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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - Citizens Transportation Oversight Commission - Meeting Date: 9/5/20193 Wnake A R I Z O N A MINUTES CITIZENS TRANSPORTATION OVERSIGHT COMMISSION GLENDALE TRANSPORTATION OFFICE 6210 W. MYRTLE AVENUE — BUILDING A, SUITE 111 GLENDALE, ARIZONA 85301 SEPTEMBER 5, 2019 6:00 P.M. 1. CALL TO ORDER Chair Geurs called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL Chair Geurs took roll call and noted that the following members informed staff they would be absent: Vice Chair Fernandes and commissioners Nesfield, O'Connor, and Sund. Present: John Geurs, Chair Chris Fundis, Commissioner Chris Hauser, Commissioner Chuck Jared, Commissioner Jack Nylund, Commissioner Barbara Rose, Commissioner Joan Young, Commissioner Absent: John Fernandes, Vice Chair Marie Nesfield, Commissioner John O'Connor, Commissioner Christopher Sund, Commissioner Also Present: Purab Adabala, Transportation Planning Administrator Patrick Sage, Transportation Planner Marilu Garcia, Transportation Analyst Trevor Ebersole, Transportation Department Director Kevin Link, Transit Administrator Kurt Christianson, Assistant City Attorney Vicki Rios, Assistant City Manager Lisette Camacho, Interim Director Budget & Finance Attendees: Joe Gregory Matt Taunton Jessica Parks 3. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA - WITHDRAWALS AND CONTINUANCES ACTION BY CTOC: Approval of the agenda for the September 5, 2019 Citizens Transportation Oversight Commission as submitted. Motioned by Commissioner Barbara Rose, seconded by Commissioner Chuck Jared AYE: Chair John Geurs Commissioner Chris Fundis Commissioner Chris Hauser Commissioner Chuck Jared Commissioner Jack Nylund Commissioner Barbara Rose Commissioner Joan Young Other: Vice Chair John Fernandes (ABSENT) Commissioner Marie Nesfield (ABSENT) Commissioner John O'Connor (ABSENT) Commissioner Christopher Sund (ABSENT) Passed 4. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES ACTION BY CTOC: approval of the minutes from the August 1, 2019 meeting of the Citizens Transportation Oversight Commission with the following changes: • Item 7, second paragraph: change "$100 million" to "$50 million" • Item 8, fourth bullet point: change "Barking" to "Parking" Motioned by Commissioner Jack Nylund, seconded by Commissioner Chuck Jared AYE: Chair John Geurs Commissioner Chris Fundis Commissioner Chris Hauser Commissioner Chuck Jared Commissioner Jack Nylund Commissioner Barbara Rose Commissioner Joan Young Other: Vice Chair John Fernandes (ABSENT) Commissioner Marie Nesfield (ABSENT) Commissioner John O'Connor (ABSENT) Commissioner Christopher Sund (ABSENT) Passed 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS No comments. 6. GO PROGRAM AUDIT - BUDGET & FINANCE DEPARTMENT Ms. Camacho and Ms. Rios discussed the GO Program recent audit findings related to the Budget and Finance Department. Ms. Camacho addressed the audit finding where indirect costs are now being changed to the Transportation GO Program. Ms. Camacho explained the indirect cost are costs incurred by the Transportation Department for support services from other city departments that include Human Resources, IT, and others, and were previously paid out of the General Fund. These Transportation Department costs have now been allocated to the Transportation fund, as they represent the Transportation Department's share of support department costs. The indirect cost allocations and charges to Transportation are part of the budget process. The budget is adopted and approved by Council. Commissioner Nylund asked for more information regarding an audit finding where the city's CIP manual was reported as no longer available. Chair Geurs commented that the auditor indicated that the document was not available for department use. Ms. Rios explained that the CIP manual is undergoing an update process by the Budget/Finance and Engineering departments, but staff is still following the procedures and controls in the existing manual. Ms. Rios will look into the availability of the existing version of the manual. Ms. Rios assured that the processes and controls in the exiting version of the manual are still being followed. Commissioner Nylund referred to cost overruns in the audit. Mr. Ebersole believed that this was a previous reference to a change order in the scope of a project. Mr. Ebersole explained that any change order that is outside of the allowable amount goes back to Council for approval. Commissioner Nylund commented that the impression may have been due to the way the issue was presented to the Commission by the audit presenter and it appears that staff has a handle on the process and is getting Council approvals. Commissioner Nylund inquired if the Budget & Finance Department is the "watchdog" for projects. Mr. Ebersole replied in the positive and stressed that there are three watchdogs: the department who owns the project, the Finance Department, and Engineering. Commissioner Nylund asked when there would be an update CIP manual. Ms. Camacho replied that the manual update would be finalized by June 30, 2020 but hoped it would be sooner. Ms. Rios explained that the City recently implemented a new financial system and the old CIP manual needs to be updated with directives for the new system. Chair Geurs inquired as to the amount of indirect costs for Transportation. Ms. Rios replied that the amount was $1.4 million. Chair Geurs asked for clarification of this amount. Ms. Rios explained that initially, there was no indirect cost allocation to the GO Transportation Fund. In addition, an annual $900,000 was transferred from the General Fund to Transportation to support various department costs. To more accurately allocate Transportation Department costs, the $900,000 General Fund transfer has been terminated and the $1.4 million indirect cost allocation to Transportation was implemented. Mr. Ebersole noted that the GO Fund went for four years without paying indirect costs, with the General Fund carrying that burden for those years. Commissioner Nylund commented that the City is getting more money back in the General Fund. Ms. Rios explained that the indirect cost amount is still the same back to the General Fund, it is now just allocated between more departments, as Transportation, Water, Solid Waste, and Landfill were not included in the previous allocation. Therefore, there is no additional amount going back into the General Fund. Ms. Rios explained that if the GO Fund ran as a standalone, it would have to pay for IT, legal, human resources, and other services. The General Fund is providing these services for efficiency of scale across the city departments, and then charging back costs to departments. Commissioner Nylund asked if the indirect costs were fluid. Ms. Rios explained that the costs are updated periodically, but they are not fluid. Chair Geurs wondered how staff ensures that the charges to the GO Fund are the correct, proportionate share. Ms. Rios explained that there are three pieces to the Transportation Department: General Fund, HURF, and Go Tax and noted that the allocation model ensures proper breakout. Chair Geurs inquired as to the grand total allocation for Transportation. Mr. Adabala stated that it was $2.6 million. Chair Geurs wanted to ensure that GO is paying only its fair share. Ms. Rios stated that the cost allocation is not relative to the source revenues. Commissioner Nylund thanked Ms. Camacho and Ms. Rios for their attendance and information. 7. GLENDALE TRANSIT PLAN Mr. Gregory introduced the Glendale Transit Plan to the Commission, and Mr. Taunton briefly described the expected plan components. Commissioner Nylund inquired as to how the plan is funded. Mr. Gregory replied that the funding comes from the overall regional tax and it is allocated in the Valley Metro budget for two plans per year. Commissioner Nylund asked if the City website would be used for outreach. Mr. Gregory will work with the Council Office for a list of events, use social media, an email list, and more. Chair Geurs noted that Glendale halted the light rail plans into Glendale; however, Phoenix has continued on and wondered how this would impact Glendale. Mr. Gregory replied that the plan will need to assess all Phoenix transit options that connect to Glendale, since the plan goal is to ensure that Glendale is integrated with regional connections. Commissioner Jared suggested a vehicle from downtown Glendale to the arena for Coyotes games. Mr. Gregory explained that this would be more of a special event transit need and Valley Metro does not generally provide for that type of service. Mr. Gregory commented that the Coyotes are a private enterprise and using public funds to directly support a private enterprise is often controversial. Mr. Gregory added that if such a route were implemented, regular stops would have to be made along the way similar to the existing route that travels to the arena area. Chair Geurs inquired if the plan would evaluate flexible bus schedules, noting that the buses are busy in the morning and night, but empty during the day. Mr. Gregory replied that there must be standards and specific schedules for the public to rely on. Commissioner Young inquired about a timeline for the plan. Mr. Gregory relayed that the plan will be finished this fiscal year. Mr. Taunton announced that the Regional Origin/Destination Survey was just completed and there will be good data from this report to utilize. Commissioner Hauser asked if Valley Metro was looking at app -based ticketing; he recently used it in San Diego and Houston. Mr. Gregory replied positive and stated that this is end -goal, but takes time to get there. Commissioner Nylund asked if annual passes are available, such as for seniors. Mr. Gregory stated that passes are sold monthly and for a semester for ASU students. Ms. Parks explained that seniors have a reduced fair which is subsidized through the various cities, there are employer passes, and youth passes. Ms. Parks added that all types of pass options have been considered and there are concerns with pass replacements: for example, losing a monthly pass is far less costly (in replacement costs) than losing an annual pass. Commissioner Nylund wondered when the last plan was done for Glendale. Mr. Dudley stated that the City did a plan in 2008. Mr. Sage asked if there are milestones in the plan process where the Commission would be engaged. Mr. Gregory reported that he will present back to the Commission after the first phase of the plan and after the final is done. Commissioner Young inquired if Valley Metro has all of the information needed to move forward. Mr. Gregory stated that they work closely with transit staff. Mr. Link, and others to stay on track with what the City is looking for. The agenda item was concluded. 8. GUS BUS TRACKER Mr. Dudley gave a presentation on the recently implemented real-time bus tracker for the Glendale Urban Shuttle (GUS) neighborhood circulators, which included the following: • GUS Bus Tracker: DoubleMap overview and app features. • Target Users • User Goals • Agency Goals • Ridership and Reporting Data: Graph displayed • Next Steps: new bus stops, outreach, geo-targeted social media, signage at bus stops. Mr. Dudley reported that there are currently 2.3 million rides per year and 100,000 riders per year; however, the rider count may include duplicates. Mr. Dudley stated that the department is procuring a new 35 -foot bus. Chair Geurs asked if all GUS bus stops were also Valley Metro stops. Mr. Dudley replied that many of the stops are the same; however, there are some standalone GUS stops as well. Mr. Dudley announced that the new signs at stops with the DoubleMap information will be rolled out in about a month. Chair Geurs reported that people jaywalk at the 55th Avenue stop. Mr. Dudley was aware of this and informed the commission that the department has an ongoing dialogue with Walmart and the developer of the shopping complex to identify a solution. Mr. Dudley played a new public outreach video on the GUS Bus Tracker. Chair Geurs commented that many seniors do not use smartphones. Mr. Geurs stated that it is surprising how many seniors do use smartphones and are very proficient with the technology Commissioner Nylund commented that the "Always Free" tagline in the video is very good phrase and should be used in all promotions and that the new bus design is very colorful. Mr. Dudley stated that staff is working on an app that integrates Dial -A -Ride with the services of an Uber/Lyft app, and the pilot project will be brought to the Commission when ready. Mr. Dudley noted that Glendale is the first city in the valley region utilizing a bus tracker app. 9. ACTING CHAIR FOR OCTOBER MEETING Chair Geurs and Vice Chair Fernandes will not be present at the October meeting. Commissioner Fundis volunteered to serve as Acting Chair. No opposition was voiced. 10. MANAGER'S REPORT Mr. Adabala provided updates on the following items: • Northern Parkway - Dysart Road to 111th Avenue • Northern Parkway - Grand Avenue to 99th Avenue • Pavement Management Program Update/Needs • Transportation Plan Needs Exercise • Camelback Road Reconstruction • MAG Funding Opportunities 11. COMMISSIONER UPDATES Commissioner Nylund reported that the pavement management work is nearly done in Arrowhead Ranch Phase III and the feedback that he has received is very good. Commissioner Nylund complimented the City's communication with the residents on the project and also praised the contractor. 12. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS Commissioners may suggest items for placement on future meeting agendas. 13. NEXT MEETING The next regular meeting of the Citizens Transportation Oversight Commission will be held on Thursday, October 3, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. 14. _ ADJOURNMENT Chair Geurs adjourned the meeting at 7:40 p.m. The itize Transportation Oversight Commission meeting minutes of September 5th, 2019 were submi e d approved this 3rd day of October, 2019. Patrick Sage Recording Secretary