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These are draft meeting minutes, but here you go.
Goes well with the audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEUXRW-y7Q4
I'm quoting the most important parts...
"Mr. Clay stated that several weeks ago Ms. Rose discovered financial inconsistencies caused by an Island Transit employee, which resulted in the Board not being aware of the financial situation of Island Transit. Ms. Rose met with each Board member individually to explain the situation and talk about it. This was not in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act, because there was not a quorum, and was purely informational. Mr. Clay said that Ms. Rose indicated the steps that she would be taking to minimize the impact. He said that the Board would discuss what some of these changes were during Business Item No. 1, and how a previous Board authorized the changes in Resolution 13-88 (attached).
Ms. Rose stated that she was shocked to discover the cash flow problems, and she terminated the FM. She did great in other areas, like grant reporting. She failed to perform an essential function of her responsibilities, which was keeping an eye on the cash flow. For over 25 years, the cash flow report was an internal document required of that position, and when a problem arose in the past, which it had before with earlier FMs, the FM would bring it to Ms. Rose’s attention immediately. The service structure could be tweaked with route modifications so costs could be brought back into line. When the problem was discovered, Ms. Rose said that Sandra Kuykendall, Island Transit’s previous FM for approximately 12 years, offered to analyze the financial records. In three days, she built the cash balance from 2009 up to now in order to see exactly when all this started.
Ms. Rose read from Board Resolution 13-88, Section IV – Emergency Changes: “If, in the opinion of the Executive Director, an emergency exists which requires immediate major changes of established routes, schedules or classes of service, the Executive Director may implement such changes for such period as may be necessary but not longer than the next succeeding system wide service review. Such changes shall be reported to the Island Transit Board of Directors at their next regular Board meeting.” Ms. Rose stated that adjustments were already made, effective July 1, because of the loss of the Everett Connector service. The Route 411 was realigned to travel from Oak Harbor to March’s Point, which resulted in riders not being as affected, since existing routes were blended. As we dug deeper into this problem, it became very clear that immediate and deeper cuts needed to made, which would go into effect September 1.
At this point, some support staff had already been laid off, more employees will be laid off this day, and then more in the middle of September. The deeper cuts would involve several routes, and we would hold community meetings, putting ads in the papers advertising when the meeting would occur. The routes affected on the south end would be 5, 7, 8, and Saturday service, and in Oak Harbor, Routes 6, 9, and Saturday service will be affected. It is anticipated that within a year these deep cuts would allow the finances to get back on track.
. . .
"Ms. Rose said that she had explained to the previous FM that when projections were done, fuel and cost of service on the road were taken into account, but the support staff was not taken into account when reducing service, for example, because the staff would already be there, meaning that the real costs had to be used. Ms. Kuykendall said that the yellow highlighted lines on the spreadsheet showed that the 11 internal staff already cut was included in those numbers. She said there were three layers of cuts: July 1, August 1, and September 1. Part of the problem was that the projections used by the FM on the earlier spreadsheets used a $150 an hour number, which was a fair and audited number when applying for grants (total cost of our operating costs divid
These are draft meeting minutes, but here you go.
Goes well with the audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEUXRW-y7Q4
I'm quoting the most important parts...
"Mr. Clay stated that several weeks ago Ms. Rose discovered financial inconsistencies caused by an Island Transit employee, which resulted in the Board not being aware of the financial situation of Island Transit. Ms. Rose met with each Board member individually to explain the situation and talk about it. This was not in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act, because there was not a quorum, and was purely informational. Mr. Clay said that Ms. Rose indicated the steps that she would be taking to minimize the impact. He said that the Board would discuss what some of these changes were during Business Item No. 1, and how a previous Board authorized the changes in Resolution 13-88 (attached).
Ms. Rose stated that she was shocked to discover the cash flow problems, and she terminated the FM. She did great in other areas, like grant reporting. She failed to perform an essential function of her responsibilities, which was keeping an eye on the cash flow. For over 25 years, the cash flow report was an internal document required of that position, and when a problem arose in the past, which it had before with earlier FMs, the FM would bring it to Ms. Rose’s attention immediately. The service structure could be tweaked with route modifications so costs could be brought back into line. When the problem was discovered, Ms. Rose said that Sandra Kuykendall, Island Transit’s previous FM for approximately 12 years, offered to analyze the financial records. In three days, she built the cash balance from 2009 up to now in order to see exactly when all this started.
Ms. Rose read from Board Resolution 13-88, Section IV – Emergency Changes: “If, in the opinion of the Executive Director, an emergency exists which requires immediate major changes of established routes, schedules or classes of service, the Executive Director may implement such changes for such period as may be necessary but not longer than the next succeeding system wide service review. Such changes shall be reported to the Island Transit Board of Directors at their next regular Board meeting.” Ms. Rose stated that adjustments were already made, effective July 1, because of the loss of the Everett Connector service. The Route 411 was realigned to travel from Oak Harbor to March’s Point, which resulted in riders not being as affected, since existing routes were blended. As we dug deeper into this problem, it became very clear that immediate and deeper cuts needed to made, which would go into effect September 1.
At this point, some support staff had already been laid off, more employees will be laid off this day, and then more in the middle of September. The deeper cuts would involve several routes, and we would hold community meetings, putting ads in the papers advertising when the meeting would occur. The routes affected on the south end would be 5, 7, 8, and Saturday service, and in Oak Harbor, Routes 6, 9, and Saturday service will be affected. It is anticipated that within a year these deep cuts would allow the finances to get back on track.
. . .
"Ms. Rose said that she had explained to the previous FM that when projections were done, fuel and cost of service on the road were taken into account, but the support staff was not taken into account when reducing service, for example, because the staff would already be there, meaning that the real costs had to be used. Ms. Kuykendall said that the yellow highlighted lines on the spreadsheet showed that the 11 internal staff already cut was included in those numbers. She said there were three layers of cuts: July 1, August 1, and September 1. Part of the problem was that the projections used by the FM on the earlier spreadsheets used a $150 an hour number, which was a fair and audited number when applying for grants (total cost of our operating costs divid
These are draft meeting minutes, but here you go.
Goes well with the audio: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEUXRW-y7Q4
I'm quoting the most important parts...
"Mr. Clay stated that several weeks ago Ms. Rose discovered financial inconsistencies caused by an Island Transit employee, which resulted in the Board not being aware of the financial situation of Island Transit. Ms. Rose met with each Board member individually to explain the situation and talk about it. This was not in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act, because there was not a quorum, and was purely informational. Mr. Clay said that Ms. Rose indicated the steps that she would be taking to minimize the impact. He said that the Board would discuss what some of these changes were during Business Item No. 1, and how a previous Board authorized the changes in Resolution 13-88 (attached).
Ms. Rose stated that she was shocked to discover the cash flow problems, and she terminated the FM. She did great in other areas, like grant reporting. She failed to perform an essential function of her responsibilities, which was keeping an eye on the cash flow. For over 25 years, the cash flow report was an internal document required of that position, and when a problem arose in the past, which it had before with earlier FMs, the FM would bring it to Ms. Rose’s attention immediately. The service structure could be tweaked with route modifications so costs could be brought back into line. When the problem was discovered, Ms. Rose said that Sandra Kuykendall, Island Transit’s previous FM for approximately 12 years, offered to analyze the financial records. In three days, she built the cash balance from 2009 up to now in order to see exactly when all this started.
Ms. Rose read from Board Resolution 13-88, Section IV – Emergency Changes: “If, in the opinion of the Executive Director, an emergency exists which requires immediate major changes of established routes, schedules or classes of service, the Executive Director may implement such changes for such period as may be necessary but not longer than the next succeeding system wide service review. Such changes shall be reported to the Island Transit Board of Directors at their next regular Board meeting.” Ms. Rose stated that adjustments were already made, effective July 1, because of the loss of the Everett Connector service. The Route 411 was realigned to travel from Oak Harbor to March’s Point, which resulted in riders not being as affected, since existing routes were blended. As we dug deeper into this problem, it became very clear that immediate and deeper cuts needed to made, which would go into effect September 1.
At this point, some support staff had already been laid off, more employees will be laid off this day, and then more in the middle of September. The deeper cuts would involve several routes, and we would hold community meetings, putting ads in the papers advertising when the meeting would occur. The routes affected on the south end would be 5, 7, 8, and Saturday service, and in Oak Harbor, Routes 6, 9, and Saturday service will be affected. It is anticipated that within a year these deep cuts would allow the finances to get back on track.
. . .
"Ms. Rose said that she had explained to the previous FM that when projections were done, fuel and cost of service on the road were taken into account, but the support staff was not taken into account when reducing service, for example, because the staff would already be there, meaning that the real costs had to be used. Ms. Kuykendall said that the yellow highlighted lines on the spreadsheet showed that the 11 internal staff already cut was included in those numbers. She said there were three layers of cuts: July 1, August 1, and September 1. Part of the problem was that the projections used by the FM on the earlier spreadsheets used a $150 an hour number, which was a fair and audited number when applying for grants (total cost of our operating costs divid
PTBA Business Meeting Minutes Page 1 of 10 July 22, 2014
ISLAND COUNTY PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION BENEFIT AREA,
Dba Island Transit
REGULAR MONTHLY BUSINESS MEETING Jul y 22, 2014
MONTHLY BUSINESS MEETING
Board Chair Bob Clay called the monthly Business Meeting of the Island County Public Transportation Benefit Area (Island Transit) Board of Directors to order at 9:33 AM. Board Members present were J im Campbell, Helen Price J ohnson, J im Sundberg, and Aubrey Vaughan. Staff members present were Martha Rose, Executive Director, and Meg Heppner, Executive Assistant. Financial Consultant Sandra Kuykendall was present, as well as Matt Hendricks, Legal Counsel.
INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS
Saranell DeChambeau, founding member of Island Transit and resident of Langley, attended the meeting, as well as Bruce Freeman from Oak Harbor, and Rufus Rose.
AGENDA
Mr. Campbell moved to approve the J uly 22, 2014 agenda as presented; Ms. Price J ohnson seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
MINUTES
Ms. Price J ohnson moved to approve the minutes of the May 16, 2014 regularly scheduled business meeting; Mr. Vaughan seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Ms. Price J ohnson moved to approve the minutes of the J uly 1, 2014 special meeting. Mr. Vaughan seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
VOUCHERS
Discussion ensued about travel expenditures, the use of the line item title Miscellaneous, and the timing of Visa Card payments.
Ms. Price J ohnson moved to approve payment of the J une 2014 Master Voucher List in the sum of $381,477.92. (The following reflects the breakdown of total costs as of J une 12, 2014, for the above by department number: 100 Operations, $75,731.98; 101 Information Systems, $1,469.52; 102 Customer Service, $130.00; 103 Transit Parks, $1,641.27; 104 Paratransit, $23,881.41; 106 Facilities Maintenance, $521.85; 108 Camano, $44,710.26; 160 Administration, $160,191.51; 162 Administration & Planning, $1,160.00; 166 Vanpool, PTBA Business Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 10 July 22, 2014
$22,811.94; 190 Maintenance, $49,228.18). Mr. Vaughan seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Discussion ensued about the timing of onsite fueling, the cost of the contracted custodial services, and the CPA services in preparation for the state audit. The new Payroll Report included in the packet was noted. Ms. Price J ohnson said the facilities project was coming in under budget as of now. Ms. Rose said the HVAC and maintenance floor issues were still unresolved. Ms. Price J ohnson asked if we were looking to get back the increased costs of utilities that were a result of the HVAC problems. Ms. Rose confirmed that we were working on that and she added that she believed the HVAC problems have been fixed. Mr. Clay asked about the funding agreement to construct the secondary access road with the County and WSDOT. Ms. Rose said a dedicated amount of $500K was set aside for Island Transits contribution to the project.
Ms. Price J ohnson moved to approve payment of the J uly 2014 Master Voucher List in the sum of $433,546.41. (The following reflects the breakdown of total costs as of J uly 11, 2014, for the above by department number: 100 Operations, $55,746.68; 101 Information Systems, $2,944.24; 102 Customer Service, $3,823.72; 103 Transit Parks, $2,106.60; 104 Paratransit, $15,413.67; 106 Facilities Maintenance, $923.21; 108 Camano, $3,001.52; 160 Administration, $258,520.47; 166 Vanpool, $21,954.14; 190 Maintenance, $69,112.16). Mr. Vaughan seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
AUDIENCE COMMENTS
Mr. Rufus Rose expressed his concern about safety issues resulting from new construction of Sunnyview Village in Freeland. He requested that Island Transit join in petitioning WSDOT for bus stops and crosswalks on both sides of SR 525 at Harbor Avenue. Ms. Price J ohnson said it was on a county road, and she would be glad to follow up with Mr. Rose about her conversation with Island County Public Works Director Bill Oakes, and WSDOT. Mr. Clay mentioned that perhaps Island Transit might have a surplus vehicle available sometime in the future that Sunnyview could utilize. Mr. Rose thought that might not be feasible in this case. Mr. Vaughan asked what the distance was from the new building to the highway. Ms. Price J ohnson said the intersection was near the non-motorized trail that was removed from the countys project list. She added that the intersection was nearing concurrency, and might be discussed at the next RTPO meeting.
MONTHLY REPORTS
Executive Directors Report: Ms. Rose said she would discuss Island Transits financial situation and resulting operational changes during Business Item No. 1.
Correspondence: Ms. Rose read correspondence from Rep. Rick Larsen to Councilman and PTBA Board Chair Bob Clay congratulating the people of Island County on the completion of the new Island Transit main base facilities project. She read a thank you card for the grand opening from staff at Waterleaf Architects. She also read another thank you card from J an PTBA Business Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 10 July 22, 2014
Hughes regarding the new facilities open house. Ms. Rose read a thank you letter to Operations staff from the riders of Route 1 regarding the riders suggested changes.
Chairs Report: Mr. Clay stated that most of what he had spent his time on was the Island Transit financial problems, and he would cover that during the discussion of Business Item No.1.
Mr. Clay stated that the Boys & Girls Club in Coupeville utilized Island Transit whenever possible during the summer because the Club runs a summer camp. Theyve done it for years and its a good community benefit.
Board Discussion: Ms. Price J ohnson said she attended the National Association of Counties meeting, and the incoming presidents initiative was infrastructure, particularly transportation, transit, bridges, and boats. She had a newsletter from the event, and it clearly showed how the drop in federal and state funding for infrastructure impacted counties across the nation. Short term MAP-21 funding was not going to fix the problem. The organization was calling for advocacy by elected officials to tell the story of our local issues to our collective representatives in Congress. Mr. Vaughan said that he agreed with everything that Ms. Price J ohnson just said.
Business Item No. 1: Emergency Service Changes Discussion and Request for Support and Approval.
Mr. Clay stated that several weeks ago Ms. Rose discovered financial inconsistencies caused by an Island Transit employee, which resulted in the Board not being aware of the financial situation of Island Transit. Ms. Rose met with each Board member individually to explain the situation and talk about it. This was not in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act, because there was not a quorum, and was purely informational. Mr. Clay said that Ms. Rose indicated the steps that she would be taking to minimize the impact. He said that the Board would discuss what some of these changes were during Business Item No. 1, and how a previous Board authorized the changes in Resolution 13-88 (attached).
Ms. Rose stated that she was shocked to discover the cash flow problems, and she terminated the FM. She did great in other areas, like grant reporting. She failed to perform an essential function of her responsibilities, which was keeping an eye on the cash flow. For over 25 years, the cash flow report was an internal document required of that position, and when a problem arose in the past, which it had before with earlier FMs, the FM would bring it to Ms. Roses attention immediately. The service structure could be tweaked with route modifications so costs could be brought back into line. When the problem was discovered, Ms. Rose said that Sandra Kuykendall, Island Transits previous FM for approximately 12 years, offered to analyze the financial records. In three days, she built the cash balance from 2009 up to now in order to see exactly when all this started.
Ms. Rose read from Board Resolution 13-88, Section IV Emergency Changes: If, in the BUSINESS ITEMS PTBA Business Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 10 July 22, 2014
opinion of the Executive Director, an emergency exists which requires immediate major changes of established routes, schedules or classes of service, the Executive Director may implement such changes for such period as may be necessary but not longer than the next succeeding system wide service review. Such changes shall be reported to the Island Transit Board of Directors at their next regular Board meeting. Ms. Rose stated that adjustments were already made, effective J uly 1, because of the loss of the Everett Connector service. The Route 411 was realigned to travel from Oak Harbor to Marchs Point, which resulted in riders not being as affected, since existing routes were blended. As we dug deeper into this problem, it became very clear that immediate and deeper cuts needed to made, which would go into effect September 1.
At this point, some support staff had already been laid off, more employees will be laid off this day, and then more in the middle of September. The deeper cuts would involve several routes, and we would hold community meetings, putting ads in the papers advertising when the meeting would occur. The routes affected on the south end would be 5, 7, 8, and Saturday service, and in Oak Harbor, Routes 6, 9, and Saturday service will be affected. It is anticipated that within a year these deep cuts would allow the finances to get back on track.
Ms. Rose said that she greatly appreciated Ms. Kuykendall coming back from retirement to help. Ms. Rose said that she spoke to Andrew Asbjornsen, the Audit Manager at the Bellingham Office, told him what was going on, and requested that they come earlier than planned to conduct their annual audit. She added that it appears there was nothing illegal done at this time. Ms. Rose said that, unbeknownst to her, the former FM used the reserve pot on day-to-day bills, instead of taking the investments and turning them around. As well, bills were found hidden underneath things, but all the bills had now been paid. Ms. Rose distributed a copy of the statement she planned to provide to the local newspapers.
Ms. Kuykendall distributed spreadsheets to the Board, which showed a very conservative plan to reach financial health. Ms. Price J ohnson said that the Board had been supplied similar spreadsheets by the previous FM earlier this summer, and confirmed that those should be tossed out. Ms. Rose concurred.
Ms. Rose said that she had explained to the previous FM that when projections were done, fuel and cost of service on the road were taken into account, but the support staff was not taken into account when reducing service, for example, because the staff would already be there, meaning that the real costs had to be used. Ms. Kuykendall said that the yellow highlighted lines on the spreadsheet showed that the 11 internal staff already cut was included in those numbers. She said there were three layers of cuts: J uly 1, August 1, and September 1. Part of the problem was that the projections used by the FM on the earlier spreadsheets used a $150 an hour number, which was a fair and audited number when applying for grants (total cost of our operating costs divided by number of miles or hours). However, $150/hour was the number she used when projecting the J uly 1 cuts and how much that would save. Therefore, the FM told Ms. Rose that no one would have to be cut and the J uly 1 cuts would be enough.
Ms. Kuykendall said that, as she got more into the numbers, it was obvious that it was an PTBA Business Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 10 July 22, 2014
emergency now and dire cuts needed to be made immediately. It was a horrible case of either cutting off an arm or die. Those were the two choices. Seriously, it was that bad; Island Transit was just running on fumes.
Ms. Kuykendall referred back to the spreadsheet and noted the pink highlighted numbers were the actual ones, and the savings numbers that she totaled over the three months (J uly, August, and September) were almost what the FM had for just J uly, which showed how far off she was. It was a panic situation, a crisis financially. Ms. Kuykendall stated that she thought that, if these emergency cuts were made now, Island Transit would get through this. She said that Island Transit would not here in the first place if Ms. Rose had been kept abreast when she asked the FM how our cash was over the past four years, but was told it was tight but indicated that everything would be fine. Instead, as the investments matured, the FM used them to pay for the day-to-day cost of operating, without letting Ms. Rose know that was happening.
Ms. Price J ohnson confirmed that the previous FM was giving misleading information to both Ms. Rose and the Board members. Both Ms. Rose and Ms. Kuykendall concurred. Ms. Kuykendall added that she didnt think the FM was doing anything consciously evil, but that she just didnt have a handle on the cash. Ms. Kuykendall developed an internal cash flow analysis report for the position to use so trends and true costs of our revenues minus our expenditures would be evident every single month. That little report just took ten minutes a month to complete. Ms. Kuykendall said that when Ms. Rose first asked her to help, she could see that the FM only did that report for the first two months of 2010 and that was it. Ms. Rose added that the FM was required to do the report. Ms. Kuykendall said she didnt think the FM ever had a handle on the cash. Ms. Price J ohnson said that was being too generous, and that if the FM was hiding bills, she was certainly aware of the problem. Ms. Kuykendall said that she thought, in the end, the FM knew. She said that there were six months of architect bills from J anuary. Ms. Price J ohnson said it was a dereliction of duty. Mr. Vaughan said it was a breach of fiduciary responsibility, and Mr. Hendricks could probably explain that to the Board. Mr. Vaughan said that it almost reached that standard. Mr. Hendricks said that it was in that ballpark. Ms. Kuykendall said she thought that the FM was in a pure panic at that point.
Ms. Rose said that, as the Board knows, one hires a department manager and they are expected to fulfill their essential functions and not need to be micromanaged. She added that the FM position was the second highest paid in the organization. Ms. Kuykendall said that watching the cash was 101 of the job. Ms. Rose said the report was an in house tool for that position but it would be a requirement that she be shown the report from now on. Mr. Clay asked if that was the same report that the Board had been receiving. Ms. Kuykendall said it was not that one, but instead a simple document that showed the monthly bottom line, all the revenues, expenditures, the difference, and a new column that she just added that shows how much is being taken out or returned to the invested cash every month. Mr. Clay confirmed that the Board would see that report every month; Ms. Rose said yes. Ms. Kuykendall said that the Board watched the budget carefully but this was separate from the budget. Even the auditors had not caught this. Mr. Clay said that Island Transit had state and federal audits, the county reviews, and our CPA looked at these things and nobody caught it.
PTBA Business Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 10 July 22, 2014
Ms. Kuykendall said she would ask the state auditors about this when they came in August. Ms. Price J ohnson said that we should request the auditors to keep an eye on this as an ongoing issue. She requested that the Chair get more understanding on this during the entrance interview. Mr. Vaughan asked if we had an audited financial statement, and both Ms. Rose and Ms. Kuykendall confirmed that we do. Ms. Rose said she would have Ms. Kuykendall sit in on the audit entrance interview. Ms. Rose stated that interviews for the financial analyst will be the following Thursday.
Ms. Price J ohnson said the chart of expenditures provided to the Board showed the expenditures higher this month than in the past. Ms. Kuykendall recommended that the charts be changed because the previous FM never showed the revenues and expenditures together. Ms. Price J ohnson agreed. She said that she wanted to know what was driving the increase, was it health care, fuel? Ms. Kuykendall said health care was a big one. She also said that the expenditures were now coming under the revenues, based on the cuts. She also said that she would run bar charts because they were so much easier to read than the ones the Board got previously.
Ms. Price J ohnson said that this was a crisis and it was disappointing and heartbreaking. Island Transit enjoyed broad support in the community and provided a vital service to our citizens. She appreciated the swift action to correct the financial ship and get back to the previous level of service. She said that our community had stepped up with local support, but it was not enough of a lift to make up for rising costs of day-to-day operations and the cuts at the state and federal levels. Ms. Price J ohnson said that it had not been clear in the reports they received, and she believed, in fact, that it was hidden from the Board in the reports they received. Ms. Rose said that had we had that constant cash flow analysis, we would have been able to see easily. As an example, in the past, when Ms. Kuykendall was at Island Transit, she brought revenue and expenditure problems to Ms. Roses attention, and they were immediately able to make an adjustment to bring the costs in check. She said that should have been happening all along, and we would not be in this position; instead, we might have had different service on the street. Mr. Vaughan asked if there was a monthly P&L report, and Ms. Kuykendall confirmed that we did and distributed it.
Mr. Hendricks asked if there was a cash on hand or a monthly report of where youre at, and Ms. Kuykendall said that was the report she used to keep her finger on the cash, and she recommended giving it to the Board monthly. She had added another column that included each years beginning and ending invested cash, and each month, how much was used or put back. Mr. Sundberg asked for some clarification on the figures, and Ms. Kuykendall said Capital was separate from Operations.
Mr. Freeman asked about the bond and note issued earlier in the year. Mr. Clay said that the $1.5M was to help make our match for the new facilities, and the note was for helping out with operations, and that most of the problem was with operations. He said that, based on what the Board had been told, sales tax wasnt coming in fast enough to help with the match so Island Transit had to take out the loan to meet it. He added that we saved for the match for many years, but when the grant became available, we had to take it right then. Island Transit received very favorable terms, and the Board approved moving forward on that. This time we PTBA Business Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 10 July 22, 2014
had problems with operations so we had to take out, in two phases, a total of $850K ($600K and $250K) to pay some significant bills, for example, $143K for liability insurance. So we borrowed the additional money, cut service, cut employees, and are trying to get accurate forecasts of where we were and when will we get out of it.
Mr. Freeman noted that when you moved into a new building, there were unanticipated costs, and he wondered if those cost analyses had been done. Ms. Price J ohnson stated that she remembered their conversation about that, and had asked the FM if those had been done, and it seemed the FM understood that. However, the other issue was not reporting what our cash balance was, so the analysis couldnt even been done correctly, if you dont know where your starting point is. If the FM was not tracking that information, Ms. Price J ohnson didnt see how she could have been accurate projecting the costs. Ms. Rose said we knew the costs would be more, but we also had such a huge mess with the HVAC system. She noted that we still had not entered into the warranty period. She had a request this past February to enter into the warranty but she said no because we had not gone through a winter yet with it working. So the costs also spiked up higher than they should have been. Mr. Freeman agreed. Mr. Clay said we hadnt operated in the new building long enough yet to realize any savings. Mr. Freeman asked about the cancellation of the regional connector and the funding for that service, noting he had read an article from Rep. Hayes that stated that the grant funding was seed money for the services. Ms. Rose provided historical background on the regional connectors. Discussion ensued, and Mr. Freeman asked if cutting that service was resulting in savings as stated in earlier meetings. Ms. Clay said that we are questioning the numbers to calculate the savings figure. Mr. Freeman reiterated that the grants (state and federal) were not there anymore. Ms. Price J ohnson said there were some savings by not subsidizing the service, but agreed that the state funding was also not there to continue the services.
Ms. Price J ohnson noted that the Board Resolution 13-88, which authorized the emergency cuts, also called for service review, and she wanted to do that. She was getting many questions about how decisions were made to cut specific routes, etc., and she wanted to understand the process and be able to provide answers. Ms. Rose said that staff reviewed the routes monthly and they can provide that information. Mr. Clay stated that the Board was aware that Island Transit was not the only transit agency to be experiencing service cuts. He agreed with Ms. Price J ohnson that the Board would like to know how much a run costs, etc., and how much was saved by not serving the Camano routes, or how much did cutting Saturday service save? Ms. Rose and Ms. Kuykendall both stated that they could present that information to the Board.
Mr. Clay addressed the request for support and approval as noted in Business Item No. 1, and asked Mr. Hendricks if a resolution was needed. Mr. Hendricks said that the discussion reflected in the minutes was enough to show support and approval of the emergency service cuts. Mr. Sundberg agreed because the actions taken were administrative. Mr. Clay said that the minutes should reflect that the Board had seen, read, and understood Resolution 13-88, and that was the authorization for the Executive Director to move forward with emergency service cuts.
PTBA Business Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 10 July 22, 2014
Mr. Sundberg asked about the possible timing of service returning, and Ms. Rose said there was the potential for available funds in the future, and that she was hopeful that by this time next year, it could be looked at. She said in J une 2015, once we were out from under the bonds that we had to pay back at the same time since we received the second installment of $250K sooner than originally planned, the picture would start looking up. Mr. Sundberg said that was what the numbers showed, and at that point, it might be necessary to rehire people to expand service. Ms. Rose agreed. Mr. Sundberg asked if those that had been laid off were eligible for unemployment. Ms. Rose said yes, and the folks had been told of other jobs that were out there and provided referrals. Mr. Sundberg asked if there were possibilities for early retirement or reduction in work hours to cover some of the salary savings that were needed. Ms. Rose said that it would not be enough savings and we already increased the workload of the remaining employees. Mr. Vaughan asked what the anticipated number of cuts would be, and Ms. Rose said 24 employees, some of which had already happened. Ms. Price J ohnson said that is 22%. Mr. Vaughan asked what the breakdown was, and Ms. Rose said 11 salaried positions and 13 operator positions.
Mr. Campbell asked if the reserve fund would be built up in J une, back to whatever it was supposed to be, and Ms. Kuykendall said it would start building back up after J une. Mr. Campbell asked what the reserve requirement was, and Ms. Kuykendall said that there was no requirement. Mr. Clay said the Board had said informally that they would like a couple hundred thousand, but there is no Board resolution that says a specific dollar amount or percentage. Ms. Rose said that she liked to keep $2.6M in capital reserves because the bus turnover was so fast, with the mileage we put on our vehicles, and in operating reserves 10- 14% had been looked at. The capital reserves were built up since we needed the facilities match, but typically we looked at the fleets and depreciation value, what was coming and what was going out, and the 80/20 match we needed for the federal grants. Mr. Freeman confirmed that there were no reserves in either the capital or operating accounts, and Ms. Rose concurred. He asked if matching funds would be there in J une if buses become available, and Ms. Rose said that we had already been awarded five buses, and we put that match into the new spreadsheets.
Mr. Rose asked if the crew was aware of what was going on and if there was a morale issue. Ms. Rose said they knew and that she held several staff meetings to communicate what was going on. She said that several public meetings would be held throughout Island County to inform the public about the situation and get public feedback.
Business Item No. 2: Approval of Resolution No. 4-14 of the Board of Directors of Island Transit Adopting the Island Transit Whidbey Main Base Facilities Parking Policy.
Ms. Rose stated that the FTA required the design of a facility be built for the intent of the grant and must serve for the future to meet the intent of the design. She said that people saw all the parking spaces out front and we have had some conflict with people utilizing the lot as a park & ride. It can be difficult to explain to folks that the facility was built for future growth and demand, and it cant be used as a general public park & ride. Ms. Rose requested that the Board approve the parking policy to provide clarity in addition to the FTA requirement of building to the intent of the design. PTBA Business Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 10 July 22, 2014
Ms. Price J ohnson made the motion to approve Resolution No. 4-14 of the Board of Directors of Island Transit adopting the Island Transit Whidbey Main Base Facilities Parking Policy. Mr. Campbell seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Business Item No. 3: Approval of a Public Hearing at the August 15, 2014 PTBA Board Meeting to receive input on Island Transits Six Year Transit Development Plan (2014-2019).
Mr. Clay stated that it was necessary to complete the Six Year Transit Development Plan (TDP) every year, and this plan ran from 2014-2019. The TDP listed all the planning for this period, and all the local jurisdictions were doing the same thing right now.
Mr. Sundberg made the motion to hold a public hearing before the August 15, 2014 PTBA Board meeting. After some discussion, the Board determined that the regular business meeting date and time needed to be changed due to scheduling conflicts. Mr. Sundberg withdrew his motion and made the motion to change the date and time of the next business meeting to August 22, 2014 at 9:00 AM. Mr. Campbell seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Ms. Price J ohnson made the motion to hold a public hearing to receive input on Island Transits Six Year Transit Development Plan (2014-2019) before the August 22, 2014 PTBA Board meeting, starting at 9:00 AM, in the same location (Island Transit Operations & Administration Building, 19758 SR 20, Coupeville) as the business meeting. Mr. Campbell seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
At 11:25 AM, Mr. Clay called a ten-minute executive session regarding potential litigation. At 11:35 AM, he extended the session for an additional ten minutes. The executive session was over at 11:45 AM and Mr. Clay called the business meeting back to order.
OTHER SUCH BUSINESS THAT MAY ARISE
There was no other business.
ADJOURNMENT
Chairman Clay adjourned the Monthly Business Meeting at 11:46 AM.
ACTION ITEMS APPROVED BY THE BOARD
1. Board Chair Bob Clay called the monthly Business Meeting of the Island County Public Transportation Benefit Area (Island Transit) Board of Directors to order at 9:33 AM.
2. Mr. Campbell moved to approve the J uly 22, 2014 agenda as presented, Ms. Price J ohnson seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously.
3. Ms. Price J ohnson moved to approve the minutes of the May 16, 2014 regularly scheduled business meeting. Mr. Vaughan seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
EXECUTIVE SESSION PTBA Business Meeting Minutes Page 10 of 10 July 22, 2014
4. Ms. Price J ohnson moved to approve the minutes of the J uly 1, 2014 special meeting. Mr. Vaughan seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
5. Ms. Price J ohnson moved to approve payment of the J une 2014 Master Voucher List in the sum of $381,477.92. (The following reflects the breakdown of total costs as of J une 12, 2014, for the above by department number: 100 Operations, $75,731.98; 101 Information Systems, $1,469.52; 102 Customer Service, $130.00; 103 Transit Parks, $1,641.27; 104 Paratransit, $23,881.41; 106 Facilities Maintenance, $521.85; 108 Camano, $44,710.26; 160 Administration, $160,191.51; 162 Administration & Planning, $1,160.00; 166 Vanpool, $22,811.94; 190 Maintenance, $49,228.18). Mr. Vaughan seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
6. Ms. Price J ohnson moved to approve payment of the J uly 2014 Master Voucher List in the sum of $433,546.41. (The following reflects the breakdown of total costs as of J uly 11, 2014, for the above by department number: 100 Operations, $55,746.68; 101 Information Systems, $2,944.24; 102 Customer Service, $3,823.72; 103 Transit Parks, $2,106.60; 104 Paratransit, $15,413.67; 106 Facilities Maintenance, $923.21; 108 Camano, $3,001.52; 160 Administration, $258,520.47; 166 Vanpool, $21,954.14; 190 Maintenance, $69,112.16). Mr. Vaughan seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
7. Ms. Price J ohnson made the motion to approve Resolution No. 4-14 of the Board of Directors of Island Transit adopting the Island Transit Whidbey Main Base Facilities Parking Policy. Mr. Campbell seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
8. Mr. Sundberg made the motion to hold a public hearing before the August 15, 2014 PTBA Board meeting. After some discussion, the Board determined that the regular business meeting date and time needed to be changed due to scheduling conflicts. Mr. Sundberg withdrew his motion and made the motion to change the date and time of the next business meeting to August 22, 2014 at 9:00 AM. Mr. Campbell seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
9. Ms. Price J ohnson made the motion to hold a public hearing to receive input on Island Transits Six Year Transit Development Plan (2014-2019) before the August 22, 2014 PTBA Board meeting, starting at 9:00 AM, in the same location (Island Transit Operations & Administration Building, 19758 SR 20, Coupeville) as the business meeting. Mr. Campbell seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
10. At 11:25 AM, Mr. Clay called a ten-minute executive session regarding potential litigation. At 11:35 AM, he extended the session for an additional ten minutes. The executive session was over at 11:45 AM and Mr. Clay called the business meeting back to order.
11. Chairman Clay adjourned the Monthly Business Meeting at 11:46 AM.
Approved:
_____________________________________ Helen Price J ohnson, PTBA Board Secretary