[0:00] All right. Welcome, everyone, to board meeting for Connect Transit. Today is August 26, 2026. We're going to start with

[0:16] of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation

[0:25] under her own high, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

[0:36] Hope everyone said a good summer, and kids and grandkids back to school.

[0:40] Things are going well for everyone.

[0:44] Hey, so everyone should have the consent agenda.

[0:48] That includes the approval of the agenda for tonight's evening

[0:52] and the approval of the minutes for our last board meeting

[0:56] and the workshop that we had.

[0:59] So those were held on June 24th, 2026 and July 16th, 2026.

[1:06] Our next meeting is going to be September 23rd.

[1:10] And I have a motion to accept the consent agenda and approve some minutes.

[1:20] I move to the next second.

[1:22] Okay.

[1:22] Thank you.

[1:23] Glad makes motion.

[1:25] And Mike made the second.

[1:27] Uh, any discussion?

[1:30] Everything is located.

[1:32] Hey, all in favor?

[1:34] Please say aye.

[1:35] Aye.

[1:36] Any opposed?

[1:38] I don't know.

[1:39] Do we have anyone from public?

[1:44] All right.

[1:45] Then let's go on, move on to board business.

[1:49] Do we have a piece?

[1:52] So Peter Soderberg with Nelson Mangard,

[1:56] he's going to give us an update on the planning study.

[2:01] Hey, Peter.

[2:02] All right.

[2:03] Hey, everyone.

[2:04] Thanks again for having me.

[2:05] Good to see you all.

[2:07] Quick agenda for this update.

[2:09] I think this should be relatively brief,

[2:11] but going to start by recapping the workshop that we did last month,

[2:14] weighing some of the service planning trade-offs

[2:17] and prioritization exercises that we went through.

[2:20] Using that to dovetail into a little bit of a reminder

[2:23] of some of the identified priorities that we have

[2:25] from some of our existing conditions work,

[2:27] as well as what we've heard from transit riders,

[2:29] as well as general members of the community

[2:31] during our phase one of engagement.

[2:33] We'll then talk about the initial draft prioritization framework

[2:37] that we've developed as a result of all this engagement.

[2:40] We'll run through how we intend to use that prioritization framework

[2:43] and then we'll turn it over for a little bit of discussion

[2:45] and let you all weigh in about how you feel about our initial draft prioritization framework,

[2:51] what you think about the specific priorities we have identified, and the other metrics that we

[2:56] have to help evaluate those priorities. And then again, we'll end just by touching on some of our

[3:00] next steps for where we go from here. So to start with a quick update on or recap rather of last

[3:07] month's workshop, this was really about getting all the board members engaged in actively balancing some

[3:12] of the different priorities and trade-offs that were forced to make over service planning

[3:15] decisions.

[3:16] So as a reminder, or an update for those of you who weren't able to make it, we split

[3:21] into two groups and created our own new hypothetical transit network in a fictional city.

[3:27] And this is designed to really test competing priorities with a limited budget.

[3:31] So we know that we intentionally design this game so that we don't have enough resources

[3:35] to provide all of the services for everyone who could need them.

[3:38] And instead, we have to look at balancing some of those resources and identifying where

[3:43] our priorities really lie when we're faced with those budget resources.

[3:47] And what we found is that generally, both networks were pretty balanced that the groups

[3:51] came up with.

[3:52] One had a little bit more frequency and somewhat less geographic coverage, whereas the other

[3:56] one had more coverage, but the most frequent routes were only every 30 minutes.

[4:01] So really, what our takeaway from this exercise was is that balancing coverage and frequency

[4:06] are very important to board and generally looking at frequency where it could work well is a strong consideration but not necessarily at the expense of losing coverage across the system, particularly for those who might need it most.

[4:21] As we went through this exercise, we kind of leaned into different priorities that we've heard, both through public, writers as well as board members, and some of those top priorities were later evening service, more weekend service,

[4:33] Again, balancing service frequency and coverage to make sure that services available for most

[4:38] people, but is really high performance where it can support that level of frequency, looking

[4:43] at opportunities for service to new destinations, exploring new service models, so things like

[4:48] expanding pool service and micro transit type service, as well as looking at more multi-hub

[4:53] instead of the single hub and spoke model that's currently being used, and finding ways

[4:58] to attract new riders to the system.

[5:00] And as we'll show on the next slide, these are all generally in alignment with what we've been hearing from rioters and community members.

[5:07] So this is a slide we've shown before, but just wanted to present kind of our key findings again from our Facebook engagement that generally what we've heard from rioters in the community is that connect transit is supporting their needs and working well for them right now.

[5:21] When we did ask what could make Connect Transit work better, we typically heard later evening

[5:26] service, more weekend service, and more frequent service as the most requested improvements,

[5:31] but there are also some opportunities to improve general efficiency and effectiveness through

[5:34] some route realignments, looking at alternative service models, as well as extending service

[5:39] to new destinations.

[5:42] So what we did then is kind of take what we heard from all of you is board members, what we

[5:46] heard from members of the community, and identify the series of priorities that we want to

[5:51] used to help evaluate our potential service changes.

[5:55] So the way to read this chart is

[5:56] that we kind of have those higher level priorities

[5:59] on the far left, brief description

[6:01] of what that priority might mean,

[6:03] and then different ways we can measure that.

[6:05] So just to kind of run through this at a quick level,

[6:08] we have service frequency, so how frequent a service coming,

[6:12] how often is the bus running?

[6:13] Do you have to wait particularly long

[6:15] or not as long to catch the bus?

[6:18] Service spam, so that's looking at things

[6:20] like later evening service, additional service on Saturdays, or starting operations on Sunday service.

[6:26] To measure that, we can look at the change in hours for when service is available,

[6:30] as well as the change in population or employment who has access to service at certain times of

[6:35] day or certain days of the week. Coverage and access, so this is again making sure that we're serving

[6:41] the growing or currently underserved communities and new destinations. So looking at change in population

[6:48] or jobs that have access to service as well as service being provided to new destinations.

[6:54] Core service quality and reliability, so this is really looking at on-time performance of

[6:58] the core routes, noting that there have been some reliability concerns that have been voiced on

[7:03] some routes and being able to show how on-time performance is expected or anticipated to change

[7:09] as a result of our service plans. Travel time and speed, again this is more directness of routes,

[7:15] how long do people have to wait on the bus to actually reach their destination,

[7:19] how much out of direction travel is required, things like that,

[7:22] that are really about the convenience of the service,

[7:25] transit dependent access.

[7:27] So this is again looking at making sure that service is available for those

[7:29] who need it most based on economic, employment data,

[7:33] as well as certain demographic characteristics,

[7:36] folks that we know tend to rely more on transit than other groups.

[7:40] How well are they served by the system?

[7:43] Then we look at some more operational and financial feasibility things.

[7:47] So this is more about complexity.

[7:49] Our additional vehicles required to provide this service, would there be an additional

[7:53] cost anticipated to provide some of this service, basically making sure that these initial

[7:59] scenarios would be developed kind of on a standard baseline with existing operations today and

[8:04] that nothing goes beyond those initial costs until we hit the long range portion of this

[8:09] study.

[8:09] And lastly, recreation and choice rider opportunities.

[8:12] And so this is more of a qualitative assessment of is service being set up in a way that may

[8:16] attract new riders to the system, whether that's by serving new destinations like some

[8:20] recreational areas or if there are new policy changes that may incentivize new riders to

[8:26] start trying out the service.

[8:28] So the way that we intend to use this is by developing our three preliminary service scenarios

[8:33] over the next couple of months.

[8:34] And as we have those scenarios developed, we'll be running them through this prioritization framework

[8:39] so that we'll be able to say on the three rightmost columns,

[8:43] initially on a high, medium, or low level, how well do each of these scenarios align with these priorities

[8:49] and how well do they achieve these goals and metrics that are associated with the priorities?

[8:55] So we do have kind of a brief flow chart to show generally what this looks like in context with the rest of the study.

[9:01] So our existing conditions evaluation, our phase one of public engagement, some of our board meetings, workshops, one-on-one interviews, and stakeholder group sessions, and I've given us a lot of the inputs to inform what our priorities should be to help guide this study into guide our future service changes.

[9:18] That's what we use to develop that draft prioritization framework that I just showed.

[9:22] From here we're using that to again inform what type of service scenarios will be developing for our initial preliminary scenarios.

[9:29] will then be running those through that prioritization framework, which we have labeled here a scenario evaluation metrics to show how well each of those scenarios achieves those priorities.

[9:39] We'll then be able to take individual aspects of each of the three preliminary scenarios that are the most highly supported by the community, the most in alignment with our existing priorities, and that show some of the strongest potential for service improvements, ridership improvements.

[9:55] Again, both efficiency, effectiveness, and meeting community needs will be able to take

[10:00] these individual elements of the three preliminary alternatives, combine them into our one preferred

[10:05] alternative for our recommended service network.

[10:09] Stet is kind of a very brief high level overview of how we intend to use that prioritization

[10:14] framework, but now I did want to pause and kind of turn it over to all of you to get some

[10:18] of your thoughts on generally this prioritization framework, making sure that we have the right

[10:23] priorities in place. If there's anything that we're missing here, if some of these priorities

[10:28] seem like they should be more important than others, or again if these are the right metrics,

[10:33] is this the right way to measure how well we're achieving these priorities? And if there's

[10:37] anything else that should be considered as a part of this that is currently missing from the

[10:41] prioritization framework. So I can kind of toggle back and forth between these two slides, but

[10:46] they want to have this up as a reference for, again, what we have listed as our initial priorities,

[10:51] as well as how we intend to measure our ability to achieve those priorities.

[10:56] So I know there's decent amount of information to take in here, but I'll pause for a few minutes and let you all discuss and answer any questions, provide any feedback.

[11:05] So yeah, feel free to let me know if there's anything on your mind.

[11:20] Well, driving here from Millville takes me now half hour to get from Millville to North

[11:30] or Hyde Park, just a bit about, anyways, so I was thinking about all the cars, all the

[11:36] people going home and just how much more or how much our population has grown over the

[11:43] last 20 years that I've been here and so I think for me that change in population and employment

[11:53] and frequency the hours of service and just really thinking about people getting to work

[12:00] and home from work and the traffic is I guess for me kind of a bigger priority or something

[12:10] that stands out a lot to me.

[12:18] My thoughts, what do you guys think?

[12:23] So a lot of good criteria. I want to see what it turns out to into reality now,

[12:28] enough talking. I want to see what scenarios here.

[12:34] Now that's great. I think it's definitely easier to react to something when we actually have

[12:39] low-media and high scores for some of these scenarios. But yeah, definitely

[12:44] would echo that. It's always nice when we have that kind of next step where we're going over

[12:48] the next month or so and can start to show you how well we think these are aligning with

[12:52] these priorities.

[12:58] Is there anything up there that people say now it shouldn't be or is anything missing?

[13:09] And it looks really good.

[13:12] It's going to get tough.

[13:14] Great.

[13:15] Well, I'd love to hear that.

[13:18] So I guess what I can do now is kind of go through our next couple of slides discussing

[13:21] some next steps and then if anyone has any thoughts, we can flip back towards the end and just

[13:25] make sure that we cover those.

[13:26] But yeah.

[13:27] Again, I think we've done a fair amount of due diligence in hearing from the community

[13:30] as well as from all of you individually and collectively as a whole and makes our job

[13:34] easier.

[13:35] We hear a lot of consistent themes across those conversations, so I think that's good

[13:39] to hear that, seems like so far, we're more or less on point here and generally heading

[13:43] in the right direction.

[13:45] So in terms of next steps, like we were just mentioning, the next big piece from here,

[13:50] now that we start to have our priorities identified and have a good lens for how we'll start evaluating

[13:55] those priorities. Next, we're going to start building out three preliminary service scenarios.

[14:01] So, again, these will be somewhat similar to the transit planning game that we did at the

[14:05] last board workshop where they're really designed to test different priorities and

[14:08] approaches to transit service. So, these are still very much in draft concept form at this point,

[14:14] but what we intend to test is a multi-hub system where we're looking at serving the growing

[14:18] community, looking at more transfer opportunities outside of the downtown transit center,

[14:23] Seeing how service would change around that, then we'll be looking at more small tweaks

[14:28] or minor adjustments to the service looking for more efficiency and effectiveness knowing

[14:32] that we've heard from members of the community that service generally is working pretty

[14:36] well for them.

[14:37] So, seeing if there are just small tweaks we can make letting them see those options and

[14:41] then weigh them against some more transformative changes that will show in the multi hub option.

[14:47] The last scenario that we're intending to put together is more about service span.

[14:50] So you know we've heard later evening service and adding Sunday service are big priorities

[14:55] But those do come with a cost so looking at where there are potential efficiencies where we can

[15:00] Save some resources on weekdays, and apply those to weekend service or later evening service. So this may be more of a steep tradeoff for some folks to make, but it's important for us to present those options and make sure that people are aware and have a good understanding of what level of resource intensity will actually take to provide some of those improvements. So while we will show that in the short term, maybe to have as robust Sunday services we have on Saturdays or weekdays now, may take more resources than we have available.

[15:29] But being able to identify how people prioritize these improvements across three scenarios can help us identify and again prioritize what we include in our near-term service plan, as well as what we can have as a longer-term plan as we have additional funding become available to afford some of those more expensive improvements.

[15:49] Once we have those networks together, we'll again run them through the prioritization framework

[15:52] and then we'll begin phase two engagement, which is where we'll do exercises and activities

[15:57] pretty similar to phase one, where we'll be back in person, talking to writers, the community,

[16:02] we're doing another online survey as well, some more stakeholder interactions, but really with

[16:07] the emphasis being on those three preliminary scenarios and not just understanding which of the three

[16:13] is the most preferred from members of the community and writers, but which specific elements

[16:18] of each of the scenarios do people like and do people dislike so that we can take those

[16:23] strongest individual elements and combine them into one preferred alternative for our recommendations.

[16:29] So Peter, are your scenarios based on our current budget or how does the budget considerations

[16:35] work into these scenarios? Yes, it's based on the current budget. So we are building this

[16:41] based on revenue hours and assuming no change in revenue hours for the near-term

[16:45] future or the near-term scenarios.

[16:51] And in terms of milestones and timeline,

[16:53] we're kind of right in the middle of the project here towards the end of

[16:57] August, moving through the prioritization and then into the service

[17:00] recommendations through the fall. So once we hit November into starting winter of

[17:05] 2627, that's will move into our final reporting, story maps, and final

[17:09] presentations for the study. So, still right on target for timeline, getting into the fun stuff,

[17:15] and looking forward to presenting some of those initial service concepts next time around.

[17:20] But before I end, I will quickly flip back to the discussion just in case there are any more

[17:24] comments, thoughts, or questions. And if not, happy to give you some time back and move on in the agenda.

[17:38] Peter, is there any way we could get a copy of that chart that you had as

[17:44] It's enough to just kind of think on that a little bit more.

[17:47] I have it.

[17:47] No, we can get it to you.

[17:48] Okay.

[17:50] And then maybe with those questions as well, I don't know, I just like to think of it.

[17:54] It really looks good, but that's just my opinion.

[17:58] Yeah, absolutely.

[17:59] And it's a relatively large table with, I'm sure, some small text up on the screen for you

[18:04] also.

[18:05] Yeah.

[18:05] I can send this presentation over to Todd right after I drop from the call and we can have

[18:09] all that available for you.

[18:11] Okay.

[18:12] Thank you.

[18:12] All right.

[18:14] Anything else?

[18:22] All right. Thanks a lot, everyone. We'll talk soon.

[18:25] All right. Thank you, Peter.

[18:32] Hey.

[18:34] How's it going to update?

[18:36] It's exciting to see where this study is going to go.

[18:41] Here next item is the review of the second quarter financials.

[18:47] It glends. Okay. I'm going to just highlight a couple of things here. You've got that in front of you.

[18:55] the Budget Committee reviewed this last week and feel pretty good. Again, things are moving

[19:05] along well. Of course, fuel is always a concern. Well, not always a concern. This year,

[19:11] it's more of a concern. So, as you see in the note there, you know, the cost of being going

[19:19] up, which everybody knows, as they've gone to the fill-up vehicles.

[19:27] But Curtis feels that we are in pretty good shape this year, and not anticipating a budget

[19:36] amendment, but we may have a budget amendment coming up later in the year.

[19:41] However, the good news is we probably have enough savings elsewhere that would offset that

[19:47] our overall budget will not need to go up. We're not anticipating that anyway right now.

[19:54] I thought that it was quite interesting on the equipment purchases.

[20:00] There were the recording equipment in the vehicle system there. Curtis, could you

[20:07] elaborate on that for us?

[20:10] Yes, so in the budget that was adopted, there was money to completely replace the

[20:16] the canners in the recording systems and all the buses,

[20:18] so we could upgrade our technology there.

[20:21] We had multiple systems that we were running

[20:24] as we bought various buses over the year.

[20:26] This puts it under one system.

[20:29] As we bid that, we attracted a lot of interest.

[20:35] So we had nine vendors bid on that.

[20:38] And we got really competitive pricing.

[20:43] We did not choose the cheapest.

[20:47] what they were offering was not the quality that we thought the district deserved and so

[20:52] the pricing that came in was still lower than what we had estimated. So there are some savings

[20:59] that we're seeing there. Even considering that four of the buses are due to cycle out in December,

[21:07] we didn't put the new systems on those. So the parts for those will arrive before the

[21:16] in the year, but the systems will be installed after the year.

[21:19] But even with all of that, we're going to have savings in this area.

[21:27] And as we were going through this process, we have been planning to upgrade what's called

[21:36] cradle points.

[21:37] These are the connections inside the buses that transmit everything up into the internet.

[21:44] So, those cradle points were scheduled to be replaced on all the buses next year.

[21:54] As we were talking lining things up, we became aware that the vendor of those would offer

[22:02] a discount right now, significant discount on those as well as we could cut the price of

[22:10] monthly bill for using them. So it's all provided through Verizon. And we can do all of that

[22:20] and be right at the budget. So we wouldn't have to ask for any extra money. But what it means is

[22:28] we'd save about, if we just waited and did it all next year, it cost us about $20,000. So we can save

[22:34] about $20,000 by doing it this year instead of next year.

[22:39] So it makes a lot of sense.

[22:40] We don't necessarily have to ask for budgetary approval because the budget has been authorized,

[22:46] but at the same time, we don't want to mislead anybody which want to be open to it.

[22:51] There's just an opportunity that's presented itself and we think we should take advantage

[22:54] of it.

[22:55] Since it's going to be incurred next year, we need to replace these next year.

[22:59] We gained some speed, we gained the ability to do faster Wi-Fi, more Wi-Fi connections,

[23:06] so there are some real operational advantages of doing it now, especially with the new camera

[23:10] system.

[23:13] Can you elaborate more on the new system, how much better it's working than what we've

[23:18] had?

[23:19] Yeah, the new cameras, it took like a week and we already have like three times where people

[23:29] instead of having to stop a bus, go in, grab a DVR, pull it out, put another DVR, and

[23:36] hopefully keep the bus going on route to review for something. Our supervisors can just

[23:42] pop in literally some of them are doing on their phones and can view what's going on.

[23:49] No, they're not doing on their phones yet. That's what's coming. They're just going

[23:54] go into the computer system, look and they can see it like live, they can review things

[24:01] instantaneously, and we actually had like a couple instances right in that first week

[24:06] where they're just much faster, we're not having a bus pulled out of service, trying

[24:11] to swap drives. We don't have any drive failures because we're just pulling straight lives,

[24:18] our straight feeds off of it. So right now the system is performing fantastic for our

[24:23] system to it. The vendor that we selected was ITAS. So they took over the Apollo.

[24:32] Yeah, so they were at the used to be a pro runner. There's a Apollo runner and before that,

[24:39] or I think after that it was the slumenator. So it's changed time several times, but now it's ITAS.

[24:45] Yeah, so we're really excited about the quality of the cameras,

[24:50] the quality of what's the images.

[24:53] And it's cool when you get some of you

[24:55] who knows the system, we've got these,

[24:57] I'm going way too and death, but we've got these fish eye cameras.

[25:00] And when you look at it, it's kind of like looking at things

[25:03] through a bowl, they really warps.

[25:05] The technology right there on the screen

[25:07] they can take that de-warp it, turn it into a normal camera view,

[25:11] and then zero and basically not so much

[25:15] that you could totally read what was on some of these watch,

[25:17] But you could tell that it was a blackface watch with a white band and and it's it's it helps

[25:26] Quite dramatically in the camera angles. We've improved all the camera angles

[25:31] So because we could specify exactly what we wanted the cameras placed. It's it's made a difference

[25:37] All right cameras wrong the most

[25:40] 12

[25:41] Um on the big ones and then um, so I'm an exterior

[25:47] Yeah, there's we actually expanded on the exterior. So we have four on the exterior. We shoot backward from the front and forward from the back.

[25:55] We don't have blind spots on the side. What's that?

[26:00] On the side. That's where they are.

[26:02] Yeah.

[26:05] So should they shoot down the passenger side?

[26:07] Did the driver's side down the passenger side and then backwards as well?

[26:10] So, we can see everybody boarding, deporting,

[26:15] we changed some of the cameras angles inside to get more coverage in the back of the bus.

[26:20] So, it's pretty much so impossible to hide.

[26:24] Yeah, we've got any bad feedback on those, I assume.

[26:28] No.

[26:28] I mean, no.

[26:29] The flock cameras are getting massacred.

[26:31] Yeah.

[26:33] I think initially like any technology,

[26:35] I mean, we're talking a decade or more ago then.

[26:38] And I think there are some hesitancy, but again, we've tried to use technology not in a

[26:42] punitive way, but in a way to support and educate and be a resource.

[26:47] And so I think that's really what helps when we're doing these types of things.

[26:52] So, and it's recording everything, and it's saving the data.

[26:56] So how far back is this saving data?

[27:00] Yeah.

[27:01] We can go, our spec was 21 days.

[27:04] We get, it depends on what the bus is doing and stuff we're getting more than that.

[27:10] But the minimum had to be 21 days worth of storage, so three weeks.

[27:15] One jammer's on the driver.

[27:17] Good.

[27:18] Yeah, we have multiple angles up front, including, well, wheelchairsly caremen areas as well.

[27:25] Yeah, driver that had a heart attack or something, could you do anything about it?

[27:30] It depends on what happens.

[27:33] And so if the drivers wear enough, there's actually an event button right by them that they

[27:39] can push the event button and the triggers and immediate notification start recording.

[27:44] And we know that something is happening on that bus.

[27:49] So in theory, yes, I mean they always have radio contact where they could immediately put

[27:55] out a distress call as well.

[27:58] So just, and others on the bus could provide, you know, start using that system as well.

[28:07] The thing that would happen also is because now we can live feed.

[28:12] We could actually have somebody live feeding information to responding personnel if they wanted to.

[28:19] Our response time is around here for the most part are pretty fast, so that's not as big of a benefit.

[28:25] but there's other advantages where we can get on and look and see the various aspects.

[28:33] We narrow it down. There's limited access and guidelines. In fact, we're going through

[28:40] those now that it's live video. We're actually reviewing all of our policies related to that,

[28:45] so that we're updating us for this new condition.

[28:52] You don't have someone just looking at those

[28:56] No.

[28:57] Okay.

[28:58] So it's only you only review the recording scale if you need it.

[29:03] Exactly.

[29:04] Or if we if something's going on we can review live if we need to in the moment but yeah

[29:08] and we're not having somebody sit there monitoring it's not a lot of security cameras.

[29:14] Yeah.

[29:14] No, I know.

[29:15] There's other places where they have the security cameras and they're all up and no,

[29:18] we don't do anything like that.

[29:26] Well, what never scared anymore questions.

[29:29] I have a question, just generally on our budget, as I was driving past the transit center,

[29:37] made me think of it was seeing all the various advertisements on the buses. How much do we get

[29:42] an advertisement from you? Yeah, it's, it's, it's,

[29:52] it's a lower thing. It's, it brings in anywhere,

[29:58] between, it's dropped down as low as...

[30:00] It's like 25 to $30,000 on really bad timeframes if they're, we don't have an active salesman. On a, on a good one, we have 60 to 80,000. 100 is like a really, really good year, but 60,000 is. So, so good question. So I'll just give you the history. And then, but we haven't evaluated that for some time. I mean, but, but the history behind us back when we separated from Logan City, we had a local.

[30:29] a lot of local businesses that had been petitioning, saying, hey, we want to be able to advertise

[30:34] on that space.

[30:35] And so, the board discussed it, and it was really more in response to the local businesses

[30:40] wanted that, and we want to support local business, and so that's why it came to be.

[30:46] But I agree.

[30:46] I'd like a cleaner look myself, but that was the reasoning behind it.

[30:50] When we started the system, and Todd's pretty kind of familiar with this, I think he was fairly

[30:55] close to the start.

[30:56] we, we, it was the policy. There was, I think actually a policy that there be no advertising

[31:02] on the buses. And that was just because of the image that one of the, that the person

[31:07] that started the, that really was a spearhead of getting the trans agency here, she would

[31:14] go to these other places and see these trans systems and she just despise the advertising.

[31:21] And so she really didn't want advertising on the buses. And so that was kind of the standard

[31:26] that was set. And I think the image, it does look better. It makes it look less of a

[31:31] for sale system, you know, and more of a community asset. And so that's why when I was writing

[31:39] pastor, I just saw all the different colors and stuff. And I was like, I like the just

[31:43] the our standard colors, you know, it's like, anyway, so it's a thought process anyway.

[31:48] Again, we haven't just, as a board, you haven't discussed this for over a decade, so it may

[31:53] be something that you want to discuss. And, you know, as you discuss that, I mean, there

[31:57] are things that we follow, state code and whatnot, but there's really not a lot we can do when

[32:03] it comes to what is allowed to be advertised, other if they have to comply with the code.

[32:08] And so sometimes there may be things you're like, I don't know if that's part of the image.

[32:11] So those are all things to consider, so you may want to discuss that at some point.

[32:16] But didn't you mention once that money, that revenue that we get from the advertising, don't

[32:23] we use it for our all-n-advertising, didn't it?

[32:26] Well, it just goes in the budget, I mean, but yeah, I mean, you know, we've...

[32:30] If it's $25,000, $40,000, $25,000 to $50,000, that's...

[32:34] Right now, it's running right around $50,000 to $60,000,

[32:36] not a lot of revenue, you know, in relative terms.

[32:40] And is that...

[32:41] Yeah, if we were to cut that, would that make...

[32:43] Would that...

[32:44] Would it cut our...

[32:45] Yeah, would it...

[32:45] Yeah, would it affect our...

[32:46] Other than, I mean...

[32:47] And is it enough value of the image to prove...

[32:51] to be to lose that public and the hassle. I'm sure it's a pain getting the vehicles available

[32:57] to put the advertising on and I mean I just I know there's logistics that go along with that

[33:03] and damage that happens to the pain of the buses when they're to putting those things on and off.

[33:08] Are we netting 50 to 60 or are we that gross? Now that's net of all their commissions and everything.

[33:16] and

[33:18] something to think about, yeah.

[33:21] Interesting points.

[33:23] As a budget's coming up, maybe that's a good discussion to have.

[33:31] Just thinking about the word community,

[33:35] I think of like, I've just noticed thing on the way here,

[33:39] the bus advertisement for Capsa.

[33:43] That's brought a lot more awareness of Capsa,

[33:46] which I think is good.

[33:47] And then I always left the artwork,

[33:49] especially like kids doing that.

[33:51] I don't, I think that is the ugly response we have.

[33:56] Say that, you know, I mean, let's then be a part of the community or, you know, chime

[34:01] in that way.

[34:02] So, I don't know.

[34:04] And you couldn't let caps on, and then, and still, I mean, like you can't discriminate

[34:08] on who advertises, so it's all or nothing, right, you know, so that's something to discuss.

[34:17] I vote take a vote.

[34:23] You can't take a vote tonight.

[34:26] We know your vote.

[34:30] Well, yeah, we'll have to think about that more.

[34:32] So any more questions on nourishing the Marianne finances here?

[34:38] Oh yeah, you were here.

[34:39] You want more about it?

[34:41] I think we're good.

[34:42] Okay.

[34:43] Well, speaking of finances, Curtis is going to lead us

[34:47] Through the budget timeline, who's got budget?

[34:51] Yes, so one of our goals is just to try and communicate clear more clearly, just more

[35:04] frequently even.

[35:05] So, we just developed this budget timeline, we'll put it in the packet going forward just

[35:09] so you can see key dates, you don't have to repeat them verbally each time, but they'll be

[35:14] in your packet. Next major meeting is September 23rd. That's when we'll be giving you our

[35:23] very preliminary version of the budget, so you get the hands to have discussions during

[35:28] October. So when we send that on the 23rd, we don't necessarily expect questions. I mean,

[35:35] we can take questions, but it's more to get it into your hands so that you can look at things

[35:40] and be able to ask questions in depth as the goal, so the 14th and the 28th become more

[35:45] of those budget timeline, discussion timelines.

[35:49] But the timelines that are in front of you, if you've got questions, if you've got concerns,

[35:54] maybe just address the three times that we are meeting about and why.

[35:58] Yeah, as it states in there, we try to detail out very clearly the 28th of October.

[36:05] We need a corn for voting, because we'll be approving the benefit package, so we can have

[36:09] open enrollment for employees, I'm in timelines with all the federal and state requirements.

[36:16] I remember 18th, we'll need a call because that's when required by a lot of adopt the

[36:20] tentative budget. And then December 9th is the date for the final adoption of the budget,

[36:28] and that's also when the public hearing will be if they want to give input on the budget.

[36:33] But those are the three times spelled out specifically where a vote will need to be taken.

[36:43] Many of those meetings be other than 530?

[36:46] Not that I don't know where.

[36:48] No, they're always.

[36:49] You usually have them right.

[36:51] We've found over the years that you got to set it and forget it, and otherwise it just gets

[36:56] dimpled to try to schedule a release schedule.

[37:00] Yeah.

[37:00] It's helpful.

[37:04] Thank you.

[37:04] My planner already.

[37:05] Thank you.

[37:06] You know we're good, wrong, good.

[37:16] It's good, I'm excited.

[37:18] Good discussion.

[37:24] Do you have any questions?

[37:27] Hey, how's it going next item?

[37:30] The next item is the CEO of compensation policy.

[37:35] I'm seeing your packet as well.

[37:37] This is something we want to,

[37:39] is up for consideration. We have fine-tuned it and our goal has been with this. Just to make

[37:51] it more simple and reasonable and explainable.

[38:00] So do you guys have a chance to review it?

[38:07] Do you

[38:08] I guess just some highlights in making it more simple

[38:13] and manageable, yes, manageable.

[38:20] We really wanted to have deadlines with this policy.

[38:27] So everything that we do with that, every task or step

[38:33] with it has a deadline, which I am really

[38:37] excited about that. So the market assessment we're going to do every three years just to really

[38:45] stay on top of that so we don't have big jumps.

[38:50] And let's see what else. And then one of the big

[38:58] changes the employment cost index and this is the top of it right at the top on the first page

[39:06] is also a big change, so instead of trying to figure out what's going on with like Logan

[39:13] City and Cash County in the state of Utah, we're going to use this index that's put out

[39:19] by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics, so it should be much, much simpler.

[39:31] And then otherwise it, I mean, it's pretty much the same in a lot of ways.

[39:36] we just have those deadlines, so that things are done.

[39:41] We coordinate with the budget process, so that we're not doing like we had last year,

[39:47] we've kind of laid on it and then had to re-address it in January, and that was a little messy,

[39:53] so we're trying to avoid that.

[39:55] Well, messy.

[39:56] But we learned a lot from it, and this is product of that, and so now we've got these good

[40:01] deadlines, and things are going to be done right, you know, going into the budget.

[40:06] process and should be a lot cleaner and so yeah do you guys have any questions on this?

[40:15] Just who's on the executive board committee? That's the chairs of the different committees so

[40:22] so myself as a board chair and then the chair of like budget committee and I guess I need to

[40:29] I'm not here with the committee chairman.

[40:32] I'm going to use the lead and mic.

[40:34] Okay.

[40:36] And Mack, why are you chairman of what board are you committee or you board?

[40:44] Okay.

[40:46] All right.

[40:47] Sit to me.

[40:51] Any other questions?

[40:54] Hey.

[40:55] All right.

[41:01] Well, can I have a motion to approve CEO compensation policy?

[41:11] I'll move.

[41:12] Glad makes a motion.

[41:15] And Ron, make a second.

[41:17] On favor, please say aye.

[41:19] Right.

[41:20] Any?

[41:22] Any discussion?

[41:24] Yeah.

[41:24] I mean, as well.

[41:25] After the public.

[41:27] All right.

[41:29] Any opposed?

[41:30] Yeah.

[41:31] Okay.

[41:31] Thank you.

[41:32] We appreciate that.

[41:34] All right.

[41:36] Move on to the management report.

[41:38] And that's going to talk to us about preventative meat.

[41:42] Oh, this is really exciting.

[41:47] So, so we've been trying to take you behind the scenes of some of the stuff that happens day to day that you may not be aware of.

[41:55] You know, we talked about kind of our comment process and how that works.

[41:59] We talked about our procurement process.

[42:01] We're trying to do something a little different in that today we're going to kind of talk about something to do with our

[42:06] vehicle maintenance process, but we've made a little video that we can show you we're

[42:11] going to use this to share on social media and YouTube and different things as well to

[42:15] show the public.

[42:16] Really, the goal of this is to educate people, right, because sometimes all we see is a

[42:20] bus going down the road, but there's a lot more involved than that.

[42:23] So sit back.

[42:24] I didn't provide any popcorn apologize, but it's only three minutes, so,

[42:32] and of course, because

[42:35] I don't know why it doesn't have sound in your volume.

[42:39] You got it now I'm gonna yeah, I'm gonna share and I'm sharing to do the volume again

[42:45] I don't know why I did that, but so all right we'll try again.

[42:52] What are you wrong, Brad? It said that's muted

[42:56] On the video. Well, yeah, but if I do that it's gonna be in my computer

[43:01] We just test when you're sure that you I hit the video. Yeah

[43:11] We just tested this technology we just we tested it just before y'all got here

[43:17] trying to turn it this on before I share it okay so it sounds on I hit share right turn on

[43:28] the audio

[43:34] reliable service okay now we can turn off my audio so that you don't have to listen to

[43:43] Reliable service starts long before the bus leaves the shop. There's a whole

[43:47] team behind the scenes working to get it there. Hey, I'm Dick Coates, the

[43:51] maintenance supervisor here at Connect Transit. I've been here for about 25

[43:56] years. Started off as a vehicle cleaner. I'm only planned on doing that for part

[44:03] time, but as you can see, that changed and here I am. Our job in the maintenance

[44:08] in shop is to make sure that our vehicles get people in cash valley where they need to go,

[44:14] safely and on time.

[44:16] To do this, we focus on two priorities, safety and preventing breakdowns before they happen.

[44:23] This takes a great team.

[44:25] We have six skilled technicians who maintain and repair our fleet.

[44:29] Each person here plays an important role in keeping our buses on the road.

[44:32] The core of everything we do in the preventative maintenance inspection program, or PMI, a PMI is

[44:40] like a regular health checkup for a bus. Instead of fixing something after it fails out on route,

[44:47] our technicians inspect each bus to identify problems early and make repairs before it becomes a

[44:52] problem. This proactive approach helps us avoid unexpected breakdowns so that our buses can stay in

[45:00] Service and get passengers where they need to go. To give you an idea of what goes into a PMI, buses are

[45:07] inspected every three to six thousand miles, depending on its maintenance schedule. 170 to 250

[45:13] individual items are inspected on a single vehicle. On average, one inspection takes about six hours to

[45:20] complete, and it's worth it. A typical inspection uncovers 15 to 20 things to repair before they lead

[45:28] to a breakdown. That's 15-20 problems our writers never have to experience. This

[45:36] program does more than keep buses on the road. It helps us make the most of

[45:40] taxes that support our transit system. Because we follow this maintenance

[45:45] program for decades, we have years of data that guide us. We know how long

[45:50] parts typically last can spot problems early and can plan our budgets based on

[45:56] data. Good maintenance means getting more useful life out of the buses and

[46:02] making the most of the community's investment. Maintaining our vehicles like

[46:07] this also expands the life of our fleet so that we can make sure these

[46:12] dollars are working for our community. We're your neighbors and we want to be

[46:18] good stewards of our tax dollars. So as you can see a lot goes in and put in a bus

[46:23] on the road and maintenance is a big part of that. So the next time a bus pulls up to your stop,

[46:30] you'll know a little bit more about what it takes to get it there and about the people behind

[46:35] the scenes who help make it happen.

[46:39] He didn't start again. Great question, thoughts. Was that helpful?

[46:48] That's very good. That's not the normal one. Well done.

[46:54] Did you know the cleaning handle,

[46:55] Is it a nightly thing that happens to be our next video, but yeah, it's a great question. Yeah, no

[47:02] That's that's such a great question. So so yeah, it's something every bus that goes out and like they

[47:08] Clean we have a process which we'll rebuild for you, but but yeah, we have a crew that does all of that and do a great job

[47:15] So yeah, no, that's a great question. You're putting these on the website. So yeah, so

[47:22] So we'll use different pieces of it and put them out through social media stuff, but we

[47:28] also have a YouTube channel, we'll put that on there, and we'll definitely make it

[47:32] available to folks.

[47:34] If you haven't already, follow us on Instagram and Facebook, social media, but encourage

[47:40] others.

[47:40] We want to grow the number of people that are seeing this stuff and help educate them.

[47:46] So,

[47:49] and you're okay to ask questions ahead of the video.

[47:51] That gives us, that gives us ideas of content,

[47:54] but that happens to be the next one we're talking about,

[47:56] about doing that, so, that's great.

[48:02] That's all I have.

[48:03] Hey, thank you.

[48:04] It's so fun to, I get to see the work.

[48:07] Well, maybe, let me just, just one thing.

[48:09] I think, I just think this is one thing

[48:11] that's really cool about our industry.

[48:13] So, you should object to say, I started as a vehicle cleaner.

[48:16] He started as someone clean the buses.

[48:18] part time job. You know, I'm going to be here for a year. And now he's he's our maintenance

[48:24] supervisor when it comes to vehicle maintenance. So one that's cool just to see that upward

[48:29] mobility within the organization that obviously that culture stuff that it's kept him here.

[48:34] But I think if you go around in our collective office, you'll find that probably 80% of us

[48:41] thought we were going to be here part time for just a little while. And we ended up staying.

[48:44] And I just think that's something that's in our industry.

[48:47] Ron probably sees this all the time too.

[48:49] I just think that's really cool.

[48:51] So anyway, sorry, I just wanted to highlight that.

[48:53] Todd Knight, both started as drivers.

[48:55] Yeah, I don't know, but Ron,

[48:56] I didn't think I was going to be doing this

[48:57] for 30 plus years, so.

[49:01] Yeah, it's very cool.

[49:02] And we'll do those employee universities at the end of the day,

[49:06] but yeah, isn't it amazing?

[49:10] And it is so much because of the positive culture

[49:12] that you guys have worked to create here.

[49:17] Pay questions for management.

[49:24] The transit center.

[49:25] Uh-huh.

[49:26] Anything going on on that?

[49:28] I mean, we were going for funds to do that.

[49:33] Yeah, so we put in a request for Congress one more.

[49:37] That request has made it from his office into his request.

[49:40] We asked for two million.

[49:42] They pulled that back to one million.

[49:44] But typically, once it's made at that point, we will see that, but it's not technically

[49:49] going to be available until they pass a new transportation bill.

[49:54] And so we probably really won't see or hear anything definitive until probably February

[50:01] March of next year or something like that.

[50:05] So we're just kind of in a holding pattern, right?

[50:08] It stays at one million.

[50:09] But that's what the request was from his office, yeah.

[50:12] No.

[50:12] There's nothing for the state.

[50:14] Right.

[50:15] Not right, currently.

[50:16] We're pursuing other things with the state, but not about that, but I mean, again, we have

[50:21] funding and fund balance that the board could say, hey, let's use it for that, or.

[50:26] What was that for?

[50:28] I was 25 years old, 26 years old.

[50:32] We're looking at the interior, not changing the exterior at all, but is it time to look

[50:38] at redesigning the interior and make it a little bit more conducive to what we're seeing

[50:41] the needs of the passengers to have. But as you know, it's a beautiful building. We're not looking to change the outside at all.

[50:49] And the inside here we're going to do was a restroom.

[50:53] Yeah, I mean, just changing up the configuration of how that area might be made.

[50:59] And just with technology, what are the things that we can do?

[51:02] I mean, it was designed around us. This is designed that we could have technology at each of the bus locations where you have real time signage and stuff like that.

[51:11] Just so just looking at what the technology is and what will we, what needs do we see?

[51:17] I was also thinking about the transit center.

[51:19] It might probably give a picture of it or whatnot, but I was thinking we talked about windows, replacing windows.

[51:27] Did we do that?

[51:28] That's in this year's budget.

[51:29] It's in this year's budget.

[51:31] It's in this year's budget and it's in this year's budget.

[51:34] And we wanted to go off to explain that.

[51:38] Yeah.

[51:38] So we we had in this year's budget. We started it the process went through all in our procurement guidelines awarded to a contractor and the contractor no showed and didn't perform.

[51:52] So we had to basically restart the process. So the hope is getting another contract in many probably knows more of the status, but the hope is to get the contractor in and still get it done this year.

[52:04] there's still time, but yeah, there was some frustration.

[52:11] Are you still like 17 bits or you're done with it?

[52:15] I don't have to check, but Travis, I don't know.

[52:17] I think they're kind of linking and stuff,

[52:19] so I think they're just fixing those.

[52:21] Just because we're still in more local to begin with,

[52:24] and then that was the problem.

[52:25] So it's standing a little further.

[52:26] It's like ongoing Salt Lake trying to get Chelsea.

[52:31] So, are we putting the advertising on the next agenda?

[52:35] So, to you guys.

[52:38] That's the following up.

[52:39] No, that's entirely up to the board chair.

[52:43] The executive, you as a board.

[52:45] So, I think if you want to, that's a good management look at that policy

[52:49] and or one of the committees, I guess, good as well.

[52:53] And make a recommendation.

[52:56] Yeah.

[52:59] Which committee?

[53:00] I know. I'm saying legislating would be a good spot. It's a policy that you have, you know? But, yeah, definitely.

[53:08] I would recommend that committee looking at that. Which committee? What's this?

[53:14] Oh, I see.

[53:15] You've got it. I'm serious.

[53:20] We'll be here.

[53:22] We'll get with you and we'll figure it out from your own.

[53:36] That's what you guys want to do, so we can definitely need legislative committee and

[53:43] talk about it and then bring it to.

[53:46] And it might not be around for a week and put it off to a month, you know.

[53:50] Yeah, yeah, I don't think there will be a contract involved and a contract firm,

[53:57] which all of that stuff will bring to the committee and discuss, right? So,

[54:02] but yeah. You guys do contracts, are they usually like a year or

[54:07] they're usually on the contract, you know, the item might even work for a year or five years?

[54:13] That's our PR people that's doing that. Yeah, it's a different group.

[54:19] I'll get with you. We'll find some calendar dates to work in the week. So I'm just going to check.

[54:24] The kids are, that's five years, for sure.

[54:34] You have any questions?

[54:38] Okay, well, we'll go to the board chair report and the recognition of employee

[54:43] anniversaries and we have a lot which is a good thing. So we'll start with June. So Richard Rose is

[54:52] a driver for 12 years and Joshua Jackman is a driver for seven years and Gustavo has been driving

[55:10] for five years. And I'm sorry for the record. I'm really sorry if I put your names. Shannon Gammel has

[55:18] been a driver for 19 years. I remember Shannon.

[55:25] So Carrie Thomas has been in administration for 11

[55:30] years and Sherees. Well, then Sherees, 10 years in administration. That's awesome.

[55:37] That was in July. We have moved on to July.

[55:48] Jason England has been in debt this much. He's been with us for seven years.

[55:54] and then, so moving into August, Jenny Hoy has been a driver for 24 years. And Chad

[56:05] shoots been a driver for 20 years.

[56:09] Brian Corbridge has been a driver for 15 years

[56:12] and Stephen Lindsay has been a driver for eight years. Andrew Walker and Nathan

[56:18] in shorts, have been drivers for five years.

[56:22] Mindy Spakman has been an admin for administration

[56:25] for 17 years.

[56:27] Yeah, I agree with that.

[56:30] Mindy also started on his admin the whole time.

[56:33] But yeah, I've been here at 17.

[56:35] You just started out as a driver.

[56:37] Did you do dispatch for a little bit?

[56:41] And I say, like your husband was also.

[56:44] Thanks a lot.

[56:45] Yeah.

[56:46] How many drivers are there?

[56:48] 25-ish.

[56:50] We're pushing 90.

[56:54] Total number per spill.

[56:56] 20-5-726.

[56:59] Pretty awesome.

[57:04] Colton Fullmer has been our IT for 11 years.

[57:10] And Angel Huli has been an operations for 9 years.

[57:16] it's amazing. It really is. Hey, any other questions, comments?

[57:29] Right? Well, we're excited

[57:31] to get working on the budget and we will look forward to seeing everyone on September

[57:36] December 23rd. Go ahead and then turn. Thanks everyone.

Cache Valley Transit District (dba Connect Transit) Board Meeting

Transcript