FORT WAYNE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CORPORATION. August 14, 2008

Transcription

1 FORT WAYNE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION CORPORATION The August meeting of the Board of Directors of the Fort Wayne Public Transportation Corporation was held on Thursday, beginning at 5:30 PM at the Citilink offices, 801 Leesburg Road, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Directors Present: Mr. Fred Lanahan, Chair, Ms. Wendy Barrott, Mr. Nelson Coats, Mr. Marvin Gottlieb, Mr. Glynn Hines, and Mr. Paul Musson. Directors Absent: Mr. Robert Murphy. Staff Present: Mr. Ken Housden, Ms. Karen Cohodes, Ms. Betsy Kachmar, and Ms. Susan Kain. Others Present: Mr. John Bartosiewicz, McDonald Transit, Mr. Denny Logan, Corporate Counsel, and Mr. Bart Hofherr, President, ATU Local 682, Mr. Tom Pfefferkorn, Citilink employee, Brenda Benson, Citilink employee, Sheila Roberson, Citilink employee, Mike Quinn, Citilink employee, Claudia Harris- Stevenson, Citilink employee, Robert Davis, Citilink employee, Marcy Graham, Citilink employee, Lori Housden, Eric Clabaugh, Indiana s News Center, Ben Lanka, Journal Gazette, Trena Tate, Bett Nichols, Susan Izdepski, and Calvin Wisehart, citizens. Mr. Lanahan called for the roll call of members and then moved to the reading, correcting and approval of the minutes of previous meetings and other formal business. Mr. Lanahan asked if there were any additions or corrections to the minutes. Mr. Logan stated on page three of the regular board meeting minutes the first line should read 1/2 million dollar excess levy ($500,000) instead of a million dollar excess levy. Mr. Lanahan asked for a motion to approve the minutes as amended of the Regular board meeting of July 10, 2008, the Executive session meeting of July 10, 2008, the Executive committee meeting of July 23, 2008, the Marketing committee meeting of August 7, 2008 and the Finance committee meeting of August 12, Mr. Hines made the motion and Mr. Gottlieb seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Communications from the Public, Including Petitions and Remonstrances: None Board of Directors Committee Reports: Finance Committee Mr. Coats reported the committee met August 12. Mr. Coats reported one of the things that was discussed was the university/employer outreach efforts. Mr. Housden reported on this. Mr. Housden stated a concentrated and aggressive effort has been going on to find community partners. Generally the reception was very cordial. There are no firm commitments to date, but we have at least three organizations that are looking at stepping up and helping us with the Access funding. Met with CEO s, CFO s, Chancellors of Universities and large businesses. On the university side, we met with IPFW, IVY Tech, Indiana Tech, Taylor University and St. Francis. Major employers were Wal-Mart, Lutheran, St. Joseph and Parkview Hospitals. We also met with United Way representatives, local foundations, the Chamber of Commerce and Alliance. They felt that Citilink is important to the community. We are looking at subsequent meetings with IPFW & IvyTech to discuss shuttle service. Mr. Coats continued with service cuts for the balance of The Finance committee is recommending the following service cuts/service reductions beginning September 2, (a proposal was passed out) Access was not in this proposal. The proposed reductions are: Route 7 hourly on Saturday; Route 2

2 Page 2 hourly on weekdays; Route 3 hourly on weekdays; eliminate ½ of Route 5 weekdays and Saturdays and the current Waynedale Route 1 to hourly on weekdays (alternating to serve the Social Security office). This recommended service reduction would result in a savings of $263,950. The Finance committee recommends the service reductions as just discussed. Mr. Lanahan stated that was a motion and asked for a second. Mr. Gottlieb seconded. Mr. Lanahan asked Mr. Coats and Mr. Housden which half of Route 5 was eliminated. Mr. Housden answered it will be the northern half. Mr. Coats added that the numbers indicate that had the fewest riders. Ms. Barrott asked if this savings is enough. Mr. Housden answered the best way to answer that is to look at the beginning cash balance and our ending cash balance. We ve done other things like raise fares, done things internally to cut costs and locked in fuel prices. All those together along with the cuts allow us to end up with an ending balance of about $644,000 where we started with the $860,000. We re still going backwards a bit in 2008, but with the these cuts going forward into the next year we anticipate 2009 will operate with a positive cash flow. Ms. Barrott asked if this will get us about $350,000 more in our cash balance to the good by the end of this year. Mr. Housden stated yes. There being no more discussion, the vote was taken to pass the recommendation. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Coats added there will be a resolution authorizing additional appropriation to the current 2008 budget to cover the overage. Mr. Coats added we were able to lock in fuel prices for the balance of 2008 for $3.54. The finance committee discussed the issue of it being advisable to lock in fuel prices into The committee felt it would be prudent to lock in at the lowest possible current rate based on the projection of the price of a barrel of oil going up to $150 in the future; currently it is $115. Mr. Housden added we will not be able to lock in all of 2009; only thru the end of June. Mr. Coats made another recommendation and motion to the board that we authorize management to lock in fuel prices as far into the future of 2009 as we can somewhere in the price range of $ /barrel. Mr. Gottlieb seconded. After some discussion, the motion passed unanimously. Mr. Coats continued with the 2009 budget. The budget was passed out to the board. Mr. Coats also handed out the service reductions that are included in the 2009 budget which is a continuation of the reductions just approved. Mr. Coats reminded the board we were looking at a $612,000 deficit in the 2009 budget. Based on the benefit of locking in fuel expenses and the savings because of the service reductions, the committee is recommending a budget which is a positive number of $286,351 to be excess revenue over expenses on a cash basis. Over the months when we start the service cuts we expect to be close to or a little bit above the cash reserve balance that we started with in Mr. Logan asked if the beginning cash balance of $860,355 was as of January 1, Mr. Coats answered yes. Mr. Housden added one of the key elements was fuel. We ll only be able to lock up the fuel until the end of June. This budget allows for some cushion. Mr. Coats asked for the adoption of the 2009 budget which includes total revenue of $10,670,040 and total expenses of $10,383,689. Mr. Hines seconded the motion. Mr. Barrott asked if we are still under a timetable to get this turned into City Council and County Council. Ms. Kain answered we are tentatively going to City Council next month. Mr. Hines mentioned he checked with the Finance Chair and was told the city budget got pushed back to October for the City Council budget review process. Ms. Barrott asked about CMAQ money. Ms. Kain answered that is included in the miscellaneous income. Ms. Kachmar added we didn t budget for new projects because we haven t yet gone through the process of having them approved; that doesn t begin until next month. We need to get approval locally; approval from the state; apply for the money; then have to be awarded that money. It is still a long shot. If we additional resources we will certainly make use of them to restore the curtailed service. Ms. Barrott asked about JARC funds. Ms. Kachmar

3 Page 3 answered we have a two year agreement in place. Those are scheduled for 2009 as well. Ms. Barrott stated she didn t understand why the federal funds are down for Ms. Kachmar stated the CMAQ will be entered as funding is approved. The JARC budget estimate for 2008 included 2009 funding thus the remaining half is for Ms. Kain stated it is better to be a little conservative on the revenue side. There being no more questions or comments, Mr. Lanahan asked for vote for adoption of the 2009 budget. The motion passed unanimously. Operations Committee None. Personnel Committee None. Marketing Committee Mr. Gottlieb reported the committee met and the notes are attached. Capital Development Committee None. Legislative Committee None. Executive Committee Mr. Lanahan reported the committee met and the notes are attached. Transit Planning Committee Ms. Barrott reported the committee met last Monday. The primary focus was reporting on progress per the Project Action Plan; including Citilink s efforts to provide accessible vehicles for taxi service. Staff Reports: Controller s Report: Ms. Kain reported year-to-date 2008 we are $629,918 over budget. Ms. Kain stated a resolution approval for additional appropriations is on the agenda. Ms. Kain asked for approval for the Record of Transmittals for July and for the Interim Record of Transmittals for August 1-14, Mr. Hines asked about a check of $3000 on page two for the Fort Wayne Wizards for season contract. Mr. Housden answered it is part of the marketing budget. It was a contract that was signed last year. We have not renewed it at this time. Mr. Hines asked about a payment on page five to W.J. Carey and GAI Consultants regarding the July lift. Ms. Kachmar stated yes, that is the bus lift project going on in the garage paid with a dedicated capital grant. Mr. Lanahan asked for a motion to approve both sets of transmittals. Ms. Barrott made the motion, Mr. Hines seconded. Both Records of Transmittals were approved unanimously. Ms. Kain asked for approval for the DBE goal of 2.267% for Ms. Barrott made the motion, Mr. Coats seconded. The motion for approval of the DBE goal was passed unanimously. General Manager s Report: Mr. Housden spoke about how hard the staff and board members have been working. Mr. Housden stated he feels there are good times ahead of us and we ll get through this. Mr. Housden then turned the report over to Ms. Kachmar and Mr. Bartosiewicz. Ms. Kachmar reported that Citilink put the Hybrid Retrofit bus into service on our Flexroute 22 last week. We are collecting a couple weeks of data before doing a media event with Senator Lugar s office to roll it out officially. This is a cooperative effort between Citilink and Variable Torque Motors, a company in Fort Wayne who developed a hybrid electric retrofit for a smaller size bus.

4 Page 4 Ms. Kachmar mentioned the plaque for Dave, that was presented July 27 th, is now mounted on the wall by the front door as well as the lettering on the front door that dedicates the building as the Dave Gionet Transit Center. Ms. Kachmar highlighted that our accidents per 100,000 miles was 1.88 and the miles per road call was also exceptional. Ms. Kachmar reported we provided 17% more passenger trips this July than last July (in spite of a fare increase). Citilink Access also increased 16%. Our year-to-date total ridership is 12% higher than last year to date. This information was also published in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday (with a quote from Ms. Kachmar). Mr. Bartosiewicz added we only have a little less than 30 days worth of data. To be up 17% in ridership is almost unheard of when there is a fare increase, more importantly we re up 26% in revenue for the month which is over what we estimated. Mr. Bartosiewicz stated, now that Mr. Housden is on board, his role is to complete some of the special projects initiated while he was Interim General Manager. One of which was to report on progress toward meeting the 2008 goals/objectives. This report, as distributed, has each of the goals by program area and then it quantifies the measures that were detailed in narrative form in the goals & objectives document. The report is a work in progress. Mr. Bartosiewicz added on the first page where it says overtime as percent of total payroll hours add 8% in the YTD column. On the top of page 3; Access passengers using fixed route the goal is 1,100 per month; actually achieved 1,120 in July. Mr. Bartosiewicz stated we are pretty much on target on most of the measurements. Mr. Bartosiewicz highlighted the special projects he ll be involved in such as: working with the Executive committee and the Personnel committee on developing the assessment guidelines for the General Manager and Assistant General Manager; a detailed revenue enhancement report; and a route restructuring plan. Mr. Lanahan made a comment on the evaluation of the General Manager and the Assistant General Manager. The basics of that were developed by the Personnel committee. The Executive committee reviewed it along with Mr. Bartosiewicz. Introduction and/or Adoption of Ordinances: a. Resolutions: i. Resolution R-09-08; Authorization for Additional Appropriations for 2008 Ms. Cohodes passed around copies of the Resolution. Ms. Kain read the Resolution. Mr. Lanahan asked for a motion to approve the resolution. Mr. Coats made the motion, Mr. Hines seconded. Resolution R was passed unanimously. ii. Resolution R-10-08; A Proclamation to Honor David R. Gionet for his Service as General Manager of the Fort Wayne Public Transportation Corporation Mr. Lanahan read the resolution. Mr. Lanahan asked for a motion to approve the resolution. Mr. Gottlieb made the motion, Mr. Hines seconded. Resolution R was passed unanimously.

5 Page 5 b. Appropriations Ordinances: i. Appropriations Ordinance A-01-08; An Ordinance to Establish a Budget for the Fort Wayne Public Transportation Corporation for Calendar Year 2009; Second Reading Mr. Coats read the ordinance. A schedule of the budget adoption process was distributed. Mr. Lanahan asked for a motion to approve the ordinance. Mr. Hines made the motion, Mr. Gottlieb seconded. Ms. Kain stated we are adopting a budget of $10,383,689 with a tax levy of $5,375,594 and a tax rate of.0674 for the general operating fund and a budget of $1 million for the cumulative capital fund with a zero levy and a zero tax rate. Appropriations Ordinance A was passed unanimously. c. General Ordinances: None Mr. Lanahan moved to open comments by the public. Mr. Wisehart presented a proposal to the Board. Mr. Wisehart stated people don t like riding the 1A bus. They don t like the ½ hour wait; they would rather catch the hour bus. Mr. Wisehart s new proposal consisted of a new bus, #11, that would go to the Airport and then to the Social Security office. Mr. Wisehart asked the board if they have contacted the airport for funds. Mr. Lanahan thanked Mr. Wisehart and turned it over to the General Manager to analyze. Old Business: None New Business: None Open Discussion by the Board: Mr. Lanahan spoke to the board and the people attending the board meeting. Mr. Lanahan stated the board took additional time before coming to this point on the service reductions and turned over every rock to try to raise additional cash and to develop partnerships in the community. Mr. Lanahan stated he feels some of them may come to fruition in the next few months to a year, but as of this point we were unable to raise additional revenue which is what we need to maintain the service on the street for everyone. That brought us to the fact that cuts needed to be made; other than Access which we have possibilities of additional funding and we re going to wait an additional month until September and look at it again at that time. But other than that, we had to act or we simply would not be able to provide the service on the street by the end of the year. So action had to be taken. Mr. Lanahan asked for understanding. There have been some tremendous efforts on the part of the staff, management and members of the board to try to run this organization as well as we can while providing the most service on the street for the buck. We don t have a large budget compared to other communities around the country of similar size. Mr. Lanahan stated we are going to continue that effort. We have asked McDonald Transit and Mr. Housden to do an analysis of our route structure (which has come out in many of the public comments) to recommend positive changes to serve our riders in a better way. Mr.

6 Page 6 Lanahan thanked everyone in the process which includes those who offered comments at the public sessions and board meetings. Mr. Lanahan stated this is an effort that has to incorporate all of us; it s an "us" rather than an "us versus them" situation in order to make this a success. Mr. Lanahan asked for continued input. No service is being completely eliminated and we hope to get to the point where we can bring back what we have lost. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 6:55PM. Attest: Frederick A. Lanahan Chairman Marvin Gottlieb Secretary