HARBOR TRANSIT MUTI-MODAL TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM (HTMMTS)
BOARD MEETING MINUTES
Grand Haven City Hall
November 13, 2019
Meeting Called to Order by President Craig Bessinger at 5:30 p.m.
Present: Craig Bessinger, Bob Monetza, Gordon Gallagher, Chris Burns, Joanne Marcetti, Mike DeWitt, Bill Cargo, Pat McGinnis, Pete LaMourie, Cathy Pavick, Joel Tepaste
Also Present: Steven Patrick, Transportation Director
Approval October 17, 2019 HTMMTS Special Board Meeting Minutes
Motion by DeWitt, second by Cargo to approve the minutes of October 17, 2019. Motion carries.
Approval of Regular Agenda
Motion by Monetza, second by Burns, to approve the agenda. Motion carries.
General Business / Call to Audience
Mike Fritz asked a question about public transportation and the possibility of expanding to include the whole region. Steve replied that he had some discussion about this with Muskegon, and Bob Monetza added he too had discussed the topic at the last MPO meeting.
New Business:
Presentation: Pat McGinnis, Trends in Administrative Costs and Future Projections.
Pat explained the City charged administrative fees have gone up at the exact same rate as overall expenses, and have remained at a constant average of 5.6%. Non-City administrative costs have gone from under 10% of overall costs to 19.03% of our costs. He stated that the most cost effective approach was, is and will be accessing the existing City structure to provide administrative support and reducing our in-house expenses.
The City is not in a position to break apart services and offer cafeteria style services. If HTMMTS intends to separate, the City will oblige and present options to make that transition as smooth as possible.
Discussion/action on IT Services Contract with Grand Haven Area Public Schools.
Motion by Gordon, second by Mike, to approve the proposed agreement with Grand Haven Area Public Schools to provide IT services to provide IT support at an initial cost of $7,680. Motion carries.
Discussion/action on the “Transit Asset Management (TAM) Policy”.
This is a requirement of FTA. Typographical errors will be corrected and future substantive changes to the policy will be made known to the Board.
Motion by Pat, second by Joanne, to approve the Transit Asset Management Policy. Motion carries.
Discussion/action on Finance Committee.
Motion by Mike, second by Chris, to pass a resolution to appoint Gordon Gallagher, Craig Bessinger, Chris Burns and Joanne Marcetti to serve on the Finance Committee.
Bill asked that the first meeting be dedicated to evaluating service contracts with the City. Bob supports a Finance Committee should populated with administrative hired professionals, as they have specific training in public finance. Pat expressed opposition to creating new committees in general.
Yes: Craig Bessinger, Gordon Gallagher, Chris Burns, Joanne Marcetti, Mike DeWitt, Bill Cargo, Pete LaMourie, Cathy Pavick, Joel Tepaste
No: Bob Monetza, Pat McGinnis
Discussion/action on Harbor Transit contract RFPs for Financial Services and Operation & Maintenance Services.
Motion by Pat, second by Chris to table the issue until finance committee has time to consider and report.
Discussion/action on Beach Express and the Summer Trolley Services.
Steve reported that ridership appears to be down on the beach express and downtown trolley service. In 2020 the staff will be looking closely at ridership, revenues, marketing and possible improvements and will present recommendations based on more firm data.
Motion by Gordon, support by Bill, to review operation carefully in 2020 and have a discussion about the services as soon after the end of the 2020 trolley and beach season as possible.
Discussion and update on Harbor Transit building expansion project.
Steve met with Seth Horton last week. Progressive AE is going to perform pre-preliminary study of needs and space realities.
Discussion/action to bring Spring back early. (OPTIONAL)
Motion carries
Operations Manager – Anthony Dionise
Anthony provided data on Beach Express. Buses should be received in April.
Board Members Comments:
Pat asked if staff could resume reporting ridership statistics along with some historical comparative data.
Gordon commented that Spring Lake will have a millage renewal in 2020. Should get started in January for an August renewal.
Meeting adjourned at 6:44 p.m.
Next regularly scheduled Board Meeting will be held on, January 22, 2019 at 5:30 PM at Grand Haven Township Hall, 13300 168th Avenue, Grand Haven, MI 49417 Adjournment