 Board of Commissioners Meeting Minutes Astoria Transit Center Meeting Room 900 Marine Drive, Astoria November 20, 2007 9:30 am |
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| CALL TO ORDER: | ||
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| Called order 9:30 am | ||
| PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG: | ||
| ROLL CALL: | ||
| Chair Fenske Commissioner Gannaway Commissioner Gaebel Commissioner Goforth Commissioner Bline Commissioner Mendenhall - Excused |
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| Staff Present: | ||
| Executive Director Howe, Executive Assistant Dailey, Lori Karl-HR/Payroll, Brenda Higgins-Accounting Clerk | ||
| Audience Present: | ||
| Sharon Laferriere | ||
| COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE: | ||
| Sharon Laferriere requested the board see her regarding bringing dogs on the bus. She does not agree with Director Howe's decision that SETD only allows service animals on busses. Included in the board packets were copies of the ADA definition of a service animal and a therapy animal, which were also sent to the client. The difference between the two was discussed. A service animal is one that performs tasks for the client. A therapy animal is one that accompanies clients as part of a treatment process for reasons other than performing tasks, and cannot accompany the client at all times. | ||
| Director Howe had correspondence with Barney Fleming from the Northwest ADA Technical Assistance Center regarding the issue. Fleming's research concluded that Laferriere's dog falls under the description of a therapy animal and not a service animal. | ||
| During the discussion, Laferriere mentioned that the dog is not hers. She stated she is training it for someone else. Director Howe mentioned that this changes the situation because Laferriere had claimed it was hers. Howe would need to do more research to see what SETD's obligation is, as a transit agency, to allow training of service dogs on the bus. | ||
| Laferriere said the owner may return to the board with his attorney. Director Howe said it would be fine for the owner to contact her for further investigation into the matter. Commissioner Goforth told the client that SETD has a policy in place allowing only service animals and they are following the rules. | ||
Commissioner Gaebel made a two-part
motion for board to:
Commissioner Goforth seconded the motion. Motion passed. |
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| CHANGES TO AGENDA: | ||
| Director Howe asked the board if they could add a second item under the Public Hearing section. She would like the board to consider adopting the draft of the Coordinated Human Services Plan that includes changes from last month's meeting. | ||
| APPROVAL OF OCTOBER 15, 2007 MINUTES: | ||
| Commissioner Gaebel requested several changes be made to the minutes. Chair Fenske asked board for approval of minutes as amended. Commissioner Goforth made motion to approve them as amended. Motion seconded by Commissioner Gannaway. Motion passed. | ||
| REPORTS FROM CHAIR AND COMMISSIONERS: | ||
| Commissioner Bline attended the
Northwest ACT meeting in Cannon Beach. He reported on the three projects for
our area being submitted for the year 2010-2013: 1)
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| Commissioner Goforth attended the 2007 Oregon Transportation Conference in October with Director Howe and staff, and Commissioner Gaebel. She gave congratulations to Commissioner Gannaway for receiving the Outstanding Public Transportation Board Member Award on the last day of the conference. She also said she was very impressed overall with the conference and she learned a lot. After attending, she was even more proud of SETD as an organization. She was able to learn how other transportation organizations function and what challenges they face. She feels SETD is doing a great job handling everything compared to many other areas of the Oregon. She thanked SETD staff for the conference scholarship. | ||
| Commissioner Gaebel also reported on her attendance at the OTA conference. She attended to the two-day ADA session and felt there was a lot of useful information for anyone who uses ADA training in their organization. She provided handouts from the session. She also attended the ADA Paratransit sessions at the conference. She commented that Commissioner Gannaway was outstanding as representation of the board at the conference while receiving his award. She also said Director Howe did a good job representing SETD during her presentation in the Mobility Management session. | ||
| She also opened discussion regarding the Director's responsibility to the board to get approval for monetary donations not included in the budget from discretionary funds. She feels any monies to be donated, that are not in the budget, should first be discussed with the board. The example being referred to is $1000 donation made to the Loaves and Fishes when they suffered flood damage. | ||
| Director Howe said if the board wanted to put a cap on expenditures made by the director, or add more checks and balances to the process, she would adhere to the policy. | ||
| Chair Fenske felt that would be micro-managing. Commissioner Bline agreed. Director Howe pointed out that SETD has to be somewhat flexible in that it is a public agency using tax dollars and has to follow certain laws. But it is also sometimes necessary to treat it like a business, such as improving rider-ship and anything else to improve it. | ||
| Commissioner Gaebel requested the issue be discussed further and listed as an agenda item at the next meeting. | ||
| Commissioner Goforth feels the board has spent enough time on the discussion. Goforth made a motion for the board to give the Executive Director the ability to use discretionary funds without making phone calls, up to $5,000. Chair Fenske seconded. Commissioners Goforth, Gannaway, Bline in favor. Commissioner Gaebel opposed. Motion passed. | ||
| Commissioner Gannaway was very honored to receive the Outstanding Board Member Award at the OTA conference. He feels SETD has had many accomplishments because through the years the board has always worked as a team. | ||
| Chair Fenske has a disabled client who has trouble with the Transit Center entrance because there is no automatic opener to operate the door. | ||
| Director Howe will do research to see what can be done. There was discussion about automatic door openers, or doorbells that could notify Transit Center staff when assistance is needed. | ||
| FINANCIALS: | ||
| Commissioner Goforth reported on October's Financials. She asked what the total yearly audit fee was for SETD. Brenda Higgins from Accounting said it's $8,000-$9,000. | ||
| Chair Fenske asked what deferred revenue is. Brenda Higgins explained its income received during the 60 day period at the end of the fiscal year when the new fiscal year is starting. If the revenue is for the previous year, but is received after the new period has begun, it must be put into deferred income, and subtracted on the books at the end of the year. An example used was timber revenue. | ||
| Commissioner Goforth also asked if the Timber Revenue payment is received once per year. Director Howe said it's received quarterly. | ||
| Commissioner Gaebel was concerned about the amount paid for business cards. She said her cards were $71.25. She asked the board if that was a standard cost. | ||
| Commissioner Bline and Goforth said that was about average. Goforth said she has plain, simple cards and they cost $69. | ||
| Commissioner Bline made a motion to accept the financials. Commissioner Gannaway seconded. Motion passed. | ||
| RESOLUTION 2007-08: | ||
| SETD needs a new check signing resolution due to board and staff changes. SETD policy is that the Chair, Co-chair, Secretary/Treasurer are the check signers, and there is one signer for amounts under $2,500, two for amounts over $2,500. Since Cindy is now located at the Astoria office, and Scott works outside of the office quite a bit, it's difficult to get checks signed by multiple people. SETD bills are now often over $2,500, so two people must sign the checks. Board members can also be check signers, but are difficult to coordinate schedules with to obtain their signature. | ||
| Commissioner Gaebel said the wording needs to be changed in the resolution to reflect the change of requiring two signatures on checks over $2,500. Ms. Howe added the language to the resolution. | ||
| Commissioner Gaebel requested the public hearing remain open through adoption of the Coordinated Plan at the next board meeting. | ||
| Resolution 2007-08 was read aloud and roll call was taken; all commissioners passed the amendment and the change was adopted. | ||
| PUBLIC HEARING: | ||
| The commissioners acknowledged the changes made to the draft of the Coordinated Human Services Plan, which were requested at the last meeting. | ||
| Director Howe also discussed an Easter Seals Grant opportunity. The funds must go to help elderly use public transit more often. $50,000-$90,000 is available. Executive Assistant Sarah Dailey is currently working on the grant. | ||
| Director Howe requested that the Coordinated Human Services Plan be adopted at this meeting, which would allow it to be used in the Easter Seals Grant application. | ||
| Chair Fenske closed the public hearing. | ||
| Commissioner Bline made a motion to adopt the Coordinated Human Services Plan. Commissioner Goforth seconded. All were in favor and the motion passed. | ||
| CORRESPONDENCE: | ||
| Director Howe included an information sheet in the board packets from the Special Districts office. She said the board has often wondered what Special Districts can do for SETD, and this page lists the areas they can assist in. She said the information can also be found on their website, which is listed at the top of the page. | ||
| Chair Fenske said the board received a thank you letter from the Columbia Memorial Hospital Foundation for their purchase of radio time during their radiothon for purchase of digital mammography equipment. | ||
| Commissioner Gaebel asked how much the donation was. Director Howe said it was $500. Although it was not in the budget, it was approved by the board because she received a letter from the foundation in advance, with enough time to have it approved. It was also discussed that in return we received two hours of radio-sponsorship time, in which Chair Fenske did a live interview with Tom Freel. | ||
| OLD BUSINESS: | ||
| Chair Fenske briefed the board on the commissioner appointment update. She read a letter from Commissioner Mendenhall who feels her health is interfering with her service as a board member. The board feels she should attend the next meeting so it can be discussed as a group before any decisions are made. | ||
| Director Howe will be placing an ad in December in the newspaper to get applicants to fill Dave Shannon's vacancy. She recently received an inquiry from a community member who knew of Shannon's resignation. Cindy informed them that the board still must follow a recruitment process to allow others to apply. To be considered, a letter must be submitted to the board. After a letter is received, the applicant is invited to the next board meeting to meet the commissioners. The board then makes a decision either at that meeting or the next. | ||
| NEW BUSINESS : | ||
| Commissioner Gannaway received the Outstanding Board Member Award at the OTA Conference held in Seaside, Oregon in October. | ||
| Director Howe said SETD will accept non-perishable food items in exchange for a bus ride in December through Christmas. There are plastic barrels on the busses to collect the food. Donna Holmstead from the Clatsop County Fairground Christmas Giving Program asked if we would donate the food for the baskets. The baskets are filled on December 19, so Howe agreed to give all food collected up till December 15th. Food collected after the 15th will be donated to the local food bank. | ||
| Commissioner Gaebel asked if the Transit Center had a food barrel in the lobby for donations from community members not riding the bus. Director Howe said they've had them before and people threw trash in them. As an alternative, Assistant Sarah Dailey suggested a smaller box wrapped in Christmas paper be placed on the counter at the Transit Center. | ||
| Director Howe said the bus schedule is slightly different around the holidays. There are no busses operating on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day. On December 8, service will stop at 4 p.m. so that all SETD employees can attend their holiday party. Also, service will stop at 6 p.m. on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. The schedule changes are posted on the busses and in the Transit Center. | ||
| She said the employee party is paid for by the employees from a yearly employee fund. The money comes from soda machines, driver tips and recycled soda cans. This year the party is at the Warrenton Community Center and one of the employees is catering the food. | ||
| Director Howe reviewed the Summer Passenger Surveys. She said 100 bus patrons took the survey. Commissioner Bline said he was given the survey when he was on the bus. | ||
| Commissioner Gaebel asked why the survey was not used in the Coordinated Human Services Plan. Director Howe said it can not be used for the plan because the Summer Survey includes all of the population, not just the senior and disabled population | ||
| Commissioner Goforth was shocked at the comments regarding the cleanliness, temperature, and music on the busses. | ||
| Director Howe said they have a new lot attendant cleaning the busses now, and they are cleaned every day. Goforth said she understood the comments are recorded and appear on the survey even when one person comments and Director Howe agreed. Howe said she looks at the overall survey and identifies the biggest areas that need improvement. She said the changes requested are things SETD already knows, such more frequency, longer hours, and bus service on Sunday. | ||
| There was discussion about what kind of music is played on the busses. Howe said it depends on who is driving, because it is a radio, and the drivers can choose from multiple radio stations. | ||
| The commissioners felt it was a good report overall, and liked the layout of the information. Director Howe said it was compiled by John Layton, the new Information Technology person at the Northwest Ride Center. | ||
| Chair Fenske said in the board policy it says they will meet the third Tuesday of each month. Howe had requested the board amend the policy at the October board meeting, to hold meetings the fourth Tuesday, because the bank statement used in the Financials comes at a later date, making it difficult for the accounting clerk to get the monthly financials prepared. | ||
| Chair Fenske said the board didn't know they had an assigned day in the policies. | ||
| Commissioner Gaebel proposed that at the next board meeting they adopt a resolution to change the policy. | ||
| OPERATIONS: | ||
| Commissioner Gannaway asked what was meant regarding Jose receiving all invoice stuff, in the notes from the October Staff Meeting. Director Howe said they have built up the maintenance department and are trying to divide the job duties based on their skills. Jose is temporarily training with Scott to see if he will be able to do some of the duties. Driver supervisor Roni Shaw is also training with Scott to do Operations because Scott Smith is planning on retiring in Spring 2009. | ||
| Chair Fenske said there are two requests to use the Trolley bus. Shanghaied in Astoria would like to use it for caroling. Seaside Chamber of Commerce also would like to use it for the Christmas Parade. Both groups would use it at night, when it is not being used by SETD. | ||
| Commissioner Gaebel asked if either group pay anything for using it. She also asked if they use SETD drivers and how much is spent for each use. | ||
| Director Howe said we do not charge them because we have relationships with both groups and SETD has always treated it as a gratis. SETD pays for the fuel and has their drivers drive the bus so no additional insurance coverage is necessary. It costs approximately $50-$75 each for both groups. | ||
| Commissioner Goforth asked if non-perishable food could be collected during the outings. There was a discussion that the Astoria and Warrenton Fire Departments as well as the Post Offices do food drives, and we wouldn't want to interfere. | ||
| There being no further business, the meeting adjourned 11:40 a.m. | ||
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| Sarah Dailey Recording Secretary |
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| Approved: | ||
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| 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 | ||
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