News
GTA Board Minutes
PTBA MEETING MINUTES
7 P.M. Thursday
December 20, 2007
P.O. Box 10, Ephrata WA 98823/ Phone 754-1075 FAX 754-1170
Board Members Present: Staff Members Present:
Mayor Kathy Bohnet John Escure, Transit Manager/Finance Officer
Councilman Troy Ritter Brandy Heston, Administrative Assistant/Clerk of the Board
Councilman Manuel Guerrero Michael Wyman, Legal Council
Commissioner Cindy Carter Board Members Absent:
Councilwoman JoAnn Rushton Councilman Mark Wanke
Councilman Dick Deane Mayor Roldan Capetillo
Councilman Philip Isaak
Citizen Attendance: Please see attached attendance list.
The meeting of the Grant Transit Authority Board of Directors was called to order by Chair Mayor Bohnet at 7:02 p.m. Roll call was taken by Clerk of the Board, Brandy Heston, 6 Board Members present, 3 Board Members absent.
· Public Hearing 2008 Budget
John Escure, Transit Manager & Finance Officer, walked through the proposed budget for 2008. Mr. Escure noted the projected increase in sales tax.
Councilman Wanke entered the meeting at 7:04 pm.
The rate for Grant Transit Authority annual insurance coverage is going to be $150,000 for 2008. This is an increase over last year because of the increased mileage due to vanpool and additional fixed route service.
There is one line item labeled Ephrata Bus Lot that needs to be changed to Ephrata Administrative Office Rent and the amount needs to be adjusted to $4,200, leaving a net income of $43,767. Councilman Deane made a motion to close the public hearing. Councilman Guerrero seconded the motion, motion unanimously carried.
· Board minutes approved
Councilman Guerrero made a motion to approve the minutes of the November 15, 2007 meeting of the GTA Board of Directors. Councilman Ritter seconded the motion, motion unanimously carried.
· Public Comments
NONE
· WSDOT, Tom Hanson
Mayor Bohnet and John Escure welcomed Tom Hanson who is the sole representative on this side of the mountains for the Washington State Department of Transportation for Public Transportation Benefit Areas. Mr. Hanson stated that there is a lot of activity in Eastern Washington related to forming new Public Transportation Benefit Areas, and he is the sole person for tech support. Tom stated that he would like to use Grant Transit Authority as an example when he is traveling showing how we operate, using a contractor versus operating in house. He would also like to invite some GTA Board Members to travel with him to promote public transportation. There are no firm plans now, but if any Board Members are interested Mr. Hanson asked that they contact him directly.
· Managers Report
John Escure, Transit Manager, noted that he traveled to Yakima to meet with People For People Management Staff. The meeting was very positive and an action plan was talked about and created by Renee Biles, People For People. This will give us an outline to follow in order to get projects completed. A quality management program was also discussed and will be developed using ideas from People For People as well as ideas that came directly from John, using his prior experience.
The emergency preparedness plan is still being worked on and every step is being reviewed by Jerry Jensen with Select Inc.
Grant Transit Authority is now waited for the final approval from FTA before the procurement of the property can be made.
The last van went out this month for the Vanpool program. At a past meeting the Board authorized the purchase of 6 new vans, four (4) under the state contract and two (2) that will be purchased directly by GTA. John noted that he contacted the vendor and has submitted a purchase order for the purchase of one of those vans. This van is white unlike the charcoal color we currently have, but there is a need to get an additional van here as soon as possible. This van is currently on its way from the factory to the dealership. Once the van reaches the dealership, we will send 2 PFP staff to pick it up and bring it back to Grant County.
The Quincy Police Department sent pictures to Dan Morrissey, People For People, and asked that he show them to the drivers and have them be on the look out for the two criminals. No details were given regarding what they were wanted for. John stated that he didn’t like the idea of having the drivers looking out for wanted criminals for a few different reasons, the first being that we don’t know what they are wanted for and it could be something violent. Second, we don’t want the drivers to be fearful when driving if they happen to see someone who resembles the wanted criminal. Last, and possibly the one that stands out the most, is Grant Transit Authority wants their drivers to focus on the job at hand and not to be distracted by looking for the criminals. There are some people out there who would love to catch a criminal and would make this the priority rather than safe driving.
John noted that he sent a letter to Pat Simmons, Signs Now, to let him know that Grant Transit Authority will not be renewing the advertising contract again. The contract will be put out to bid next year for the new contract to begin in June of 2008. The Advertising Policy needs to be reviewed again by the Board of Directors and now is the perfect time to do this prior to starting a new contract. This will be on the January agenda.
Mr. Escure, Finance Officer, presented the Treasurer’s Report, which showed total expenditures for November at $282,440.40. Check number 5055 is to Trapeze Software Group for the annual maintenance. Check number 5061 is to URS for payment of the last phase. Sales tax is still coming in high, however John noted that he is still apprehensive to increase the budget by too much for 2008. If the year ended today, John predicts that Grant Transit Authority would be about $140,000 ahead of budget. Councilman Guerrero made a motion to accept the Treasurers Report, and to approve vouchers 5043-5078 in the amount of $282,440.40. Councilman Ritter seconded the motion, motion unanimously carried.
Contract Provider Report-People For People
Dan Morrissey, People For People, noted that ridership is still looking good and was up 7% over last year. The Safety Committee has come up with a Safety Campaign for this quarter, which is Winter Driving. Brandy has purchased the equipment necessary to set up a driving obstacle course at the site that John and Dan arranged to rent from the Ephrata Airport. This equipment will likely be here within the next week and will be a great asset in preparing the drivers for winter driving conditions. Dan noted that Wednesday’s have been designated at training day.
People For People held their annual awards banquet with peer and longevity awards given. John and his wife attended again this year.
Dan was contacted by Joe Gavinski, City Manager of Moses Lake, and he was told to go ahead with the installation of the refurbished shelter at the Moses Lake Aquatic Center.
The new service into Othello is looking good. The ridership for the first 12 days of service came in at 183 boardings. Significant increase in ridership is expected after the first of the year.
Unfinished Business
· Bio-diesel for GTA Buses
Printed information from Gillig, the manufacturer of the newer GTA buses, and from Cummins has been provided in the Board packets for review. Both Gillig and Cummins are giving information only it is not positive or negative.
John noted that since bio-diesel at a high enough percentage is not easily accessible in the Moses Lake area, therefore Grant Transit Authority would not really be gaining anything until we have our own facility with a fuel storage tank. Once we have our own storage tank we would be able to have the desired percentage of bio-diesel delivered. While John would still like to test one bus using the bio-diesel, he would like to say it will be done within the next year, so the time pressure is off of Dan. Councilman Ritter suggested that Grant Transit Authority look into a grant for alternative fuels.
· GTA Administrative Vehicle
John looked at the WSU auction as well as the state and federal auctions. There were no vehicles available that would be suitable for Grant Transit Authority. There were two vehicles, both 2008 models, on the state bid. The first is a Dodge sedan the base price is $20,389. There was also a Ford Escape, however the cost was greater and it doesn’t offer the space we would like to see in an administrative vehicle. John suggested that Grant Transit Authority go with the 2008 lower priced sedan, making sure to get the All Wheel Drive option. Councilman Guerrero made a motion to purchase the Dodge sedan. Councilman Deane seconded the motion, motion unanimously carried. Councilman Deane noted that the City of Moses Lake looks at the state bid and then contacts local vendors. If they can get the price within 5% of the state bid price they purchase locally.
· Salary Administration Plan
The salary administration plan was incorporated into the current personnel policy. In doing this Brandy identified areas in the policy that need to be reviewed. There were a few typographical errors, and then some items such as the definition of a full time versus a part time employee. As well as the section on maternity leave. Brandy will e-mail the entire policy to Michael Wyman, legal council, for his review.
New Business
· Adoption of 2008 Budget
John advised the Board Members that prior to adopting the budget, they need to adopt the budget proposal presented by People For People. The 5 year planning committee met and reviewed the options presented by People for People. Councilman Guerrero made a motion to accept the proposal of $2,451,509 giving a $1.00 per hour increase to operators in addition to their annual cost of living increase. Councilman Ritter seconded the motion, motion unanimously carried.
As Mr. Escure had stated earlier in the meeting the line item Ephrata Bus Lot needs to be removed and Ephrata Administrative Office put in its place replacing the dollar amount with the figure $4,200. This amendment would give GTA a net income of $43,767. Councilman Wanke made a motion to approve the proposed 2008 Budget as amended. Councilwoman Rushton seconded the motion, motion unanimously carried.
· Election of Officers
Councilman Deane made a motion to nominate the present Chair and Vice Chair to continue as a working team. Commissioner Carter seconded the motion, motion unanimously carried.
· Other
GTA Board Chair, Mayor Bohnet, noted with great sadness that this would be Councilman Troy Ritter’s last meeting as a GTA Board Member. Mayor Bohnet thanked Councilman Ritter for his great service to the Grant Transit Authority and let him know that he will be sorely missed. She then presented him with a plaque thanking him for his service.
Mayor Bohnet also thanked Brandy for baking the cookies and making punch for the Board Members to enjoy.
Councilman Wanke thanked the GTA manager and support staff for a great job. He also gave thanks to the People For People staff.
The next scheduled meeting of the Grant Transit Authority Board of Directors will be held at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, January 17, 2008.
Councilman Ritter made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Commissioner Carter seconded the motion, motion unanimously carried. The Grant Transit Authority Board Meeting was adjourned at 8:07 pm.
Attested:
Brandy J. Heston
Board Secretary
I certify that this is a true copy of the accepted GTA meeting minutes.
__________________________________
Board Member
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