HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Corpus Christi Regional Transportation Authority - 08/05/2009 REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS' MEETING c c
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2009 ECE,VE
SUMMARY OF ACTIONS SEP 0 9 2009
1. Held Roll Call CITySECRE7ARY,S
2. Provided Opportunity for Public Comment OFFICE
3. Approved appointment of RCAT Chairperson
4. Heard Update on RCAT Committee Activities
5. Approved the Board of Directors' Minutes of June 3, 2009 and July 1,
2009
6. Approved Consent Agenda
a) Action to Accept Committee Reports
b)Action to Exercise the Two-Year Option with Unifirst for Maintenance
of Uniform Rental and Related Items
c) Action to Approve Awarding a Contract for an Interactive Voice
Response System (IVR) to Mite! through The Local Government
Purchasing Cooperative
7. Approved Adoption of the Updated 2009 Defined Benefit Plan
Investment Policy
8. Heard Presentation on June 2009 Financial Report and Quarterly
Investment Report
9. Heard Presentation on Hurricane Evacuation Procedures
10.Heard Presentation on 2009 Harbor Ferry Season
11.Tabled CEO's Report
The Regional Transportation Authority Board of Directors met at 9:00 a.m. in the City
of Port Aransas City Hall located at 710 West Avenue A, Port Aransas, Texas.
Board Members Present: Crystal Lyons (Board Chair), Mary Saenz (Board
Secretary), Mike Rendon, John Valls, David Martinez, Ricardo Ramon
Board Members Absent: Vangie Chapa, John Longoria, Anna Flores, Judy Telge
Staff Present: Eduardo Carrion, CEO; Ponch Carrillo, Jorge Cruz-Aedo, Ramon
Sanchez, Gloria Smith, Lamont Taylor, Martin Trevino, Susan Vinson, Ruth Willey,
Linda Falwell-Stover, Billy Laridis, Robert Vela, Ester Guzman
Public Present: Rosie Aguiar, Robert Vela, RTAEA; Lee Jones, RCAT; RTA; Daniel
Garza, Janel Benavides, David Mendez, Mario Gonzalez, Reed Hewitt, Reel Simple
Productions; John Bell, Legal Counsel; Nova Shields, Carlos Vargas, Delilah Lazos,
Daniel Dausch, Dana Smith, MV Transportation; Michael Kovacs, Pat Garrett, City of
Port Aransas, Nathan Clark, Captain Clark's Flagship
SCANNED
Regional Transportation Authority
Board of Directors Workshop Meeting Minutes
August 5, 2009
Page 2
Call to Order
The Board of Directors' meeting was called to order by Ms. Lyons at 9:05 a.m.
Roll Call
The roll was called and a quorum declared present.
Opportunity for Public Comment
•
Mr. Michael Kovacs, City Manager, City of Port Aransas, welcomed the RTA Board
and visitors to Port Aransas. He commented on the economic challenges due to
downward trends in sales tax revenue. He noted that there had been a noticeable
change in demographics, with visitors coming to Port Aransas to enjoy shorter and
less expensive vacations instead of selecting other destinations.
Mr. Kovacs expressed thanks to RTA for various service partnerships. He stated
that future expectations would include focus on capital programs and continued
improvements in reliability of vehicles and operations.
Captain Nathan Clark, Owner, Captain Clark's Flagship, asked if the sale of
alcoholic beverages onboard the Harbor Ferry vessel during the hours of RTA
operation was acceptable under RTA policy. Captain Clark distributed a copy of a
sales receipt from the Harbor Ferry vessel to the Board members.
Mr. Daniel Garza, Reel Simple Productions, praised RTA's Disadvantaged Business
Enterprise (DBE) program for it's seamless application process for DBE certification;
spoke on the twenty-five year contract with Cooper Bus Bench Advertising, and the
recent redesign of the RTA logo by Moorehead, Dotts and Associates; and
expressed the desire to build on the performance-based relationship already
established between his firm and RTA.
Approval of Appointment of RCAT Chairperson
Ms. Lyons stated that Mr. Lee Jones had been with RCAT for four years and had
provided assistance to the former chairperson. She said that based on unanimous
recommendation by the RCAT Committee, approval of the appointment of Mr.
Herman Lee Jones II was being requested.
MR. VALLS MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE APPOINTMENT
OF MR. HERMAN LEE JONES II TO A TWO-YEAR TERM AS RCAT
CHAIRPERSON. MR. RAMON SECONDED THE MOTION. THE
MOTION CARRIED. VALLS, RENDON, MARTINEZ, RAMON, AND
R...„Lnal Transportation Authority
Board of Directors Workshop Meeting Minutes
August 5,2009
Page 3
SAENZ VOTING IN FAVOR. CHAPA, LONGORIA, FLORES, AND
TELGE ABSENT.
Update on RCAT Committee Activities
Mr. Lee Jones, reported on the following activities from the July 16, 2009 RCAT
meeting: no one had spoken under public comment; there were two No Show
Appeals that were dismissed; committee minutes were approved; action was taken
to elect the committee chairperson; presentations were heard on RTA's bus
procurement, status of bus shelterimprovements, and security and vulnerability
assessments; and monthly updates were heard for B-Line service, CAF's received
and wheelchair boardings statistics.
Discussion and Possible Action to Approve the Board of Directors' Minutes of
June 3, 2009 and July 1, 2009
MR. VALLS MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE THE BOARD OF
DIRECTORS' MINUTES OF JUNE 3, 2009 AND JULY 1, 2009. MR.
RAMON SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED.
VALLS, RENDON, MARTINEZ, RAMON, AND SAENZ VOTING IN
FAVOR. CHAPA, LONGORIA, FLORES, AND TELGE ABSENT.
Consent Agenda
Ms. Lyons stated that the following items were of routine or administrative nature
and had been discussed previously by the Board or Committees and that the Board
had been furnished with support documentation on the items. She called for
consideration of Consent Agenda items 6a through 6c and asked if there were any
items that should be pulled for discussion. There being none, Ms. Lyons called for a
motion to approve the following items:
a) Action to Accept Committee.Reports
b) Action to Exercise the Two-Year Option with Unifirst for Maintenance of
Uniform Rental and Related Items
c) Action to Approve Awarding a Contract for an Interactive Voice
Response System (IVR) to Mite! through The Local Government
Purchasing Cooperative
MR. VALLS MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE CONSENT AGENDA
ITEMS 6a THROUGH 6c. MR. MARTINEZ SECONDED THE
MOTION. THE MOTION CARRIED. VALLS, RENDON, MARTINEZ,
RAMON, AND SAENZ VOTING IN FAVOR. CHAPA, LONGORIA,
FLORES, AND TELGE ABSENT.
kugional Transportation Authority
Board of Directors Workshop Meeting Minutes
August 5,2009
Page 4
Discussion and Possible Action to Adopt an Updated Defined Benefit Plan
Investment Policy
Ms. Willey stated that the Defined Benefit Investment Policy was reviewed annually.
She reported that after a meeting between Wells Fargo personnel and the Pension
Investment Committee on June 18, 2009, two changes were being recommended; 1)
to officially revise the rate of return to 7.5% as approved by the Board in May 2009,
and 2) to revise the Fixed Income Benchmark as a result of change in ownership of
Lehman Aggregate to Barclay's Capital Aggregate.
MR. VALLS MADE A MOTION TO APPROVE ADOPTION OF THE
UPDATED 2009 DEFINED BENEFIT PLAN INVESTMENT POLICY
AS RECOMMENDED. MR. RAMON SECONDED THE MOTION.
THE MOTION CARRIED. VALLS, RENDON, MARTINEZ, RAMON,
AND SAENZ VOTING IN FAVOR. CHAPA, LONGORIA, FLORES,
AND TELGE ABSENT.
Presentation on June 2009 Financial Report and Quarterly Investment Report
Ms. Vinson reported assets of $59.6 million; a liability of $3.6 million; resulting in the
Agency's net assets of $56.0 million. She stated that year-to-date through June
2009, operating expenses were below budget by approximately-$1.6 million, largely
due to fuel savings.
Ms. Vinson continued by stating that the year-to-date loss was budgeted at $2.7
million and actual was $1.16 million due to lower than anticipated expenses. Total
revenue was about $587,000 or 4.7% below budget.
Ms. Vinson reported that fuel costs year-to-date through June for directly operated
revenue and support vehicles was $666,000 below budget with additional savings of
$377,000 in the Purchased Transportation Department. In response to Mr. Rendon
and Mr. Valls, Ms. Vinson explained that fuel savings were realized because when
the 2009 budget was prepared, fuel prices were, extremely high and expected to
remain high but they subsequently dropped due to the recession.
Other cost centers below budget, as cited by Ms. Vinson, were vehicle parts at
$174,000 and other supplies at approximately $67,000.
Ms. Vinson reported that salaries and benefits were over budget by about $250,000
due to the unusually large pension contribution required by the decline in market
value of the Defined Contribution Plan. She added that savings from the self-funded
health insurance were more than adequate to cover this shortfall.
,.>b:onal Transportation Authority
Board of Directors Workshop Meeting Minutes
August 5, 2009
Page 5
In reference to the Quarterly Investment Report, Ms. Vinson stated that as of June
30, 2009, the Agency had investments with a book value of $22.39 million with a
market value of $22.36 million. At the end of March 2009, the book value was
$23.05 million and the market value was $23.02 million.
Ms. Vinson stated that the yield for the quarter was 0.62%, compared to a
benchmark (6-month Treasury bill) of 0.32%. The current weighted average yield of
the portfolio was 0.81% with a weighted average maturity of sixty-one days.
Presentation on Hurricane Evacuation Procedures
Mr. Taylor noted that the Corpus Christi area had not experienced a hurricane in the
2009 season. He reported that at last' month's meeting of the City of Corpus
Christi's Office of Emergency Management (OEM), some procedural changes had
been made. He said the major change was the location of the evacuation center for
the special needs population. All evacuees, including those from Padre and
Mustang Islands, would be directed to the Corpus Christi Gym/ Natatorium complex
instead of the Oveal Williams Senior Center.
Mr. Taylor said there was a meeting planned in early August to discuss layout and
traffic flow, including charts and station positions at the Natatorium complex and to
discuss strategies for evacuees' return to the area in the case of an evacuation.
In regards to the Nueces County evacuation plan, Mr. Taylor stated that it had not
changed. In response to concerns from Mr. Rendon, Mr. Taylor said that the County
and RTA had been working with small towns and the Colonias in the region to
provide coordinated evacuation. Mr. Rendon requested specifics on the number of
Colonias identified and the plan for provision of dedicated buses to evacuate that
population.
Update on 2009 Harbor Ferry Season
Mr. Carrion reported that the Harbor Ferry was operational and service was
expected to operate through September 7, 2009. He added that to date, the Harbor
Ferry had not been in operation for twenty seven days out of the seventy six
scheduled days of service.
Mr. Carrion stated that there should be an investigation regarding the receipt
presented by Captain Clark. There was discussion and subsequent agreement to
conduct an investigation and to seek advice from legal counsel regarding
compliance with the terms of the contract for the Harbor Ferry service operations.
Further discussion included consideration of alternative and additional services and
ideas for improving partnering with other stakeholders for securing funding for the
harbor ferry service and other projects.
Regional Transportation Authority
Board of Directors Workshop Meeting Minutes
August 5, 2009
Page 6
CEO's Report
There were no items reported.
Adjournment
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 10:13 p.m.
sMa
Mary Saenz, ecretaryoard
Date
Submitted by: Linda Socha