| River Valley Transit Authority |
Meeting Minutes
Members Present: Noah Bower, Max Moore, Chuck Crews Richard Staiman and Trisha Marty.
Administration Present: Adam Winder, Todd Wright, Nicole Farr and Renee Smith.
Others: Jill Nagy with Summers Nagy Law Firm, Bethany Jones, Ray Johnson, Steve Smith, Lynn Montague, Jamie Gilbert, Garry Phillips and Chris Clark.
Mr. Bower called the meeting to order at 5:31
Item # 1: Approval of September 20, 2022 meeting minutes:
Mr. Moore made a motion to accept the minutes as presented, seconded by Mr. Crews, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 2: Resolution #2022-032 – Authorization to negotiate and execute contract for the purchase and implementation of transit scheduling and run-cutting software (Optibus):
Mr. Warfel explained that this new software ties into our Avail System and will allow us to make changes and input data. Mr. Warfel sat on a statewide committee , who put out a RFP for this software and Optibus scored the highest and was highly recommended. RVTA’s operations department reviewed this software and also thought this was the best software for RVTA.
Mr. Warfel also stated that is funded through the infrastructure grant and we would receive a 2% discount for prepayment. RVTA would receive training and support for the software for five (5) years.
Mr. Crews asked what are we currently using? Mr. Warfel explained that CSched is the current scheduling provider and right now we are paying approximately $1,000 every time we make any type of changes to a route and it takes about a month to two months. With this new software, RVTA would be ale to make these changes.
Mr. Crews asked if PennDot was also changing to this software? Mr. Warfel indicated that all agencies, statewide have the option to go to this program. As of right now, there is a protest going on about this from CSched, Ms. Nagy said. Ms. Nagy was the solicitor on this matter and Monday, October 24, 2022 is the end of the protest.
Mr. Crews asked if this would provide information more detailed reporting for us? Mr. Warfel stated that this program is “input” only. We will continue to use our Avail system for retrieving reports and such. Pricing for this program is based on our, per active vehicles in the fleet. EMTA is not included in this.
River Valley Transit Authority
Mr. Crews made a positive motion to approve this resolution, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 3: Resolution #2022-033 – Setting the Fee Schedule for RVTA:
Mr. Winder reviewed the fee schedule with the board and explained that Mrs. Smith is the person who manages/oversees the Michael Ross Event Centre. This actually sets the fees for bus/trolley rental rates etc. These fees are set with actual costs to run the buses/trolleys.
Mrs. Marty made a positive motion for recommendation, seconded by Mr. Staiman, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 4: Updates on the following:
• RVTA Financial Report
RVTA Financial Report – Mrs. Farr gave the board a comprehensive breakdown of all finances and reviewed each status accordingly with the board.
Mrs. Marty asked how much RVTA had to pay for the new storm water bill and if RVTA has a contingency plan for that? Mr. Winder indicated that we have not received that information yet.
• RVTA Ridership Report
RVTA Ridership Report – Mr. Wright reviewed the ridership reports with the board. He stated that there was an uptick in ridership over last year. During the Little League World Series, we transported approximately 140 people a day.
Mr. Wright indicated that Token Transit should be going public in November 2022, which will allow passengers to purchase bus passes virtually in the app-based program. This information will be pushed out to the public in the next couple of weeks.
Mr. Crews asked how Optibus will help us? Mr. Wright explained that our current software system will work hand in hand with this program and will allow us to expand our reporting process with demographics and other data. We will be able to optimize our bus routes.
Mr. Wright stated that he will be starting on the 2022-2023 Local Match’s with the surrounding municipalities as soon as possible.
Mr. Crews made a positive motion to accept the financial report/ridership reports as submitted, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 5: New Business:
• STEP Service Agreement Extension
Mr. Wright reviewed this agreement with the board and stated that this will just be an extension of the current agreement for this year and we will have a new agreement for 2024. STEP is fine to continue this on their end and are anticipating a fare increase at the next agreement.
Mrs. Marty made a motion to approve this extension, seconded by Mr. Moore, with all ayes the motion carried.
• FY23 Unconstrained Capital Plan
Mr. Winder stated that this plan outlines what items have met its useful life and are the items that we are looking to replace in FY 2022-2023. Once this report is submitted to the state; they will then determine what we can/cannot fund through our CCA. Once we receive this report back, we will present a resolution before the board. The state will have sole approval on this and there are procurement guidelines for us to follow.
Mr. Staiman asked about the new buses, Mr. Winder stated that it’s a 85/15 grant, the state will pay 85% and we will pay the remainder.
Ms. Nagy stated that we will not see any electric buses, per the state, due to the funding amounts.
Mr. Winder also said that we can go back to the state and adjust the CCA if things change on our part.
• MOU for IT Services
Mr. Winder stated that this MOU is a general MOU, that we have the ability to use the cities IT department if needed, for any matters and vice versa for the city.
Mr. Moore made a positive motion for approval, seconded by Mr. Staiman, with all ayes the motion carried.
• Bus Wash Replacement
In our 2021/2022 CCA we had budgeted for this and the state had approved $400,000 for this project and to highlight the Rose & White company, they are a fully automated system and will allow us to wash a bus all the way down to car. The other systems were not able perform like this one.
Mr. Marty made a positive motion for approval, seconded by Mr. Crews, with all ayes the motion carried.
Item # 6: Old Business:
Mr. Bower had mentioned about appointments for new board members and what is the proper process to go through? Ms. Nagy stated that the proper process would be to send a letter to the mayor and he will then review the applications and seek city council approval for his recommended candidate.
Mr. Staiman asked about the 5-year strategic plan. Ms. Nagy mentioned that this was awarded by the state, but has not been fully implemented to start with specific agencies. We should keep this on the agenda…. Forthcoming meetings etc.
Item # 7: Public Comments:
Were all good….
Ms. Nagy stated that there will be a RVTA Board Executive session following this meeting, with no action taken.
Mrs. Marty made a motion to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Mr. Crews. The meeting adjourned at 6:09pm.
RVTA Board Executive Session began at 6:15pm