Harbor Transit Multi-Modal Transportation System Board Meeting Minutes

March 25, 2026

Grand Haven Township

1. Meeting called to order by Vice President Brady Selner at 4:31 PM.
2. Roll Call:

Present: Bessinger, Cargo, Cate, Lyon, McIntyre, Selner, & Whittemore

Absent: Gallagher, Latch, McIntyre, Pavick, & TePasste

Also Present: Appel (Finance), Borg (Exec Dir), Burghardt (Ops Supt), Dumbrell (HR); Walker (Marketing), & Woline (Finance), Michael Vredeveld, CPA

3. Approval of Meeting Agenda:

Motion to approve by Whittemore, second by Bessinger. Motion carried.

4. Unscheduled Public Appearances/Call to Audience:

None

5. Consent Agenda:

a. Approval of Jan 28, 2026 Regular Board Meeting Minutes

b. Discussion/Action on Payable Warrant

c. Receive Financial Statements

d. Receive Local Advisory Council (LAC) Meeting Minutes

e. Approval/appointment of Steven Termolen to LAC.

f. Title VI Policy Discussion/Approval 2027.

Motion to approve as presented by Lyon, second by Whittemore. Motion carried.

6. New Business:

a. Presentation of Harbor Transit 20205 Financial Audit (Vredeveld).

b. Discussion/approval of Harbor Transit contract with Village of Fruitport. Borg reported that the contract runs from May 28 to Labor Day weekend for service to and from Fruitport.

Motion by Cargo, second by Lyon to approve. Motion carried.

c. Discussion/approval of Personnel Manual Amendments—Resolution 2026-0325-01.

Dumbrell reported on two revisions and an addition to the manual. The Lunch & Break Periods section and the Paid & Unpaid Leaves—Holiday sections were revised; a No Right of Privacy section was added.

Motion by Whittemore, second by Cargo to approve. Motion carried.

7. Reports & Correspondence:

a. Marketing:

Walker shared updates on marketing initiatives, including Comcast commercials, the Via digital campaign results, the new Harbor Transit logo, and three community engagement events. She noted that the new logo will roll out slowly, being added as new buses are procured, not to the entire fleet.

b. Operations:

Burghardt highlighted operational statistics, including ridership for 2026 through February, on-demand ridership, and Trinity at the Lakes ridership (all totals were down over previous periods due to weather-related curtailments of operations). No-shows were up slightly, also due to weather. There were no NTD Reportable Safety Events and one road call in February 2026.

c. Executive Director:

Borg informed the board that he and Dumbrell attended the 2026 Michigan Transit Legislative Day on March 12, where they met with State Senator Roger Victory to discuss Local Bus Operating (LBO) and Act 51 Small Urban Formula concerns.

He gave updates on the Phase I Archaeological Survey for the new operations center site. After repeated non-responses by the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, FTA gave approval for demolition of existing structures on the site.

Also, Progressive AE and The Christman Construction Company are responding to correspondence from the Grand Haven Charter Township Building Inspector before a Building Permit and a Storm/Sewer Permit is approved.

Harbor Transit will be going to Fabcon next week to inspect the precast that will be going up on the exterior of the new facility. The ceremonial groundbreaking was well attended.

8. Board Member Comments:

Bessinger and Whittemore expressed thanks for all that has been accomplished thus far for construction plans.

9. Meeting Adjourned by Selner at 5:04 PM.
10. Next Regularly Scheduled Board Meeting:

4:30 PM, May 27, 2026

City of Ferrysburg

17250 Ridge Ave

Ferrysburg, MI 49409

Respectfully Submitted,

Bill Cate

Secretary