeting - if necessary - May 23 - 9:00 am |
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| STAFF REPORTS | ||
| Ms. Howe spoke to the Board about the following items: | ||
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| There were no further questions or comments. | ||
| ADJOURNMENT: : Chair Shannon adjourned the meeting at 11:15 am | ||
| Approved: | ||
| Secretary/Treasurer | ||
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