Minutes of the Transit Alliance Board Meeting Held
July 27, 2006
NCTD, 810 Mission Avenue, Oceanside CA 92054
CALL TO ORDER
Ted Owen, President, called the meeting to order at 9:05 a.m. Executive Committee present: Ted Owen, President; Gerry Seelman, Treasurer; Pete Aadland, NCTD Representative.
Brad Wiscons, Secretary, arrived at 9:23 a.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
MOTION BY GERRY SEELMAN, SECONDED BY PETE AADLAND, TO ADOPT THE MINUTES OF APRIL 27, 2006. MOTION CARRIED.
COMMITTEE UPDATES
A. Business Affairs: Gerry Seelman, Chair of the Business Affairs
Committee stated that they have a little more than $7,000 in the checking account and everything is balanced. The by-laws for the Alliance are posted on the website. They have completed their power-point presentation and are starting to schedule presentations with the various chambers and community groups in North County. They are revising the brochure and it should be done by the middle of September. He concluded by stating the next Business Affairs committee meeting will be October 12, 2006 at NCTD.
Communications: Annie Cochran, Chair of the Communications stated that they have finally finished the power point presentation. Members including Joe Charest and Frankie Laney did give presentations to the Solana Beach, Oceanside and Carlsbad Chamber s of Commerce.
Joe Charest showed the power point presentation and described the goals of the Alliance.
TRANSIT PROJECT
UPDATES
A. SANDAG – Linda Culp updated the Alliance on the following projects: 1) Escondido Rapid Bus project; 2) Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) on Highway 15 and working with Riverside on planning some sort of service from Riverside to San Diego; and the Regional Comprehensive Plan (land use vision). She also described the SMART Growth concept. and the community involvement program grant.
B. NCTD Project Update and SPRINTER Update – Tom Kelleher stated that NCTD just celebrated its 30th anniversary on July 1st and passed out pens for everyone. He added that they have carried almost 300 million people over the 30 years. He also announced that they have added two new contractors effective July 1st, i.e., Transit America, to operate the COASTER and Laidlaw, to operate the ADA service.
He then reported the following on the SPRINTER: A car is on its way to the west coast by ship and is expected to arrive at the port of Oxnard, CA. It will then be trucked down to their vehicle maintenance facility in Escondido for acceptance testing. A party is planned in late August or early September to welcome the cars. Once they have their first three vehicles put together and at the maintenance facility, they will start test driving them in San Marcos and Escondido. They will also have a huge SPRINTER safety outreach program throughout the corridor between Oceanside and Escondido and would be focusing on the schools. They are seeking volunteers to help in this effort and are working with Operation Lifesaver (a national non-profit) dedicated to safety along the railway. If anyone is interested in volunteering to help in this effort, please contact Phyllis Hall at NCTD.
Ted Owen commented on the importance of getting the safety message out by pointing out the recent death of a high school boy on the railroad.
LEGISLATIVE
REPORTS
A. Philip Rath, Supervisor Horn's office, reported on Supervisor Horn's
Support of FACT (Full Access and Coordinated Transportation) and how he has provided a $64,000 matching grant for the federal grant that FACT is applying for, which is the 20% match that is required.
He also reported on the Supervisor's support for the new San Luis Rey Transit Center, as well as the new airline terminal at the Palomar McClellan airport in Carlsbad. He complimented Stefan Marks on making sure they include inter-modal capability and a place for buses to pick people up.
Ted Owen commented on the extension of the runway length and the MOU between the City of Carlsbad and the County over the jurisdiction of the airport.
B. SANDAG – Ellen Roundtree updated the Alliance on the appropriation
requests and how earmarks were down approximately 70% this year. She stated that they were able to get approximately $5.1 million in earmarks and $3.9 million of that were transit projects (on the House side of the bill). She stressed the importance of moving the San Luis Rey Transit Center project forward because the money for it cannot be used for anything else and added that anything the Transit Alliance can do to help in this regard would be appreciated. She recommended a letter from the Transit Alliance to the City of Oceanside in support of the project.
She then reported how this is the first time in many years that they had a state budget signed by the deadline and transportation did very well. Proposition 42 received full funding and San Diego will be receiving about $39 million for their operating and capital purposes. She stated that there are five statewide ballot measures in November and the SANDAG Board is recommending support of all of them. She described Propositions 1A and 1B, pointing out that these are the ones that the Transit Alliance need to support, suggested that the Transit Alliance adopt their own resolution in support of these two propositions and campaign in favor of them if they are able to.
She reported on the Fromer bill, AB1699, (and how this is still pending and needs to be defeated) and AB372, which SANDAG is supporting. She also reported that the high speed rail bond act has been changed to 2008. Following this bill being signed by the Governor, another bill was introduced to create a legislative committee to study the high speed rail authority and future plans for the high speed rail operations.
Discussion followed with regard to the high cost of grade separations.
OLD BUSINESS
A. San Luis Rey Transit Center – Stefan Marks described the history behind this
project with the aid of a computerized slide presentation, as well as the current status. He stated that the Planning Commission of Oceanside is objecting to the project as it is and NCTD is appealing this before the City Council on September 20th.
It was pointed out by the developers that this project has become a political issue and the Transit Alliance can help by showing up at the city council meeting on September 20th and telling everyone who is a citizen of Oceanside to show up and comment, such as those who rely on transit, including seniors, the disabled community, students, and those living around the site (homeowner associations), etcÖ It was also suggested that the Transit Alliance write a letter concerning this project, as well as place something on the website describing the project and ask people to email and write letters to the city of Oceanside.
Pete Aadland stated that this is a great project and should be a "slam dunk" anywhere in the world. He then gave a brief update on the Land Use Studies underway to look at the properties around the Carlsbad Village Station, Oceanside Transit Center, and the Escondido Transit Center in terms of redevelopment. He stated that they have had meetings with all three of the cities staff and have given presentations to Oceanside and Carlsbad city councils. There is an adhoc committee and the public process will begin in August. This will be put on the website and they welcome participation from the transit alliance members on those three studies.
NEW BUSINESS
A. TABNC Board Election – Ted Owen reported that there is an open seat for Vice President and there will be an Executive session at the conclusion of this meeting. There is an opportunity within the by-laws to enlarge the size of the Board. He clarified that paying members, such as a corporation or entity participating in financing, can run for an office. Nominations can be made through the website and the election would be sent out on the website, as well.
B&C. Continuation of slide presentation of Communications Committee - Gerry Seelman stated that they have done presentations to three city councils. They would continue to do this and it will be notified on the website. They are looking for as much participation from the membership as possible. They still need to do Escondido, San Marcos and Vista. They will also do a presentation at the Transportation Committee of SANDAG and then to the full SANDAG Board. They also want to do all the chambers in North County as well as Rotaries, Lions clubs, etc.
PUBLIC COMMENT
A. Alane Haynes reported the following on FACT: They have developed the
North County Pilot Project. They have signed the Articles for non-profit incorporation on February 27, 2006. They have a Board of Directors that meet monthly and a steering committee that meets monthly. Everyone is welcome to attend the steering committee meetings, which meets the last Tuesday of every month from 10 am -12 p.m. in the NCTD Board room at 810 Mission Ave, Oceanside. They are developing a leadership committee. They have applied and received a grant from the Community Transportation Association of America for which the Transit Alliance gave a letter of support. They are working with consultants to develop a more extensive survey for anyone that might want to partner with FACT. They have also applied for the MSAA (mobility services for all Americans) grant, which is a federal government grant.
They have $3.25 million to give out to approximately ten grantees (approximately $325,000 each). This grant would provide money for consultants from engineering firms, information technology or universities
to help them develop a regional plan to link up all the different pieces of technology that would need to go into play.
Alane concluded by thanking Supervisor Horn for his support, as well as the Transit Alliance. She stated that they would know in the next couple of days if they get this grant. In addition, they are finalizing a contract with SANDAG to be the CTSA (Consolidated Transportation Service Agency) for San Diego county, which is a TDA mandated and funded agency. They also are developing the process to hire an Executive Director and there was a stakeholder meeting on July 7th that was well attended. They also have done one presentation to the Oceanside City Council and would be going to Encinitas City Council in September.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned 10:30 a.m.
The next meeting is
scheduled for 9:00 a.m.,
October 26,
2006 at NCTD, 810 Mission Avenue, Oceanside, CA.
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President
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Date