POTOMAC AND RAPPAHANNOCK TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION OFFICIAL COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES. Chairman Gibbons called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

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1 POTOMAC AND RAPPAHANNOCK TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION OFFICIAL COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES DATE: February 7, 2002 TIME: 7:30 p.m. LOCATION: PRTC\OmniRide Transit Center Commission Board Room, 2 nd Floor Potomac Mills Road Woodbridge, VA CALL TO ORDER Chairman Gibbons called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. Chairman Gibbons introduced Mr. Gary Pash, newly elected Member to the Stafford County Board of Supervisors and PRTC Alternate. 2. ROLL CALL MEMBERS PRESENT *Charles Badger *Hilda Barg *Maureen Caddigan *Bob Gibbons, Chairman *Bill Greenup, Treasurer *Ruth Griggs *John Grzejka, Secretary *Mary Hill, arrived at 7:41 p.m. *Bill Wren, Vice Chairman VDRPT Stafford County City of Fredericksburg City of Manassas City of Manassas Park ALTERNATES PRESENT *Steve Dixon, left the table as a voting member when Commissioner Hill arrived at 7:41 p.m. *Steve Hajek Gary Pash Stafford County *Sorine Preli 1

2 STAFF PRESENT Gina Altis Judy Bizjak Al Harf Joyce Houpt Joe Howard Sheila Larson Bill Leisen Steve MacIsaac Eric Marx Mark Roeber Pete Sklannik Dale Zehner PRTC Executive Assistant PRTC Director of Project Development PRTC Executive Director PRTC Director of Finance PRTC Legal Counsel PRTC Director of Marketing PRTC Manager of Contract Operations VRE Legal Counsel PRTC Director of Planning & Operations VRE Manager of Public Affairs VRE Chief Operating Officer VRE Director of Public Affairs MEMBERS ABSENT Jack Cavalier Edward Houck John Jenkins Robert Marshall Michele McQuigg Ben Thompson Stafford County Virginia Senate Virginia House of Delegates Virginia House of Delegates ALTERNATES ABSENT Harold Bannister Leo Bevon Marvin Bolinger Rowland Bowers Sean Connaughton Lawrence Davies Corey Hill Larry Hughes Bob Oliver Dan Painter Vonna Privett Gary Snellings Roger Snyder Edgar Wilbourn Margaret Wilson City of Fredericksburg VDRPT City of Fredericksburg City of Fredericksburg VDRPT City of Manassas City of Manassas City of Manassas Park City of Manassas Park Stafford County City of Manassas *Voting Member 2

3 3. INVOCATION Led by Commissioner Wren. 4. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Commissioner Caddigan. 5. CITIZENS TIME Mr. Harf welcomed and introduced Ms. Holly Frisch and Mr. Steve Hastalis. He noted that Ms. Frisch and Mr. Hastalis are former OmniLink and OmniRide users and have established an ongoing relationship with PRTC. Although neither reside in the area, Ms. Frisch and Mr. Hastalis expressed an interest in attending this evening s meeting. No other citizens came forward. 6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES RES Approved the Minutes of January 3, [PRTC\MINUTES] Commissioner Wren moved, with a second by Commissioner Caddigan, to approve the Minutes of January 3, 2002 as presented. There was no discussion on the motion. (WREN\CADDIGAN, UNANIMOUS; GREENUP ABSTAINED) 7. AGENDA APPROVAL RES Approved the Agenda of February 7, [PRTC\AGENDA] Chairman Gibbons removed Item 8-A Monthly Jurisdictional Financial Report from the Consent Agenda and added Item 8-A to the regular Agenda as Item 11-K. Commissioner Caddigan moved, with a second by Commissioner Barg, to approve the Agenda as amended. There was no discussion on the motion. (CADDIGAN\BARG, UNANIMOUS) 8. CONSENT AGENDA [PRTC\CONSENT AGENDA] With the removal of Item 8-A, the Consent Agenda becomes null and void. [PRTC\FINANCE] A. Treasurer s Report of November 30, Under Item 7 Agenda approval, Chairman Gibbons moved this item to the regular Agenda as Item 11- K. 3

4 9. VIRGINIA RAILWAY EXPRESS (VRE) [VRE\INFO] A. Operations Board Meeting Agenda and Minutes of January 18, There were no comments. [VRE\INFO] B. Chief Operating Officer s Report: Mr. Sklannik stated the VRE train operation concluded the month of January with an average ontime performance of 96%. Mr. Sklannik reported that ridership continues to hover around 12,000 passenger trips per day. He noted he, Commissioner Barg, and Mark Roeber met with representatives from U.S. DataPort today to investigate their interest in VRE service expansion to the Gainesville/Haymarket area. The discussion was productive and the initial step is a prospective planning and engineering analysis for which funding needs to be found. The discussion led to an agreement to schedule a meeting with other potential funding partners. Mr. Sklannik reported the Amtrak Reform Council presented its report regarding Amtrak s future. He stated the Council recommends that three entities be created: 1) a Federal oversight agency, 2) a government-owned infrastructure entity responsible for the maintenance of the infrastructure owned by Amtrak, and 3) a retained Amtrak with a smaller scope of responsibility confined to train operations. Mr. Sklannik reported staff learned today that the House Transportation Committee will conduct hearings concerning Amtrak. George Warrington, Amtrak CEO, and Allan Rutter, FRA Administrator, are scheduled to testify on February 27 and FTA Administrator Jennifer Dorn is scheduled to testify on March 20. Mr. Sklannik reported the Senate Commerce Committee plans to hold hearings as well, but no date has been scheduled as yet. Mr. Sklannik noted that he has expressed concern to Mr. Rutter concerning the potential loss of Amtrak service, inasmuch as VRE customers use Amtrak trains via cross-honoring 4

5 privileges. He said that he sought assurances from Mr. Rutter that any lost Amtrak service would be offset by increased VRE operating privileges, with financial assistance, to take the place of any lost Amtrak trains. Mr. Rutter acknowledged VRE s concerns. Mr. Sklannik reported that the VRE fare revenue is up 17% over the same time period last year, a direct reflection on the ridership growth. Mr. Sklannik reported it has been brought to staff s attention there may be an effort to divert up to $8 million from the high-speed rail funds earmarked for the Washington-Richmond Corridor to fund magnetic levitation (MAGLEV) technology research and development. Commissioners Barg and Caddigan noted they have both spoken with Delegate Rollison on the MAGLEV issue and were informed that he does not see this happening. Chairman Gibbons recommended a resolution be sent from the Commission expressing the Commission s objection to the diversion of high-speed rail funds for magnetic levitation technology. There were no objections. Mr. Sklannik reported staff has begun preliminary planning for VRE s 10 th anniversary celebration. He explained that a detailed plan will be presented to the VRE Operations Board at its March meeting. The plan will have several facets: commemorative memorabilia, a brochure outlining VRE s ten year history, a special fare, schedule, and station poster outlining the past ten years, a series of commemorative events, as well as radio, print, and press releases. Mr. Sklannik noted the Manassas Line anniversary is June 10 th followed by the Fredericksburg Line anniversary in July. Mr. Sklannik gave a brief status report on the CSXT Amended Operating Agreement as follows: 5

6 1. Lease of Quantico Station Building. Mr. Sklannik reported CSXT has presented an acceptable long-term, rent-free lease and staff is confident these negotiations will be completed in the near future. 2. VRE Mid-Day Storage in Ivy City. Mr. Sklannik reported CSXT has provided a real estate proposal to Amtrak to acquire a parcel of land that will be expanded for mid-day storage with negotiations currently underway between Amtrak and CSXT regarding the acquisition cost. 3. Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Mr. Sklannik reported the MOU between the Commissions, VDRPT, and CSXT was signed on January 31, Engineering Agreement. Mr. Sklannik reported the Agreement is close to completion. All terms have been agreed to by CSXT and its legal counsel is reviewing the insurance provisions. Staff hopes to report to the VRE Operations Board and the Commissions at their March meeting that this has been achieved. 5. Fredericksburg Mid-Day VRE Train. Mr. Sklannik reported that CSXT has agreed to permit VRE to run a mid-day train on the Fredericksburg line with a departure from Union Station at 1:00 p.m. Mr. Sklannik stated the Governor s office has asked to stage an event for the inaugural run of this train and staff is awaiting word from the Governor s office as to when that date will be. He went on to say that staff has urged that the event be scheduled as soon as possible, inasmuch as the Fredericksburg line VRE customers have waited a long time for this mid-day train. 6

7 Chairman Gibbons noted Commissioner Hill arrived at 7:41 p.m. during Mr. Sklannik s report (absent on the vote for Items 6 and 7). Commissioner Dixon left the table at this time as a voting member. 10. CHAIRMAN'S TIME RES A. Approved to Change the Thursday, July 4, 2002 [PRTC] Commission meeting to Wednesday, July 17, Commissioner Wren moved, with a second by Commissioner Greenup, to change the July 4, 2002 Commission meeting to July 17, There was no discussion on the motion. (WREN\GREENUP, UNANIMOUS) Chairman Gibbons expressed his concern regarding the presence of truck traffic in the I-95 HOV lanes during non-hov hours. He noted trucks in these lanes pose a safety hazard and recommended the Commission send a letter to the Secretary of Transportation suggesting that VDOT study this issue. There were no objections. Chairman Gibbons noted staff attends Virginia Transit Association meetings and recommended Commissioners do so as well. RES [PRTC] Magnetic Levitation Technology. Commissioner Caddigan moved, with a second by Commissioner Wren, to express its strong objection to the diversion of high-speed rail funds for magnetic levitation technology. There was no discussion on the motion. (CADDIGAN\WREN, UNANIMOUS) Commissioner Griggs left the table at 8:00 p.m. during the Executive Director s time. 11. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S TIME [PRTC\INFO] A. Executive Directors Report: Mr. Harf reported the nineteen 57-passenger buses due at the end of December arrived on time and are in revenue service. He noted that they have been well received though one item needing a remedy is the bar supporting the farebox that impinges on the passenger 7

8 aisle. These bars will be retrofitted at no cost to PRTC. Mr. Harf reported stop-gap repair of the concrete in the bus lot was completed early in the month and staff is currently in discussions with WMATA about a permanent repair plan. Mr. Harf reported staff met with the County s Public Works and Social Services staff to discuss problems associated with the homeless shelter related to foot traffic around the Transit Center. Staff is currently seeking an agreement with the County about the fence/foundation repairs and construction of a sidewalk outside the fence linking the homeless shelter with the commercial district along Dale Boulevard. Mr. Harf reported the air circulation problems in Customer Service have been remedied, and that the bus washer was retrofitted this past month to accommodate the new 45 foot-long MCI buses. Mr. Harf reported staff completed a security risk assessment of the Transit Center that is the subject of an action item (Item 11-G) this evening. Mr. Harf reported the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) completed its on-site Triennial Review on January 30 and 31. For the Commission s perusal, a summary of the review has been provided. Mr. Harf noted the reviewers found no deficiencies in 15 of the 23 areas examined, and deficiencies in two areas were corrected before the end of the two-day on-site review. The draft report notes this, meaning that corrective actions are still pending in six areas. PRTC and VRE staff are seeking to complete the corrective actions in several other areas before the final report is issued. The reviewers were complimentary about PRTC and VRE s compliance efforts since the last Triennial Review in Mr. Harf reported staff met with the Marine Corps- Quantico staff to discuss the bus delay problem. Actions taken by the Corps have all but eliminated the problem. 8

9 Regarding the Mobile Data Transmission (MDT) OmniLink Project, Mr. Harf reported a project kickoff meeting was held early this month with the project team. The project team acquainted PRTC/WMATA staff with the MDT device that will be customized for PRTC s OmniLink operation. A full-fledged project plan is scheduled for submission in February and staff is optimistic that this project will be completed as scheduled by the fall. Mr. Harf reported staff met with senior staff from the bus sponsoring jurisdictions on January 17 to bring them up to speed on the options being considered for operating the bus service after the WMATA contract expires. He noted the Commission has had discussions since October about the options -- a contract operator or an in-house operation. He explained the financials have been completed and staff is in the process of scheduling briefings for each of the bus sponsoring jurisdictions (Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park). A presentation will be presented to the Prince William Board of County Supervisors on February 12, Manassas Park on February 26, and staff is still in the process of scheduling the Manassas presentation. Mr. Harf noted that because the decisions expected to result from these work sessions have FY03 budget consequences, staff will need to await the decisions growing out of these sessions before seeking Commission action on the FY03 budget (probably in April). On the marketing front, Mr. Harf reported staff has spent significant time this month on the OmniLink education campaign, PRTC website enhancements, and the bus schedule redesign project. Mr. Harf noted that Ms. Tracy Dean has joined PRTC as a successor to Ms. Schaudel who retired in December. 9

10 RES B. Bylaws Amendments. Commissioner Caddigan [PRTC\BYLAWS] moved, with a second by Commissioner Hill, to approve the proposed amendments to the PRTC Bylaws as presented. There was no discussion on the motion. (CADDIGAN\HILL, UNANIMOUS) RES C. Executive Director s 2002 Goals. Commissioner [PRTC] Dixon stated that while he is comfortable with the goals for 2002 he has reservations about goals with cost-containment aims because they can color decision making in ways that are contrary to good business practice. He went on to say that the Commission should use such goals judiciously, and recognize that there are practical limits on costcontainment. Commissioner Grzejka thanked Commissioner Griggs, McQuigg, and Wilson for their input into this process. With no further discussion, Commissioner Wren moved, with a second by Commissioner Caddgian, to approve the Executive Director s Goals for December 2001 through November 2002 as presented. (WREN\CADDIGAN, UNANIMOUS) RES D. Change Joint Meeting Arrangements with NVTC. [PRTC\NVTC] Commissioner Wren moved, with a second from Commissioner Hill, to approve the change to joint meeting arrangements with NVTC as presented. There was no discussion on the motion. (WREN\HILL, UNANIMOUS) RES E. FY2003 State Grant Applications. Commissioner [PRTC] Wren moved, with a second from Commissioner Greenup, to approve the FY2003 state grant applications blue sheeted resolution as amended. There was no discussion on the motion. (WREN\GREENUP, UNANIMOUS) RES F. Fare/Ticketing Market Research. Commissioner [PRTC] Barg moved, with a second by Commissioner Caddigan, to approve the ticketing and pricing market research blue sheeted resolution as amended. There was no discussion on the motion. (BARG\CADDIGAN, UNANIMOUS) 10

11 RES G. Security Improvement Plan. Commissioner [PRTC] Wren moved, with a second by Commissioner Barg, to approve the recommended security improvements for the PRTC Transit Center as presented. There was no discussion on the motion. (WREN\BARG, UNANIMOUS) RES H. Vehicle Maintenance Consultant. Commissioner [PRTC] Wren moved, with a second by Commissioner Barg, to approve the Executive Director to solicit proposals for a vehicle maintenance consultant as presented. There was no discussion on the motion. (WREN\BARG, UNANIMOUS) [PRTC\INFO] I. Redesign of Executive Director s Evaluation Process to Foster Greater Board Involvement. Commissioner Wren commented the redesign is more structured, easy to follow, and will result in a more in-depth evaluation. Commissioner Grzejka stated it is an excellent plan for future involvement of the entire Commission in the evaluation process. RES K. Treasurer s Report of November 30, Ms. [PRTC\FINANCE] Joyce Houpt reported the FY02 fuel tax projections for November were revised using updates to reflect latest pricing information from the Energy Information Administration. She noted Prince William County can anticipate a drop in fuel tax projections of approximately 4%; Stafford 4%; and Manassas 12%. Manassas Park and Fredericksburg projections show increases of 10% and 7%, respectively. Collectively, the five jurisdictions are showing a drop of 3% in fuel tax projections. Commissioner Grzejka moved, with a second by Commissioner Barg, to accept the Treasurer s report for the period ended November 30, 2001 as presented. (GRZEJKA\BARG, UNANIMOUS) J. Other Information Items: 1. PRTC Service Reports a. OmniRide/OmniLink Ridership and OmniMatch Activity. There were no comments. 11

12 2. Statement of Operations for Month and Yearto-Date Ended December 31, There were no comments. 3. APTA Washington Report (1/10/02). There were no comments. 4. TPB News (1/02) Further Steps Taken on Air Quality Challenges. There were no comments. 5. Innovation Briefs (Jan/Feb 02) Amtrak What Next? There were no comments. 6. VDOT Springfield Interchange Improvement Project. There were comments. 7. Legislative: a. VTA Presentation to the Senate Finance Transportation Subcommittee. There were no comments. 8. Communications: a. Related to funding: N/A b. Related to jurisdiction: N/A c. General interest: There were no comments. Commissioner Griggs returned to the table at 8:22 p.m. and was absent on the vote for Items 11-B through 11-H. 12. OTHER BUSINESS/COMMISSIONERS' TIME Commissioner Pash stated as a slug and VRE rider he is happy to be in attendance at the meeting this evening, to learn the PRTC operations, as well as the good job the Commission is doing. Commissioner Hill asked to receive ridership numbers for the bus stop located on Hoadly Road near Ridgefield Village. She asked staff to investigate the feasibility of installing a bus shelter at this location along with the associated cost. 12

13 Commissioner Wren noted that the VRE Bylaws reflect there are seven votes on the VRE Operations Board with the Commonwealth Transportation Board (VDRPT representative) having one vote. He noted at the last VRE Operations Board meeting neither the VDRPT representative or an alternate was in attendance. As a result the Commonwealth Transportation Board did not have a vote at that meeting. Commissioner Grzejka noted bus stop signs have been placed around town and are nice; however, the bus stop signs do not always coordinate with where the buses stop. Mr. Marx affirmed that certain signs had been mistakenly installed, and that staff is working with Manassas to remedy the situation. Commissioner Preli stated she has been asked if there are plans for an OmniLink bus route starting at the far western end of the County to the Mall. Mr. Harf replied this is one of a number of unmet needs that the Commission discussed at the Board retreat in October. He noted the cost to institute a new OmniLink bus route is approximately $400,000 a year. He explained budgetarily this is a difficult time and consequently new service starts have been confined to those that lend themselves to 100% (or nearly 100%) reimbursables by third parties. 13. CONVENE INTO CLOSED SESSION There was no business to discuss in Closed Session. 14. CERTIFICATION OF CLOSED SESSION N/A. 15. ACTION ITEMS REPORTED OUT OF CLOSED SESSION N/A. 16. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commission, Chairman Gibbons adjourned the meeting at 8:31 p.m. NEXT MEETING: Thursday, March 7, 2002 LOCATION: PRTC\OmniRide Transit Center Potomac Mills Road, 2 nd Floor Prince William, Virginia

14 TIME: 7:30 p.m. 14