Meeting Minutes

May 17, 2022
Members Present: Richard Staiman, Noah Bower, Max Moore, Chuck Crews and Trisha Marty.
Administration Present: Adam Winder, Todd Wright, Nicole Farr and Renee Smith.
Others: Jill Nagy with Summers Nagy Law Firm, Michael Pontious with USI Insurance Services and Rich Kuczawa of Woodlands Bank.
Item #1: Ms. Nagy called the meeting to order at 5:30pm.
Ms. Nagy stated that an Executive Session held on May 17, 2022 from 4:30pm to 5:20pm for the RVTA Board members to discuss personnel matters.
Item # 2: Ms. Nagy made the call for the RVTA Board Chairperson. Mr. Staiman made a motion to nominate Noah Bower, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried and Mr. Bower took over running the meeting.
Item # 3: Approval of RVTA Board Bylaw’s:
Ms. Nagy called for approval of the River Valley Transit Board Bylaws, motion made by Mr. Bower, seconded by Mr. Moore and with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 4: Election of Officers:
Ms. Nagy called for a nomination for Chairperson of the River Valley Transit Authority Board for the remainder of this term. Mr. Staiman made a motion to nominate Noah Bower, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Mr. Crews made a motion to nominate Max Moore as Vice-chairperson, seconded by Mr. Staiman, with all ayes the motion carried.
Mr. Moore made a motion to nominate Richard Staiman, as the secretary of the board, seconded by Mr. Crews, with all ayes the motion carried.
Mr. Staiman nominated Chuck Crews as the Treasurer for the River Valley Transit Authority, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Renee Smith was appointed and nominated as the Recording Secretary and Right to Know officer for RVTA.
Item # 5: Appointment of Executive Director of RVTA:
R iver V alley T ransit A uthority
Mr. Staiman made a motion to nominate Adam Winder as the Executive Director of RVTA, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 6: Appointment of RVTA Solicitor:
Mr. Winder made a motion to nominate Jill Nagy of Summers Nagy Law firm. Mr. Staiman made a motion to approve Jill Nagy of Summers Nagy Law Firm as the solicitor for RVTA, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 7: Appointment of RVTA Auditor: Refer to attached letters from RKL
Mr. Winder stated that before you are the objectives and scope of financial audits, statements and correspondence for matters with a plan scope of timing of RVTA, with auditing ending on June 30, 2023. This is in the amount of $38,850 dollars. RKL has been the auditing firm for the past two (2) years and with the current situation we felt that this was best to continue to use the same firm. Mr. Staiman made a motion to approve RKL as the auditing service, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 8: Resolution #2022-001 – to adopt the 2022-2023 RVTA Operating Budget:
Mr. Winder stated that before you is the 2022-2023 Operating budget in the amount of $10,044,477 and does include salaries, fringe benefits, all maintenance and facility costs and we receive a Federal Operating Grant of $2,570,058, revenue in the amount of $8,612,447 and also include the Local Match and Nicole Farr, Chief Financial Officer is here as well with any questions.
Ms. Marty asked how Ms. Farr got the total? Ms. Farr explained the section above shows the deficit and then added in the revenue.
Mr. Staiman asked if a sub-total can be provided, like it is on the other pages for the DOT grants.
Mr. Crews made a motion to accept the 2022-2023 RVTA operating budget, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 9: Resolution # 2022-002 – approving a Professional Services Agreement with Geisinger Health, Guardian and Health Equity:
Mr. Winder stated that this is a resolution to approve a professional services agreement with Geisinger Health, Guardian and Health Equity for RVTA, which is the healthcare package for all employees. Going with Geisinger was a significant savings (under half million dollars) for a complete cost of $1,574, 059.20 and savings of 21.24%. This savings is better than the current healthcare price.
The Local ATU 1496 voted unanimously to accept this new insurance program. Mr. Pontious with USI will be our broker for all insurances programs.
Mr. Staiman asked if this was USI’s first year with the city? USI has not worked with the city in past, just RVTA.
Mr. Crews made a motion to approve this agreement, seconded by Ms. Marty, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 10: Resolution # 2022-003 – approving the revising of the River Valley Transit Authority Hiring and Maintenance of Essential Requirements (Retention) and Employment Qualifications/Driver Policy:
Mr. Winder stated that this is the polices that the board is required to adopt to start the WC insurance and gives us the opportunity to start the drug screening.
Ms. Marty made a motion to accept this as presented, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 11: Resolution # 2022-004 – authorizing approval of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Program:
Ms. Marty made a motion to approve, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 12: Resolution # 2002-005 – authorizing approval of SAFTI required RVTA Policies:
• Personnel Policy Manual
• Hours of Service Compliance Policy
• Modified Duty/Light Duty Policy
• Vehicle Maintenance Policy
• Driver Medical Qualification Policy
• Environment Health and Safety policy
• Prohibiting Workplace Harassment Policy
• Accident Reporting and Investigation Policy
• FMLA Policy
• Policy Sign off Sheets
Mr. Crews made a motion to approve, seconded by Mr. Staiman, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 13: Resolution # 2022-006 – authorizing the adoption of Substance Abuse/Zero Tolerance Policy:
Mr. Moore made a motion to approve, seconded by Ms. Marty, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 14: Resolution # 2002-007 – authorizing entry into the State Association for Transportation Insurance Worker’s Compensation Pool (effective July 1, 2022):
Mr. Crews made a motion to approve, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 15: Resolution # 2022-008 – to adopt and transfer all existing River Valley Transit (RVT) – Contracts, Professional Service Agreements and Proposals for transfer to River Valley Transit Authority (RVTA)
Ms. Marty made a motion to approve all the existing contracts and agreements, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 16: Resolution # 2022-009 – authorizing RVTA to enter into an Assumption Agreement with Bridgestone for Tire Leasing Services Contract:
Mr. Winder stated that this leasing program provides significant savings as well as TPMS monitoring system for all the buses. This agreement is good until September of 2023.
Ms. Marty made a positive recommendation, seconded by Mr. Crews, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 17: Resolution # 2022-010 – authoring RVTA to enter into a Professional Services contract with PayCor for Financial services:
Mr. Winder stated that this program will aide us with financial processing and tie into our new financial package. This can be used with smart phones, which all RVTA employees will receive, they will be able to do their own timecard, view and submit HR information, review and approve memos and provide electronic signatures.
Mr. Bower asked if this could be done in house? Mr. Winder stated that there would not be any savings by doing this in house at this time.
Mr. Crews made a motion to approve these financial services, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 18: Resolution # 2022-011 – between RVTA and Woodlands Bank:
Mr. Winder stated that Woodlands bank will provide a line of credit, on-line banking and also a credit card for RVTA. The board would have to assign members to the accounts and also to sign checks and also view account information.
Mr. Staiman made a motion to approve, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Mr. Staiman made a motion to approve Adam Winder, Todd Wright and Chuck Crews (treasurer) as the approved check signors for the Woodlands Bank account, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 19: Resolution # 2022-012 – committing the Local Match for FY 2022-2023:
Mr. Winder stated this commits the RVTA staff to meet with the local municipalities to meet with them to review the required local match. Mr. Crews asked if there were any issues in the past of people paying? Mr. Winder indicated that once all surrounding municipalities where educated, they understood and all were compliant in paying.
Ms. Marty made a positive recommendation, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 20: Resolution # 2022-014 – adopting official Safety Plan for RVTA:
Mr. Winder stated that this safety plan was approved by Williamsport City Council and Chris Smith, who is our Safety & Security Officer wrote this document, which is required by the FTA and is complete and thorough. Ms. Marty made a motion to adopt the safety plan, seconded by Mr. Staiman, with all ayes the motion carreid.
Item # 21: Authorize transfer of Petitions for Collective Bargaining Unit (ATU Local 1496):
This resolution is just to transfer the ATU from RVT to RVTA. Necessary step to go before Labor & Industry for approval.
Mr. Crews if there are any issues with the union and administration? Mr. Perchinski stated that there are no issues at all. The ATU and Mr. Winder work well together. No issues at all.
Ms. Marty made a motion to approve, seconded by Mr. Staiman, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 22: Authorize assignment acceptance of Transit Worker Protection Agreement:
Ms. Nagy stated that this is a federal agreement with the ATU and similar to the motion before.
Mr. Moore made a motion to approve, seconded by Mr. Staiman, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 23: Authorize submission of Request to be named the Federal Recipient for Transit Funds:
Mr. Winder stated that this is just a letter to transfer them from RVT to RVTA and moving forward.
Ms. Marty made a motion for approval, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 24: Resolution # 2022-013 – accepting the 2022 RVTA meeting dates:
Mr. Staiman made a motion to approve the dates and times, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 25: New Business:
Mr. Winder thanked the board for re-writing history. Mr. Staiman commended RVT staff for how well we are prepared and organized.
Item # 26: Public Comments:
Ray Johnson, vice president of the ATU, if there any issues in moving forward with the Executive Director, we need to come to the board. Ms. Nagy stated that typically it would go through the standard process and then sometime this summer in meetings there will be a personnel committee formed to deal with any grievances. Only as a last step would anything make it to the board.
Mr. Crews stated that we wanted to keep things as normal as possible as we go through this transition. Tonight, was about making sure that everybody’s family is covered, everyone eats, moving forward, us as the board would like to thank you all for what you do and will continue to do.
Mr. Perchinski thanked the board and “Together We Fight, Together We Win” that’s the motto of the ATU.
Mr. Staiman made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mr. Moore. The meeting adjourned at 6:08pm.