CENTRE AREA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY
REGULAR BOARD MEETING
MINUTES
 pdf version
MAY 24, 2010
4:00 p.m.
STATE COLLEGE BOROUGH BUILDING
CONFERENCE Room 241, 243 S. Allen Street
State College, PA  16801

 

 

BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT:                      John Spychalski, Chairman

                                                                        Joe Davidson, Vice-Chairman

                                                                        Richard Kipp, Treasurer

                                                                        Gary Powers

                                                                        Kathryn Bittner

 

STAFF:                                                            Hugh Mose, General Manager

                                                                        Louwana Olive, Assistant General Manager

                                                                        Judith Minor, Director of Administration

                                                                        Mark Kutzer, Director of Maintenance

                                                                        Eric Bernier, Service Development Manager

                                                                        Jackie Sheader, Marketing Manager

                                                                        Greg Kausch, Transportation Planner

                                                                        Marsha Kyper, Assistant to the General Manager

 

 

I.          CALL TO ORDER

            Chairman Spychalski called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m.

 

II.        EXECUTIVE SESSION

Chairman Spychalski announced that an Executive Session had been held on May 10, 2010 to discuss personnel matters.

 

III.       OLD BUSINESS

           

            A.         Approval of Minutes of April 26, 2010 Public Hearing and Regular Board Meeting

Chairman Spychalski entertained a motion to approve the minutes of the April 26, 2010 Public Hearing and Regular Board Meeting as presented.  Richard Kipp moved and Gary Powers seconded.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

            B.         Receipt of the April 2010 Finance Report

The April 2010 Finance Report was presented.  Judi Minor reported that the expenditures appear extremely high due to there being three payrolls in the month of April and that the fuel line looks high because the CNG tax credit for $68,000 was reversed since the tax credit has not yet been extended.

 

Chairman Spychalski inquired whether the Accrued Compensated Absences line was high because the line includes vacation leave that employees have earned.  Judi Minor responded that she would check and report back.

 

Hugh Mose reported that ridership trends for April 2010 mirrored recent months; the neighborhood routes are down with the exception of those serving student corridors and the X (Bellefonte) and M (Mall) Routes; paratransit ridership continues to be down; and vanpool expenses were up due to five of the older vans needing to be serviced.  

Chairman Spychalski entertained a motion to receive the April 2010 Finance Report as presented.  Gary Power moved and Richard Kipp seconded.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

C.         Bid Award – Diesel Tank Replacement          

Mark Kutzer reported that CATA received two bids to supply a 1,000 gallon above-ground storage tank for diesel fuel.  ConVault, Incorporated, headquartered in Denair, California, submitted a bid of $13,886.30 and Keystone Petroleum Equipment, LTD, from the Pittsburgh area submitted a bid of $16,928.16.  Hugh Mose commented that the Board had approved the awarding of a contract at the April meeting.  Mark reported that per the action taken by the Board at last month’s meeting, the staff had awarded the contract to ConVault and that it is expected that it will take eight to ten weeks for the tank to be built at the manufacturing plant in Telford, Pennsylvania and delivered to CATA.  Mark also reported that the tank was in a concrete vault and includes a leak detection alarm.

 

Mark Kutzer further reported that he is now working with DMS Environmental LLC of Bellefonte to develop specifications for the design and installation of a concrete pad on which the tank will be placed, and to obtain the required building permits to complete the installation.

 

Chairman Spychalski entertained a motion to approve the contract award to ConVault, Inc. in the amount of $13,886.30.   Joe Davidson moved and Kathryn Bittner seconded.  The motion carried unanimously. 

 

            D.        Adoption of the CATABUS and CATARIDE Fare Increase

Hugh Mose reported that at the March Work Session the Board had approved the DRAFT FY 2010/2011 Budget which included a proposed fare increase.  Hugh further stated that at the April 26 Board meeting, a public hearing was held, at which time two individuals offered testimony, one in favor of the proposed increase, the other opposing certain elements of the plan and that additional comments were also received, but they mainly concerned the current limitation of the Penn State Ride-for-Five program, which is beyond CATA’s control.

 

Hugh Mose stated that with no substantial objections having been raised, the staff continues to recommend that CATA fares be increased effective August 1, 2010 and referred to the page in the Board packets that provided a breakdown of recommended pricing increases for cash, single tokens, rolls of twenty tokens, half-fare, OnePasses of one through twelve month’s duration, Semester and Family Passes and CATARIDE.

 

Chairman Spychalski entertained a motion to approve the increased cash, token, pass and CATARIDE

fares as presented.  Gary Powers moved and Richard Kipp seconded.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

            E.         Adoption of FY 2010/2011 FINAL Budget

Hugh Mose referenced the FY 2010/2010 five-page Operating Budget summaries in the Board packets and stated that the local share allocations were different from what the Board approved back in March due to the rerunning of the Miller Formula as a result of the closing of the Bank of America Call Center, affecting the K (Cato Park) Route.  Hugh further reported that the complete FY 2010/2011 Budget document had been distributed to the Board in April and that the COG General Forum was expected to approve the local shares allocated to the participating municipalities at its meeting this evening.

 

Joe Davidson inquired about the difference in the Supervisory and Administrative Benefits line percentage increases.  Judi Minor stated that in departments with fewer people, an increase will show more significantly when the costs are averaged out over a smaller number of employees.

 

Chairman Spychalski entertained a motion to approve the FY 2010/2011 FINAL Budget.  Richard Kipp moved and Joe Davidson seconded.  With no further discussion, the motion carried unanimously.

 

            F.         Adoption of the FY 2010/2011 Service Plan Changes

Eric Bernier reviewed the planned service changes for this fall which were outlined in two memos included in the Board packets.  Richard Kipp inquired whether changes on the outbound B (Boalsburg) Route affect Info Signs.  Eric responded that all of the Info Signs must be reprinted whenever changes are made on a route.   Chairman Spychalski inquired whether Park and Ride lots were available at the outer reaches of the G (Stormstown) Route.  Eric responded that there were several designated Park and Ride lots on the fringes of the G Route.

 

Chairman Spychalski entertained a motion to approve the FY 2010/2011Service Plan as presented.  Kathryn Bittner moved and Gary Powers seconded.  The motion carried unanimously.

 

            G.        Centre County Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRTP)

Greg Kausch reported that at the April 26, 2010 Board Meeting, staff had solicited input from the Board with respect to the relative ranking of projects on the transit element of the Centre County Long-Range Transportation Plan and that the Board had reached consensus on this relative ranking.  Greg further reported that those suggested ranking adjustments, relative to the amount of funding CATA expects to receive in each period of the LRTP horizon (2011-2040) were then used to develop a fiscally-constrained list of transit projects to be undertaken in each funding period of the LRTP.  Greg then reviewed the fiscally-constrained list which was enclosed in the Board packet.

 

Greg Kausch reported that the North Atherton Street Bus Rapid Transit project was not included on the list due to fiscal constraints.  Greg further noted that the Moshannon Valley Commuter Bus Service and the Facility Expansion of the Maintenance and Garage areas at the Cato Park facility were included on a separate list because they were top priorities of the CATA Board for the first four years of the LRTP. 

 

Since this item was for information only, no action was required.

 

IV.       NEW BUSINESS

           

            A.         Summer Board Meeting Schedule

Hugh Mose stated that the Board typically does not meet during one of the summer months and that the staff had a slight preference for cancelling the August meeting.  Hugh recommended that a final decision be made at the June meeting. 

 

Since this item was for discussion only, no action was required.

 

V.        OTHER BUSINESS

 

            A.         General Manager’s Report

Hugh Mose reported that staff is preparing options for service reductions and including them within the run cut, that could be considered for implementation in January if CATA’s funding situation does not improve.   

 

Hugh Mose stated that the Fullington Bus Company’s Altoona Regional Commuter Bus Service to and from State College is expected to be discontinued at the end of June.  Greg Kausch reported that the Old Fort Park and Ride project was again on hold due to concerns by PennDOT and the Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission regarding the site selection process and resulting site choice.     

 

Joe Davidson inquired about the Megabus to New York City.  Hugh Mose responded that CATA may have a conflict with the Borough of State College if it requires Megabus to cease stopping at Atherton Street and Beaver Avenue in front of Balfurd’s.

 

Mark Kutzer reported on a visit from a representative of Giant Eagle Corporation, which has received a grant to begin replacing the 200 trucks in its fleet with CNG “day cabs.”

 

 

            B.         Service Development Report

Eric Bernier referenced the written report included in the Board packets.  Chairman Spychalski inquired about plans to market the neighborhood routes which are experiencing declining ridership.  Jackie Sheader responded that the ridership trends are being analyzed and marketing approaches considered.

 

Gary Powers inquired whether there were any plans to change the late night LOOP schedule.  Eric Bernier responded that after discussions with Penn State and the president of the UPUA (University Park Undergraduate Association) it was decided that based on ridership numbers, the service next year would end at 4 a.m. instead of 4:30 a.m., but would otherwise remain unchanged.

 

VI.       ADJOURNMENT

Chairman Spychalski entertained a motion to adjourn the meeting.  Gary Powers moved and Richard Kipp seconded.  The meeting was adjourned at 5:06 p.m.

 

VII.     EXECUTIVE SESSION

            Chairman Spychalski stated that an Executive Session would not be necessary.