| River Valley Transit Authority |
River Valley Transit Authority
Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
MREC, Third Floor Trade and Transit Center II
Williamsport, PA 17701
The Board of Directors of River Valley Transit Authority held its regular meeting on October 15, 2024. Mr. Noah Bower, Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.
I. ROLL CALL
Board Members Present: Noah Bower, Chuck Crews, Max Moore, Richard Staiman, Feif Gallagher, Solicitor Jill Nagy
Administration Present: Todd Wright, Ben Gair, Chris Smith, Steve Smith, Cameron Serafini, Garry Phillips, Sam Polys, Jennifer Steigelman (GFS Services), Stacie Elliftawi
II. EXECUTIVE SESSION
Brief session was held at 5:30 for personnel items.
III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Mr. Crews moved to accept the minutes of the Board of Directors meeting of September 17, 2024. Ms. Gallagher seconded. The motion carried.
IV. FINANCIAL BUSINESS
A. September Financial Report
SUMMARY REPORT
Total expenditures through the end of the September 2024 total $2,866,914 or 27.01% of the budgeted amount. Salaries expended total 30% of the budgeted amount or $1,399,110 through the end of September 2024. Miscellaneous expenses are high due to the Avail training noted on last month’s notes to the report. Interest expense is high as we had a difficult start to the year as it relates to cash flow; to meet the organizations obligations, the Line of Credit needed to be increased an additional $500,000 and most of those funds were drawn.
CASH STATUS REPORT
The cash status report indicates $627,480 available in various bank accounts. The line of credit currently has $25,527.21 available for drawdown. The total line is for $5,000,000 and currently $4,974,472.79 is drawn on the line. Total interest expense on the line of credit for the month of August was $35,138.73 and total interest expense for September was $38,485.85. The interest rate on the LOC decreased as of September 19th; the rate decreased from 9% to 8.5%.
CHECK APPROVAL
Checks cut since the last report total $483,806.41. The check run consisted of significant payments to Government Finance Solutions ($66,655.37 – a reissuance of checks 2049 and 1953) and Geisinger ($165,508.38 – October Health Insurance Premium).
RECEIVABLES
Since the meeting we received September’s State Operating Grant Funds of approx. $519,803. Future anticipated receivables are as follows:
ARPA/CARES/Technical Grant $2,800,000 – no barriers; should be received any day now.
October 24-25 Operating $519,803.00 – no barriers; should be received in the next 3 weeks.
We can anticipate receiving this amount monthly through December 2024.
Remaining 23-24 Operating Grant $2,647,612.00 – 22-23 Audit draft needs completed and submitted to PennDOT – will be received approx. 4 weeks after submission.
Mr. Staiman made a motion to accept the financial report. Ms. Gallagher seconded. The motion carried.
B. Audit Update
Ms. Steigelman stated she is going through old AR Items that could impact the audit year. Mr. Buckles and Ms. Saylor is helping with the audit schedules. Ms. Steigelman noted that the trial balance will be sent to the auditors by mid-November. Ms. Gallagher and Mr. Crews asked if Ms. Steigelman had everything, they needed to complete the audit trial balance on time. Ms. Steigleman noted she only has so many hours to work at RVTA. Mr. Staiman questioned who else can help with the audit. Ms. Steigelman explained how GFS operates and said only so many people can do audits. Mr. Gair noted him, and Mr. Wright discussed hiring more people to help with the audit. Mr. Staiman asked if they could have an update by the end of the week. Mr. Crews asked if Mr. Buckles would be able to help with the audit schedule. Ms. Steigelman said they would need about five to six more people. Mr. Staiman asked if a report could be sent to the board on 10/29 to review the audit. Ms. Nagy said some other agencies could send people to help.
C. Approval of Controller Salary Adjustment
The board approved Mr. Wright to negotiate and approve of the controller salary. Mr. Staiman made a motion to accept, Mr. Moore seconded. The motion carried.
V. MANAGERS REPORT
A. September Ridership / Operations Report
RVTA transported 63,569 riders during the month of September of those 63,569 riders, 10,944 were senior citizen riders. RVTA continues to utilize Token Transit for mobile fares, 9,077 passengers used Token Transit. Twenty-five road calls were performed during August, of those calls, twenty-one were mechanical, two were non-accidents/fare collections and two were accidents. Three operators are in training. Mr. Wright announced Mr. Polys is the new Fleet Manager, RVTA will also be hiring a new IT generalist. An RFP is currently open for security service proposals and Larson Design Group is currently working on a spec for the new bus wash system.
VI. UNFINISHED BUSINESS
No unfinished business to report.
VII. NEW BUSINESS
A. Committee Updates
There will be more committee meetings to be determined. The finance committee met and discussed fuel agreements, Local Share Collection and Church Street Garage Operations.
B. Proposed CDL Reimbursement Agreement
Mr. Wright presented an agreement that would make drivers who leave early must pay a certain percentage for their CDL training. The percentage paid depends on their years worked. Mr. Staiman made a motion to accept the agreement, Ms. Gallagher seconded the motion. The motion carried.
C. Fuel Reimbursement Agreements
Mr. Wright noted that there are legacy agreements in place that have not been renewed. New agreements will be put in place on January 1st, 2025. Mr. Wright will present pricing adjustment figures at the next board meeting.
D. PNC Parking Lease
Mr. Wright presented a lease between RVTA and PNC Bank on West Fourth Street. Mr. Wright recommended the lease be a two-year term and contain three parking spaces. The rate will be $150.00 per space. Mr. Staiman made a motion to accept the agreement, Ms. Gallagher seconded the motion. The motion carried.
E. Authorization to Purchase three (3) 35’ CNG Buses
Mr. Polys presented a proposal to purchase 3 35’ foot buses from Gilling, Inc. These buses will replace 1108, 1109, and 1203. Mr. Staiman made a motion to accept the proposal, Mr. Crews seconded the motion. The motion carried.
VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT
No public comments
IX. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Tuesday, November 19th, 2024 – Trade and Transit Centre II
X. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting adjourned at 6:35 pm.