[0:00] And ride the bus home.

[0:01] So, okay. We, we will move them quickly.

[0:05] We, you guys gave me that one list

[0:08] and so there's an additional list.

[0:09] That's fine. About there. Is it,

[0:10] It's out there.

[0:11] Same list or I don't recording in progress. Don't know.

[0:16] All right. Good evening everyone. My name is Tanya Moore.

[0:19] I'm the chair of the Rogue Valley Transportation District

[0:22] Board, and we are ready to convene our

[0:28] regular meeting of September 23rd, 2026.

[0:32] And is Paige willing to do a roll call?

[0:35] Absolutely. Thank you. Denise Kraus.

[0:40] Will Mansfield. Here. Tanya. Morrow?

[0:44] Here. Tyler. Jasper? Here. Katrina.

[0:49] Irma Newton. Here.

[0:51] Dan Davis and Carl McMahon.

[0:56] Thank you. Four members. We have a forum.

[0:59] Thank you. We have a public comment

[1:04] section of our agenda.

[1:07] I imagine many of you are here to speak

[1:10] to at our public hearing.

[1:13] They are. But if there is somebody here that's wants

[1:16] to speak to issues that are not on the agenda in this

[1:22] for three minutes in this public comment period

[1:25] of our agenda, you can come up now,

[1:27] but if you're here for the hearing,

[1:29] then you'll have some time when we get to that agenda item,

[1:35] the list of people that wanna speak at the hearing.

[1:39] Okay, great. Oh great.

[1:44] That's great. There's a signup list right here. Oh, okay.

[1:48] Good. Oh, sorry.

[1:51] No, it's a pretty standard agenda,

[1:54] so we'll just keep you posted as we move through it.

[1:57] Okay. All right.

[1:58] So we'll move on then to our consent agenda,

[2:01] which is the approval

[2:03] of the 8 24 20 26 meeting minutes.

[2:07] Bill, you have something?

[2:08] Yes. The, the, the, the minutes showed

[2:13] Carl McNair as being absentee actually came in shortly

[2:17] after Yeah, after the roll calls.

[2:20] Okay. So we will, if we'll ask staff to amend the list

[2:24] of attendees on those minutes to include Carl,

[2:27] 'cause he did participate

[2:28] and was there, so with that, are there any objections

[2:31] to the consent agenda?

[2:33] Great. Okay.

[2:35] Now we're at the agenda item called public hearings

[2:39] and we have our first hearing

[2:40] regarding the levy service additions.

[2:44] I don't know if the board prefers to do one at a time

[2:48] or whether staff recommends that we do one at a time

[2:53] or Yeah, we

[2:54] Should probably do the levy first.

[2:56] Okay. The second public hearing we're having tonight has

[3:00] to do with our Title six plan,

[3:04] which deals with

[3:07] how we are addressing various demographic criteria.

[3:12] It's a, it's a federal plan that we, we are required

[3:16] to maintain and I think we update it every two years.

[3:19] Is that right? Or page? How? Three. Every three years.

[3:24] So this, this year we are updating it again.

[3:27] And so just so you know, there's two public hearings.

[3:30] We're gonna start with the levee service additions hearing,

[3:33] which is probably why most of you are here.

[3:36] Okay. So I will, we have

[3:43] 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8 on this list.

[3:48] And sorry I didn't keep the list that you guys sent me

[3:51] before to see whether we've got duplicates, but let me see.

[3:55] All these people just signed up when you walked

[3:58] In the door.

[3:59] Okay. So

[4:01] You have the people online there, not list.

[4:05] 11, 12, 13. Okay.

[4:07] Got about 13 people because it's awesome.

[4:09] We're glad you're here. We really are.

[4:11] And hopefully we won't need to cut anybody off,

[4:14] but if we could try to keep our comments to two

[4:18] to three minutes, that would be great.

[4:20] Okay. So I'm gonna go back

[4:23] and forth with calling somebody that's here

[4:26] and then calling somebody that has signed up

[4:28] to participate online.

[4:30] Okay, great.

[4:32] So the first person on our in-person list is James Richard.

[4:37] And so let me say also we're gonna open the public hearing.

[4:40] Everybody's gonna have some time to talk,

[4:42] like I said, two to three minutes.

[4:43] Then we'll close the public hearing

[4:45] and then we'll do our deliberations and vote.

[4:47] So that's how that will work. Okay. Come on up Jen. James?

[4:54] Yeah, you can sit right

[4:56] There.

[4:57] Perfect. Hello, my name is James Richards.

[5:01] I live here in Medford.

[5:03] I'm representing Maslow Project's Youth Advisory Council.

[5:06] I'd like to thank the board for their time

[5:08] and allowing me to speak here.

[5:09] Today I'll be addressing today's topic

[5:11] of the Levy Service editions.

[5:13] Last September, there was a drastic decrease in bus lines,

[5:17] the removal of Saturday service

[5:18] and stopping the buses from running past 6:30 PM In turn,

[5:22] this caused a disruption in the community.

[5:25] Many people rely on public transportation to get

[5:27] to their jobs, childcare and doctor's appointments.

[5:31] July's passenger survey results showed that 44.71%

[5:34] of passengers were using the bus for work-related purposes,

[5:38] and 30.04% of passengers were full-time workers.

[5:42] In conclusion, the addition of Saturday service

[5:44] and extended evening service would greatly improve

[5:47] the community's wellbeing.

[5:48] Those who rely on public transportation are just

[5:50] as important as those who do not.

[5:53] Again, I'd like to thank the board

[5:54] for their time and consideration. Thank

[5:56] You.

[5:57] Thank you James. Appreciate that.

[6:00] Did staff wanna do a presentation to the audience first?

[6:04] Is that, I'm sorry if I missed that page.

[6:06] Did you wanna do that or,

[6:09] That's a a good question.

[6:10] Chair, Mora, we do have a presentation,

[6:12] but I think being sensitive to everyone's schedules tonight,

[6:17] if they do need to catch the bus, it's up to you.

[6:21] If you wanna go ahead and move forward with comment now,

[6:23] and then we can follow up

[6:24] with the presentation after. Yeah,

[6:26] Let's, let's do it that way.

[6:27] Let's have everybody come up and talk.

[6:28] And we did some of this presentation at the last meeting,

[6:32] but we will do it later if you guys

[6:35] have the ability to stay.

[6:36] So next up from the web site is

[6:42] our first one is Natalie SMA Srna.

[6:53] Yeah, she,

[6:59] Hi Natalie, you're unmuted.

[7:00] Go ahead.

[7:06] Can't hear you, unfortunately. No, she's muted now.

[7:08] You're muted.

[7:17] Muted. I can't hear anything. It's on there.

[7:21] So still need to unmute and speak if choose.

[7:25] Okay, so you're, you're muted now.

[7:27] So if you want to speak, let's try to, try to unmute again

[7:31] and give it a shot and hopefully it'll work.

[7:41] Okay, we will, we'll try you again later, Natalie.

[7:45] And that just made me realize

[7:48] that we probably should do all the in-person

[7:50] folks first, right?

[7:51] So you can get the catch the bus home.

[7:53] So we might switch with our back and forth support.

[7:58] That, that makes sense. That makes sense. Yeah.

[7:59] Okay, next step is Carol. I'm not And that's Carol.

[8:04] Hi Carol. I'm not sure how to, oh, is it King?

[8:09] King Carol King, yeah.

[8:25] Oh, First, first I'm a little bit hard of hearing,

[8:29] so I couldn't hear too much of what was said,

[8:32] but I'd like them to have, you know,

[8:35] I think it would be nice for some people if they went

[8:38] by the bottles rob, maybe once a day

[8:40] or some once or twice a day.

[8:42] That would make a big difference to the homeless.

[8:46] And the people wanted to drop off bottles

[8:49] so they wouldn't have to wait long.

[8:51] But, but, but for, but not for myself

[8:55] 'cause I give my bottles to someone else.

[8:58] But for the homeless

[9:00] and people like that, it would be good if they

[9:02] went to the bottle drop.

[9:04] But for myself, I liked him to have

[9:07] service on a Saturday.

[9:10] It maybe if only close about four,

[9:14] four o'clock maybe.

[9:16] And, and I would like it if they had an hour later at night,

[9:23] an hour later at night.

[9:25] That's great. I think we're on the same page

[9:27] And, and,

[9:34] and, but if they only had Saturday service, maybe till four

[9:38] or four 30, you know, that would make a difference

[9:41] to some people for dropping.

[9:43] But that's about it. I all I wanted to say.

[9:46] And, and if, if they can't hire the staff back, it would be

[9:52] if a window, maybe they could hire for substitutes.

[9:56] The, the staff they had formally

[9:58] they could hire them for substitute.

[10:02] So that's about all I wanted to say.

[10:04] So, so, so I can go now. We

[10:06] Appreciate you.

[10:07] Okay. And sharing your, your thoughts. Yes,

[10:10] Thank you.

[10:11] That's all I had to say. Thank you. Thank you. Thanks.

[10:18] Okay, we'll go ahead and stick with the list here.

[10:22] Next is Jerica Lewis. Oh, about me.

[10:26] Okay.

[10:34] So I just saw this this morning on the way

[10:36] to work at Lithium Motors on the bus.

[10:38] So I'm just kind of having notes.

[10:40] I have no idea what you're actually voting on.

[10:42] I have heard of the services being shut down last winter

[10:45] coming like from Ashland and whatnot.

[10:46] They affected my brother's job.

[10:47] He's a manager at a fast food restaurant.

[10:49] So that would be good along

[10:50] with everyone else if they at least had Saturday services.

[10:55] I spend about $250 a month lifting

[10:57] after work when I get off at eight on my late nights.

[10:59] So having a little bit later service

[11:01] during the week especially would be great.

[11:03] And then my mom had a couple of suggestions just in general.

[11:08] She was saying that with the new Central point courthouse,

[11:10] it would be great for people who may not have transportation

[11:12] to extend the 40 service to the courthouse

[11:14] and the new like grocery outlet.

[11:17] And then possibly in the future, as the city expands

[11:20] to open up job opportunities, she suggested an express route

[11:24] to Eagle Point and then maybe possibly in the future an

[11:27] express route or some sort of a route

[11:28] that just goes up the 99 as that also expands

[11:31] for employment opportunities.

[11:33] But I think along with everyone else,

[11:34] we're just looking forward to having a little bit later

[11:37] service and Saturday service.

[11:39] That's all I have to say. Thank you very much. Thank

[11:41] You. Great, thank you.

[11:42] Let me, let me just, since we didn't do a full

[11:44] presentation, I'm just gonna take a minute to let you know

[11:46] that the service edition recommendations are

[11:49] that we go from Saturday at 8:30 AM

[11:52] to 5:00 PM beginning December 12th.

[11:55] Okay. The next recommendation is we do weekend evenings

[11:59] extended from Monday through five Friday service

[12:04] to 7:30 PM

[12:05] and then we're also gonna be restoring the

[12:07] route out to Jacksonville.

[12:08] So those, those are the recommendations from staff.

[12:11] So just so everybody knows,

[12:12] When you, I'm sorry, go ahead.

[12:14] No, I think, I think we're,

[12:16] the survey came back supportive of these, these kinds

[12:20] of things that you all are talking about

[12:21] as well. Okay, wonderful.

[12:22] I do realize the city's a little bit like early,

[12:25] like goes, shuts down a little bit earlier.

[12:27] If they were able to make that until eight 30,

[12:29] that'd be great, but probably not feasible.

[12:30] I understand with the city here, it's not as as active

[12:33] so late, but a lot of people do work retail, they work,

[12:35] you know, grocery stores

[12:36] and things and that might help them.

[12:39] But the other thing was when you mentioned the Jacksonville,

[12:42] that would just be great to get out on your day off

[12:43] and just have a way to get there and

[12:44] you know, walk around. That'd be nice.

[12:46] Sure would. Thank you. Okay, thank you. Last

[12:49] Question.

[12:50] So when you mentioned voting, that's you,

[12:51] you all will be voting at the end, correct?

[12:53] Yeah, because I do have to leave by six 30 to get home.

[12:55] Okay. Have a great night. God bless.

[12:56] Thank you. Thank you. All right.

[13:01] I think it's Ray Deadman.

[13:07] Yeah. Come on up Ray.

[13:18] Yes. Thanks for coming.

[13:20] Thank you. Thank you for along to,

[13:24] to have this public meeting.

[13:27] I was say it would be a greatly appreciated

[13:32] to having the extended service hands

[13:36] and the service fire one.

[13:41] As far as rough reinstatements, is

[13:46] that gonna be the only route

[13:47] that gets reinstated at the

[13:52] time being? Yes.

[13:53] Yes. At this time that is the only one.

[13:57] What we had done back this, this fall was we sort

[14:01] of com tried to, to do our best to combine some

[14:03] of those other routes that we ended up cutting.

[14:06] So we're gonna stick with, with that sort of combined route

[14:09] for now until, until we have some more funding come in,

[14:12] but oh, Jacksonville's the only one that we canceled

[14:15] that's fully coming back.

[14:17] Alright, so, so that, so

[14:21] you'll be looking at other

[14:24] routes down the road, but you're not sure.

[14:27] Yeah, it all depends on whether we end up finding

[14:31] money at the state level

[14:32] or mon more money at the federal level

[14:34] for to support transit.

[14:36] Yep. But, okay. But it's always on the table. Yes.

[14:39] We always want to, you know,

[14:41] expand service in our, in our community. So

[14:44] I greatly appreciate the reinstatement of a

[14:48] extended hours and Saturday. So I really

[14:50] Do do.

[14:51] That's great. Appreciate it. Thanks for coming out.

[14:53] Thank you. Thank you Angela.

[14:57] Angela Wittenberg

[15:02] again, thank you for coming. Thank

[15:04] You.

[15:05] I just wanna say thank you all for what you do.

[15:06] RVTD is so incredibly important for so many people.

[15:10] And the first question I have is about Saturday service.

[15:13] And again, thank you so much for bringing that back.

[15:16] But will that also apply to Valley Lift

[15:18] because that is incredibly important.

[15:20] Oh wow. Yep, yep, yep. Thank you guys for that.

[15:23] And then my other question is about the,

[15:25] you guys are bringing back Jacksonville

[15:27] and so I'm hearing that Eagle Point's not being brought back

[15:32] and I'm wondering if there's a plan for that

[15:34] and then also letting you know how, how, I mean you all know

[15:37] how important it is, but just reiterating

[15:40] how important it is, especially to, you know, students

[15:43] and people out in Eagle Point

[15:44] that don't have any possibility of transportation.

[15:48] I've had a student, I work in the school district at Eagle

[15:51] Point, we had a student when services were cut,

[15:54] it was one day he walked from White City

[15:56] to Eagle Point to make it to school.

[15:57] Wow. So yeah, so anyway, so it's super important.

[16:00] So I'm hoping that at some point that makes it

[16:02] Back.

[16:03] Yeah, I appreciate that we've been able to provide

[16:05] that service over the last few years

[16:06] because of the state payroll tax for out district service.

[16:11] But unfortunately that was the one that had to be cut

[16:13] and so it's a little difficult

[16:15] 'cause Eagle Point technically is not in our district.

[16:17] That what, that's what makes it a little more,

[16:19] more difficult, so.

[16:20] Okay. But I appreciate your comments that, appreciate that.

[16:23] Okay, thanks. Thank you. Thank you.

[16:28] I think I had another, oh, I definitely wanna make sure that

[16:32] this great group of staff right here, those are the folks

[16:35] that, that make this stuff happen.

[16:37] So we appreciate you thanking the board,

[16:40] but we have some incredible staff that work, work here.

[16:42] So next up is Christina Godick.

[16:47] Got it.

[16:58] Thank you so much for giving all of us here an opportunity

[17:01] to speak out on a very important issue.

[17:04] I just wanted to ask, what would be the frequency

[17:06] of the Jacksonville bus route once it's reinstated?

[17:11] Let me see, go ahead. Page.

[17:16] So we are going to have approximately every 120 minutes.

[17:21] And so it, it is going

[17:22] to be less frequent than it was before.

[17:25] It's six trips per day, Monday through Friday.

[17:30] Again spaced about two hours apart.

[17:33] And then on Saturdays it will be five

[17:35] trips on Saturdays.

[17:38] Also space is about two hours apart.

[17:42] You able to hear Okay. Yes.

[17:43] Great. Yes. I just wanted to say too that I really agreed

[17:47] with a lot of those points that James made about it.

[17:50] It's such a vital part of the community to have bus service,

[17:53] especially for folks that are disabled.

[17:55] Like myself, I'm, I'm legally blind so buses,

[17:59] the bus is my main form of transportation.

[18:03] But right now I live in Jacksonville

[18:04] and so it's really my friends that are helping me

[18:06] with transportation and you know,

[18:08] I don't really wanna always say, you know,

[18:10] please can I have a ride?

[18:12] So, and Valley or Valley Lift, that'd be great.

[18:15] Since that's gonna get reinstated as well.

[18:17] That's, that's very important for so many people

[18:20] that are even less mobile than, than myself.

[18:23] And I just wanted to say thank you so much that this is back

[18:27] to where there's gonna be funding

[18:28] and I hope that in future the funding will be

[18:32] more stabilized so

[18:34] that there won't be this kind

[18:35] of situation again. Thank you so much.

[18:38] Yeah, we agree with you. Thank you for coming again.

[18:40] And thanks sir. Thank you for comments.

[18:45] Alright. All right. CSA

[18:49] Cruz,

[18:55] do you wanna come up

[19:13] Any glass?

[19:16] Thank you for coming.

[19:22] Okay.

[19:29] Okay.

[19:30] Yeah. Thank you for coming.

[19:51] Okay. She's here today to speak to the, the board

[19:54] in support of Saturday service.

[19:56] It's a really important service for her

[19:58] and she would like to see that extended

[19:59] and open Saturday service back up.

[20:16] Okay. She said she, she'd be very appreciative

[20:19] of Saturday service was restored

[20:20] because she uses it, her, herself

[20:23] and others to get to work and access employment.

[20:26] Okay. Very important service.

[20:31] Yeah. And then when they put it, let let everyone know.

[20:35] Okay. We appreciate it. I think it's gonna happen.

[20:38] It's one of our recommendations. So thank you. Yep. Yep.

[20:41] Thanks for coming.

[20:49] And now we have Margarita res. Margarita

[21:28] Res.

[22:51] She wants to thank the board for having opportunity

[22:53] for people to speak and she wants

[22:56] to speak in support of Saturday service.

[22:57] It's really important for her

[22:59] and others who don't have a vehicle and can cannot drive.

[23:03] And also living outside of town, being able to get into town

[23:06] for shopping work trips.

[23:09] So Saturday service is really important for her

[23:10] and her, her community to, to bring back

[23:15] and would be really appreciative if Saturday

[23:17] service were, were brought back.

[23:20] I think it's gonna happen. And again, we are very,

[23:23] we were very sorry that we did have to to, to

[23:28] essentially stop the service back this fall.

[23:31] We understand the community, it was very, it was a bit

[23:36] of a burden for the, for the community.

[23:38] So we're very glad that we've got some

[23:39] stable funding to bring it back

[23:44] Up at a take a picture.

[23:53] Okay.

[23:54] Okay.

[23:59] Thank you. Thank you for coming and talking to us.

[24:06] God bless you. Take it. You too.

[24:12] Okay, we're gonna go back to the folks that signed up

[24:17] for online and

[24:19] Chair Morro.

[24:20] I, I asked people online

[24:20] to raise their hands if they'd like to speak.

[24:22] Oh okay. It'd be all right if I

[24:23] just called on them and promoted.

[24:24] Yes, that'd be great. Thank. Great. First up is Rebecca.

[24:31] Rebecca go ahead and unmute and begin when you're ready.

[24:35] Hello, can you hear me? Yes, yes we can.

[24:38] Okay, perfect. Hi there, I'm Rebecca.

[24:40] I am an, I work as a an employment manager

[24:45] for a nonprofit and I'm actually really glad

[24:48] that I tuned into this because I learned something new just

[24:51] earlier when y'all were speaking.

[24:53] I'm echoing kind of the same sentiment as the person

[24:55] that spoke a little bit earlier about Eagle

[24:57] Point White City areas.

[24:59] And so I'm hearing you when you say that

[25:03] it's not your district, but I'm wondering

[25:05] because I work with folks with intellectual

[25:08] and developmental disabilities

[25:09] and I support them in their employment

[25:12] and many, many of our clients have lost all transportation

[25:16] to get to work because they're in White City Eagle Point.

[25:19] So is there, is there a district that they fall under?

[25:23] Is there, is there another resource

[25:25] that can be looked into for that area?

[25:27] Because I can't imagine that

[25:30] the expectation is we just leave

[25:31] that area completely high and dry. So is

[25:36] Yeah, if it's the board's pleasure I,

[25:38] I'll ask Paige if she might wanna like respond.

[25:41] Is that okay or Julie, go ahead

[25:43] Paige.

[25:44] I'm not sure your microphone is really working well.

[25:46] So I'll speak to this a little bit.

[25:50] Unfortunately, Eagle Point is not in our district

[25:54] and the only way

[25:55] that we can actually get them into our district is

[25:57] to have this, the city of Eagle Point tax themselves

[26:03] as far as property taxes and then they would come into

[26:06] and become part of our district.

[26:08] They tried that a few years back.

[26:11] It, they were not successful.

[26:13] It doesn't mean it can't be done, it just means

[26:15] that there's gonna have to be a push from the people

[26:18] that live in the Eagle Point area

[26:19] or that wanna see this happen to approach their city council

[26:23] and start talking to them about the possibility of

[26:25] that there is outta district dollars.

[26:28] We are looking at all of those

[26:29] and trying to figure out a way if there's some other kind

[26:33] of transportation that we could actually provide.

[26:36] We received some seed money originally

[26:39] to put a fixed route out there

[26:41] and that is why we had service out there was the state

[26:44] allows these different grants for a short period of time.

[26:48] We tried it, it was pretty successful

[26:51] but unfortunately there's no grant money

[26:53] available at this time.

[26:54] We keep looking at it and we'll continue looking at it

[26:58] and I know that there is a large contingent

[27:02] of people in Eagle Point area

[27:03] that call me on a regular basis

[27:05] to tell me they want service back.

[27:07] So we'll just keep working towards that.

[27:09] But it's gonna take all of us to do that.

[27:11] And so that is kind of where we're, we're stuck right now

[27:15] as far as funding for people that have disabilities

[27:19] to be able to get to work.

[27:21] You know, that is one of the things that is,

[27:25] that has given me kind of a stomach ache

[27:27] because watching a lot of the clients that over the years

[27:31] that have been able to qualify for different programs

[27:35] and be able to be transported in under maybe D

[27:39] DD 53 or some other program.

[27:40] Right. So hopefully we'll see additional money keep going in

[27:45] that direction, but we would have to figure out a way

[27:48] to be able to provide it.

[27:50] Absolutely, absolutely.

[27:51] Thank you so much for that explanation.

[27:53] I really, really appreciate it

[27:54] and I very much wanna thank RVTD staff

[27:58] and we work directly with Valley Lift

[28:00] and we just thank all of them for all the work that they do.

[28:03] So thank you guys very, very much. Thank you.

[28:05] Appreciate your comments.

[28:08] Who do we have? Next up will be Doris z

[28:13] Doris go ahead and come off mute

[28:15] and go ahead and speak when you're ready.

[28:17] Hi, this is Doris. I also work for a nonprofit.

[28:21] I was wondering if, and thank you all for letting us be part

[28:24] of this meeting regarding transportation.

[28:32] So I, we have individuals that, you know,

[28:35] they do take Valley Lift the ones that can

[28:39] and there's like maybe a couple blocks out of their way

[28:42] and they can't make it so they have to walk

[28:45] and they're like over 70

[28:48] and the bad weather, good weather, you know,

[28:51] and they look so much forward to their jobs.

[28:54] Is there, is that route gonna be expanded? Do you know?

[28:59] And which route is it? Or just Valley Lift in general?

[29:04] Valley Lift in general.

[29:06] Okay, so Valley Lift in general is a federal requirement

[29:10] and it's three quarters of a mile in each site

[29:12] of any fixed route.

[29:13] So we're not allowed to go beyond the three quarter

[29:16] of a mile boundary.

[29:17] And it's really frustrating

[29:20] and believe me, I know I've been doing this for a long time

[29:23] and, and I I know it's frustrating unfortunately it there,

[29:28] if we make exceptions to the program then we have to start,

[29:31] it's starts cascading

[29:32] 'cause we have to make exceptions for everybody.

[29:35] But right now there is not a, an increase of

[29:39] that three quarter of a mile.

[29:41] Maybe there will be in the future

[29:43] but right now it isn't on our radar to do that.

[29:47] Okay. Alright. Sorry, Not what you wanna hear. I

[29:50] Heartbreaking It is but I thought I'd ask.

[29:53] Thank you so much for all all that all of you do.

[29:57] One of the things I can say to you is,

[29:59] or to anybody that uses the Valley Lift program,

[30:02] if you're moving and you wanna find out if you're in a

[30:05] boundary area, please give us a call and check

[30:08] before you move to wherever it is you are.

[30:11] 'cause that can be very helpful to people

[30:13] that are dependent on that level of transportation.

[30:17] I know my parents live just outside

[30:19] of the three quarter mile boundary.

[30:22] I've been trying to get a bus service in their community

[30:25] for a long time and it's not going to happen.

[30:26] So I am their taxi so I get it.

[30:30] But if you do know of anybody

[30:33] that is gonna be moving from a group home in an apartment

[30:37] situation or some other kind

[30:39] of situation from their regular home into an assisted

[30:42] living, please check with us first

[30:44] to make sure you have service

[30:46] and we'll try not to cut that service. Quick

[30:49] Question, I just have one more question.

[30:51] Yeah. Do you know when they will, is it,

[30:55] I know it's not on your radar right now,

[30:56] but in the future is it look looking like it might expand

[31:02] or is that like grant money or?

[31:06] So right now we would have

[31:08] to see a significant increase in funding from the state

[31:12] or the federal government.

[31:13] And to be honest with you, if you're paying any attention

[31:17] to politics, we're, we're in big trouble.

[31:21] Not only in the state but on the federal level as far

[31:24] as getting additional funding.

[31:25] So we don't see anything,

[31:27] but it doesn't mean that we're not

[31:28] working on it 'cause we are.

[31:30] Okay. And, and I'm thrilled to see

[31:33] so many people come and testify.

[31:35] And I'm gonna keep your name

[31:36] because I may be contacting you to come

[31:39] and testify at the state level for us

[31:41] because I think that your legislators need to hear from you

[31:45] and, and need to hear about the importance of this.

[31:48] And you know, I know that this, for some of you,

[31:50] this is the first time you testified,

[31:52] it can be a little bit scary.

[31:54] Yes. But you know what they want, they wanna hear from you.

[31:57] And so with Zoom today, it makes it so much easier

[32:01] to be able to testify.

[32:03] Yes it does. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you

[32:06] Doris.

[32:07] Bye. Suggest I

[32:12] don't believe, just that I caught up,

[32:14] is it possible like maybe they could just like get smaller,

[32:16] shorter buses that cost less

[32:18] to like maintain pretty shorter routes, like

[32:20] of everything being a large bus,

[32:22] maybe they can use some smaller buses to kind

[32:23] of offset something.

[32:25] I know if that would help boost funding or something in a

[32:28] Yeah, that's that's a repeat the question please.

[32:32] She's asking whether we should be thinking about smaller

[32:36] vehicles as a way of, you know,

[32:40] not having such a costly system per perhaps.

[32:42] But I, you know, I'll let any staff answer

[32:46] but as a general matter, sometimes it's about, you know,

[32:50] scale being, you know, less expensive overall.

[32:54] So I know we're always thinking about these things

[32:57] and in fact transit is moving a bit towards not just

[33:02] having fixed routes.

[33:03] We ended up having circulars vans in a couple communities

[33:07] and had slated to do more.

[33:10] But unfortunately again those monies dried up.

[33:14] So we had to stop the circular in Ashland

[33:17] and we had one slated.

[33:18] Did it ever get started in Central Point?

[33:20] I can't remember. No, it didn't get started in Central

[33:21] Point.

[33:22] We started a fixed route instead.

[33:23] Yeah, I think that one of the, the things

[33:25] that people don't realize sometimes is the cost

[33:27] of the insurance on those vehicles is just about the same

[33:30] for a big bus as it is for a small van.

[33:32] That's one of our major costs

[33:35] is ensuring all our vehicles at a level that to be legal.

[33:39] And then the other piece is that sometimes

[33:43] the availability to get those vehicles.

[33:45] So a lot of times the federal government will have

[33:48] solicitation for large vehicles but not small vehicles

[33:51] because the lifecycle

[33:53] of a small vehicle is o only so many years.

[33:56] So it could be anywhere from five to seven years.

[33:59] A larger bus can go 12 plus years.

[34:03] And so sometimes it's easier

[34:04] to get the funding for the large bus.

[34:06] It's just, it's frustrating

[34:07] because we're trying to miss match up things.

[34:10] But I think that the chair is correct in

[34:14] Jemar talks about the future

[34:16] because I think one of the things that we'll look at is

[34:19] what is a different way

[34:20] to deliver service other than just a fixed route bus.

[34:23] And I think you're gonna see that happen across the nation.

[34:30] Okay. Thank you for coming and thanks for your comments.

[34:33] Do we have anybody else online? That's it.

[34:35] So last call I guess is online. Okay.

[34:37] Any anybody else wanna say anything?

[34:43] Nope. Good

[34:49] One X. One

[34:50] X. Sorry,

[34:51] One X.

[34:52] It's okay. I knew what it was. It is an X one now.

[34:57] It's not on, it's not being considered right now.

[35:01] So I mean it's very convenient for people

[35:03] that wanna get from Medford to Ashland,

[35:05] but it's also duplicative of the 10.

[35:10] It's just the 10 takes a lot longer.

[35:12] So right now we're just trying to at least offer something

[35:15] so people can get back and forth

[35:17] but it's not being considered at all.

[35:20] So if you think about it,

[35:21] we had 16 routes, we're down to six.

[35:24] Those 10 routes that got cut

[35:27] are not being considered at this point

[35:29] other than Jacksonville.

[35:30] And that I want the, I didn't answer that question earlier.

[35:35] Why are we bringing back Jacksonville?

[35:38] So we receive federal money, we're part

[35:40] of an called the Metropolitan Planning Organization area,

[35:43] an MPO in that area.

[35:47] Each one of those communities receives federal dollars

[35:50] to provide fixed route service.

[35:52] Jacksonville is one of those.

[35:54] So when we cut Jacksonville

[35:56] and they are in part of the MPO,

[35:59] we are actually outta compliance

[36:00] with the federal government dollars.

[36:03] So that is why we're putting service back into Jacksonville.

[36:06] 'cause it's the one area that we need to,

[36:09] so that's why they're coming back.

[36:10] But with limited service,

[36:15] Like some sweet day, some sweet day,

[36:17] but we don't know when maybe

[36:21] I, anxiety, I catch tension

[36:23] around too many people on the bus.

[36:25] Me s when it I the bus be smaller for me when more

[36:29] and more people get into that, when was more quicker for me

[36:33] to get on and that might guy just acts up when there's

[36:36] too many people around you.

[36:38] I understand. So I'm sorry,

[36:41] I really wish we could do more. Hmm.

[36:45] Thank you everybody. So I'll go ahead and Oh okay.

[36:49] Come up. You can stay there. That's fine.

[36:51] Just speak louder please.

[36:54] Great. With the valley lift the Jackson be the same two

[36:58] hours every two hours,

[37:01] That's a dial up.

[37:03] So the ja so the valley lift will be just like it is now.

[37:07] The Valley lift service will be the same. Am I correct page?

[37:11] We f fell on that where it'll run the same hours

[37:13] as the regular routes

[37:14] because we don't have a way of trying

[37:17] to do it on those two hour increments and stuff.

[37:20] So at this point it's gonna run just like the valley lift.

[37:23] It'll run from, I believe it's

[37:25] four, five o'clock in the morning.

[37:27] What, when, what is our start time now?

[37:30] 6 5 30, is that noise? No,

[37:36] It's, it's Paige's mic.

[37:37] Sorry, Paige, when you're, when you're not muted, there's a

[37:40] burp sound that, yeah, we kind of takes

[37:41] Over.

[37:42] We got something weird going on. You

[37:43] Can give us a thumbs up or thumbs down.

[37:45] So that helps. So sorry.

[37:49] So go, let me pull up the, the

[37:52] presentation slide.

[37:55] So the first route will depart at 5:00 AM am So I believe

[37:59] Valley Lift can be scheduled 30 minutes

[38:02] before, so it's at four 30 in the morning

[38:04] and then ends, the last route would be they have

[38:08] to be completed by

[38:09] 8:00 PM is their return.

[38:15] So it'll be just the same as our regular routes. So

[38:17] That's 10.

[38:19] So they, so they get till 10,

[38:22] but I think they have to be home

[38:24] or back to their designation by 10.

[38:30] I'll add ahead to that too.

[38:32] Sorry, can you hear me okay? Yeah,

[38:34] Yeah. Yes,

[38:35] It's better now.

[38:36] The exception to that is the West Medford area

[38:39] and Jacksonville, we are still looking at the Valley lift

[38:44] extension of hours out to the system wide hours.

[38:49] That's gonna be part of the presentation tonight.

[38:51] So just a a caveat with that,

[38:53] that we are still looking at the Valley lift service

[38:57] being extended all the way to what,

[38:59] what would essentially be nine 30 at night,

[39:03] even though the last route out

[39:05] to Jacksonville ends more than two hours before that.

[39:08] Right. But again, that, that's not decided yet.

[39:11] We're, we're still trying to understand

[39:13] what the implications of that would be.

[39:16] Thanks Paige. Okay. Do you have something? Yeah,

[39:21] My God.

[39:22] But I'll be bringing the Route two Matt.

[39:28] No, We are not bringing the route to,

[39:31] but the Jacksonville route will stop by Thunderbird

[39:35] and Albertsons, which we're missing right now.

[39:39] So that that fringe road will be out there six times a day.

[39:43] It'll stop there, but right now

[39:45] we're not bringing the two back.

[39:46] We're keeping it as the four.

[39:51] Good. Say

[39:57] I my bus for 40 plus years and I super

[40:03] and I'm trying, I'm so blessed that

[40:07] people are giving Yeah.

[40:10] You know, upgrade. I love,

[40:20] Thank you for those comments.

[40:22] It's really good to hear.

[40:23] We know we have a great staff

[40:25] but it's always really great to hear it from the public

[40:27] and so often we have nobody at our meeting.

[40:30] So if you had fun tonight, come again.

[40:32] We do have a public comment space on our agenda every,

[40:35] every, every month.

[40:37] So. Okay,

[40:39] Thank you.

[40:40] If there's nothing else, we'll go ahead

[40:41] and close this hearing. Did you have some,

[40:45] I forgot.

[40:46] Oh No, I can forward this topic.

[40:51] Yeah. On the one side, but now it'll be back. Oh, okay.

[40:54] In that shelter on the other side too.

[41:00] Okay, we'll go ahead and close this

[41:02] and I guess we'll move on to, let me just ask,

[41:05] is anybody here to speak to the Title six plan hearing?

[41:10] Okay, we'll go ahead and calls

[41:11] Us for us to vote on, on this existing

[41:14] resolution that's before us.

[41:16] Well we actually don't have it on the agenda

[41:20] so I'm gonna let Paige go ahead with the presentation.

[41:22] It looks to me like it is on the agenda.

[41:24] Well it's on the agenda as a public hearing, so,

[41:27] and we don't have a formal resolution

[41:29] that I'm seeing, so, but why don't

[41:31] We, I do, I think we do at least,

[41:33] at least my packet has if we don't,

[41:35] if you don't wanna vote on it, it's all right with you.

[41:37] Hey. But talking about Title vi beg, pardon?

[41:39] Title Vi, we definitely do.

[41:40] Yeah, we're just still in part A we start.

[41:42] Yeah, so why don't we go ahead with staff's presentation

[41:46] on it now and see

[41:47] how staff guides us. Go ahead, staff. Happy

[41:51] To.

[41:52] Okay, so yes, we, we, just to clarify with all the paperwork

[41:56] that you've been presented with, there is no resolution

[41:59] for four A for the levy service additions.

[42:04] We do have a resolution for four B and for five A.

[42:09] So we will just be seeking a verbal vote

[42:13] for this upcoming service edition proposal.

[42:18] Okay. I'm gonna go ahead and share my screen.

[42:24] And again, thank you so much for everyone who is able to

[42:29] attend in person and online.

[42:33] I very much appreciate your feedback and your input.

[42:37] It is definitely nice to hear from all of you.

[42:40] I know it's, it's very difficult to attend these meetings,

[42:43] especially with our bus service right now.

[42:46] My name is Paige West, I'm the planning

[42:48] and strategic programs manager.

[42:51] And joining me a little bit later in the presentation will

[42:55] be Debbie Wilber finance manager.

[43:11] You still there Paige? I am here.

[43:13] I'm just trying to figure out why it's not advancing.

[43:16] Can you advance it Deb? There

[43:18] It goes. Not on my

[43:19] Phone.

[43:20] I'm got the wrong one here.

[43:21] I'm sharing it, but I thought okay. It just was delayed.

[43:26] Okay. So the topics tonight are to review how we got here.

[43:30] Essentially the planning

[43:31] and the methodology for the the service proposal.

[43:36] We will provide the details on the routes

[43:38] and the hours for each route Monday through Friday

[43:41] and then Saturday we'll also review some

[43:44] of the public outreach events

[43:45] and activities that we have plans over the next few months.

[43:50] The recruitment and hiring of staff.

[43:53] Debbie will be presenting on the revenue projection

[43:56] of the levy funds

[43:59] and we will also review the public comment

[44:01] that's been received be before tonight

[44:03] 'cause we have also received other comments

[44:06] and then we will proceed with the public hearing.

[44:12] So the service

[44:14] that we're proposing really started back in the fall

[44:17] of 2025.

[44:18] Before we were, you know,

[44:23] looking at having the luxury funds, we were only preparing

[44:26] for them, and you might recall this from that time

[44:30] when we were providing you with four different options

[44:33] that really were reflecting some of the input

[44:36] that we had received from a passenger survey

[44:39] that he had completed.

[44:40] And which received over 900 responses in October of 2025.

[44:45] And from that survey we heard

[44:48] interest in the evening hours Saturdays

[44:51] and also the weekday

[44:55] service on wrap 10 company enhanced.

[44:59] We took those and we did some calculations

[45:01] and tried to provide you with that information,

[45:04] but that's where we were headed.

[45:06] But we needed to do some more work.

[45:10] But we also wanted to verify that based on the information

[45:14] that we had from the cost of doing all three of those,

[45:18] which we knew that we were not gonna be able

[45:20] to do feasibly the levy funds, which ones should we do

[45:24] out of, out of those top choices.

[45:28] And so we went back and asked the passengers again.

[45:32] And also we had a, a online community survey

[45:35] and we just presented this to you last month

[45:37] because this is a survey we did in June of 22 6.

[45:40] And overwhelmingly we saw that 97%

[45:43] of our responses on our buses from our passengers,

[45:47] our riders, our customers were to bring back Saturdays.

[45:51] And then that was followed up by 68% saying

[45:55] that they really wanted to see weekday evenings come back.

[45:59] We also had forced other routes that were being requested as

[46:04] as, as part of this.

[46:06] But you can see that the, if we're going to invest money

[46:09] and we knew that we didn't have enough to do everything,

[46:13] what would we do in Saturdays?

[46:15] And weekday evenings certainly goes to the top.

[46:18] And as Julie said, as well,

[46:21] route 30 has always been in our recommendation

[46:24] because of the obligation that we have with the, the meeting

[46:28] with the head of our district.

[46:33] So as part of the, the hours, I mean, it's not as simple

[46:37] as just saying, well let's extend to 7 38 or eight 30

[46:39] or let's just, you know, go right back to Saturday.

[46:42] So this the night that it was.

[46:44] And so we dug in deep into a lot of data

[46:46] that we have from ridership in the, the previous couple

[46:51] of years on, on Saturday.

[46:53] And this is just a snapshot of two particular,

[46:58] you know, case studies if you will,

[47:00] and pieces of information that we had, we through the data

[47:03] extensively to really make sure that the investment

[47:06] that we were going to make was going to be cost constrained,

[47:10] fiscally constrained so that we could support it

[47:13] for several years, but also that it was going

[47:16] to reach the highest number of rides.

[47:18] And so we can see the, the ridership

[47:20] that we have on the top, that's our evening ridership.

[47:23] And then there's a, a, a case study here with Route 60

[47:27] Saturday ridership on the bottom

[47:29] where we looked at the rides per hour throughout the day.

[47:32] And, and we did this, like I said, for each of the routes

[47:36] that we are providing right now.

[47:40] We also have been holding meetings every week since June.

[47:44] And these are service enhancement team meetings with most

[47:48] of our managers and then also bringing in some subject

[47:51] matter experts that are within our staff as needed

[47:54] to help us identify some of the solutions

[47:57] that we were really trying to, you know, grapple with.

[48:02] We of course, as you know, part of the big Fs of this, the,

[48:05] one of the, the biggest thoughts is staff, hiring staff

[48:09] and so hiring drivers,

[48:11] but then also hiring the support staff to be able to add on

[48:15] that sick day of service, add on extra hours in the evening.

[48:20] We can't stretch our existing staff to cover those hours.

[48:22] We have to hire more people to do that.

[48:26] Mul maintenance staff, field supervisors,

[48:30] customer service dispatchers.

[48:32] So we, the, that is a major part of our decision making

[48:36] for why we've chosen the hours

[48:38] because it, it fits within a fiscally

[48:42] sound choices for fire and staff.

[48:47] We've also reconfigured the Route 30,

[48:50] which I'll show here in just a moment to be more streamlined

[48:53] and reason is because it duplicates service that's already

[48:57] provided by the Route four on Jackson Street.

[49:01] And this is a little bit of a nuanced thing,

[49:05] but it's important to us.

[49:06] We've built six different run boards. Thank you Sean.

[49:10] Thank you. Six different run boards.

[49:13] They take about a week each to do this

[49:16] and it's essentially your shift duties, your job duties

[49:21] for our operating staff.

[49:24] And it was just the slightest differences in the evening

[49:27] hours and on Saturdays to make sure that we were,

[49:32] again, being this can be sound and,

[49:34] and containing our, our costs for this service rollout.

[49:38] So the more specific information

[49:43] on what the routes are going to look like.

[49:46] So we, we presented this to you last meeting

[49:48] and since then we've really been drilling down into the,

[49:52] the information for each route

[49:55] and the hours that it will be departed from station.

[50:00] But on Saturdays we are going to have service

[50:03] between eight 30

[50:05] and 5:00 PM That means service is departing

[50:09] with blast buses at 5:00 PM for most, most routes

[50:13] that does begin on Saturday December 12th

[50:16] and it captures 90% of our Saturday ridership.

[50:19] So if we, before we cut service on Saturdays,

[50:22] we were providing service between 7:00 AM and 6:00 PM

[50:26] and this is a shorter day,

[50:28] but it is still capturing 90% of the Saturday ridership

[50:32] that we, that we saw in the past two years,

[50:37] weekday evenings.

[50:38] Also, we were having service out to eight,

[50:42] some routes actually out to eight 30

[50:44] before people of the service was suspended.

[50:48] However, we will only be bringing back service on most

[50:51] routes between 7, 7 30

[50:54] and a couple of routes to eight showing

[50:56] that could been just a moment

[50:58] that begins on Monday, December 7th.

[51:01] And again that, that captures 24%

[51:04] of our entire day's ridership after board condensed.

[51:08] So it's, again, it's a significant amount

[51:10] of our ridership throughout the day to say

[51:12] that we can capture 24% of it just for those hours

[51:15] after four and four to seven 30.

[51:17] And then we'll also be restoring Jacksonville service.

[51:21] So these are the specific hours for each route.

[51:26] For those of you in the audience,

[51:27] we will have this on our website early next week so

[51:30] that you can do some trip planning and,

[51:32] and understand what your

[51:34] December transit system will look like.

[51:37] But these are the departure hours for Monday

[51:40] through Friday service.

[51:41] So for example, route four runs every 30 minutes.

[51:45] It will have routes leaving from 6:00 AM in the morning

[51:49] until 7:00 PM in the evening.

[51:53] Another example will be Route 41st bus leaving at 6:00 AM

[51:57] last bus leaving at 8:00 PM And part

[52:01] of why we did this was

[52:02] because of the ridership that we saw, for example, on the 40

[52:06] and the sixties, we definitely saw some later evening trips.

[52:10] The particular touch point for us though is the Route 10.

[52:14] The Route 10 takes two hours to get from Bedford

[52:17] through Phoenix Talent down to Ashland, turns

[52:20] around down at BI Mart and then comes back two hours.

[52:25] And so that means if it leaves at seven 30,

[52:28] people down in Ashland will see service actually

[52:30] till about eight 30.

[52:33] They'll, they'll need to catch

[52:34] that last bus at about eight 30 if they're traveling north.

[52:38] But all of the other routes.

[52:40] And then the support service requirements for fuelers

[52:44] mechanics, field supervisors are always based

[52:47] on that Route 10.

[52:49] I think we all would've liked

[52:50] to have seen later evening hours for all of these routes.

[52:53] But with, with the support staff,

[52:57] we're needing to make sure that we're being, you know,

[53:00] risk averse in terms of our, our data eating service.

[53:04] So we are able to eat in a couple of graphs

[53:07] that are shorter, such as the four 40 and the 60

[53:10] because those are not two hour long routes

[53:12] and they are gonna get back with the tiny get that to

[53:16] to method third on Saturdays

[53:20] we have all of the routes are going to be in service.

[53:23] So that that's a big win.

[53:25] We didn't have to truncate any of our routes or

[53:28] or only decide on a few.

[53:29] We are able to, to have all of our routes

[53:33] in service on Saturday.

[53:35] Most of these hours are again between eight 30 and five.

[53:40] But we do have a couple that are shorter.

[53:41] So for example, the Route four will be operating from

[53:45] 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM last class meeting at five.

[53:48] And that these routes, just like they were on Saturdays

[53:52] before, they do not run at the same level of frequency

[53:55] as Monday through Friday,

[53:57] but they are not less, the only

[54:01] exception would be Route 30.

[54:04] And so Route 10 is the only route that we really

[54:08] provided this higher level of frequency.

[54:12] This this 30 minute frequency on Saturdays for four.

[54:15] And I'm really pleased that we're able to, to do

[54:17] that again on Saturdays.

[54:20] And we have the, also the Route 21 at at 40

[54:23] minute frequency.

[54:27] Just a couple notes here at the bottom of the slide.

[54:30] This was a big win for, for me when I saw this this week.

[54:34] But with this service edition board, we are adding 24%

[54:39] more hours in Mayas ias than what we are providing today.

[54:45] And I, I think when you look at the amount of funding

[54:48] that we are using from the levy,

[54:51] because of course part of the levy funds are

[54:53] for supporting the existing service, all

[54:56] of these routes currently that are in service, I, I think

[55:01] that's, that should be a big pat on our backs as staff and,

[55:05] and also with the frugalness that we are approaching this

[55:08] with and minimizing the number of support staff

[55:11] that's needed because 24% increase is significant

[55:17] in, in terms of the hours and miles that we're adding.

[55:22] And then also just to go back to the Valley lip service

[55:25] that we are are providing with this,

[55:29] we'll have Valley Lip service on Saturdays.

[55:31] We will have Valley Lip Service

[55:33] in later into the evenings on week days now.

[55:36] But we are looking at to

[55:40] minimize cost now Valley Lift is a significant cost

[55:42] to our operations much more than our fixed out

[55:45] cost per person.

[55:47] And so we are currently analyzing whether we want to have

[55:52] that extended out all the way to the route clean hours.

[55:56] 'cause again, like I said, that's our longest trip

[55:59] starts the earliest ends, the earliest.

[56:02] Does it make sense to have that,

[56:04] that service level system wide?

[56:08] Because we do have a few areas, especially in West Medford

[56:11] and Jacksonville that are in quite a lot earlier than

[56:15] what the Route 10 is, is is doing.

[56:18] So not, not to say that we won't have system wide

[56:22] or what we would call universal hours

[56:25] because that's what we've done historically,

[56:29] but the Americans

[56:30] with Disabilities Act does not require us to do that.

[56:34] And so we are, we're, we're analyzing it.

[56:36] It, it's not something that we've been able to

[56:38] pinpoint at this time, but we'll know by December.

[56:41] Paige, I'm gonna have you pause for just one second. Sure.

[56:44] If anyone needs to cut, catch the six 30 bus,

[56:47] you might head out there now.

[56:49] I did ask them to hold for a few minutes,

[56:52] but it's right at the hour, so if you do have

[56:55] to catch the bus, thank you for coming. Thank

[56:58] You.

[57:02] Okay, so this is the Route 30,

[57:04] the new Route 30 I should say.

[57:07] It starts in downtown Medford,

[57:09] of course at French Street Station,

[57:11] but instead of going north all the way up

[57:13] to West Jackson Street, we will be heading down Main Street.

[57:18] Much like the Route two used to do.

[57:22] In fact all of the bus stops with the route to use for

[57:25] and the Route 25

[57:27] before we're gonna be using those bus stops again,

[57:31] but it will travel straight out to Jacksonville, essentially

[57:34] using Main Street and it will turn around at

[57:39] Ray's food place.

[57:41] So apparently it goes a little bit further into town, closer

[57:44] to the library, but we've, we decided to turn over,

[57:49] turn it around sooner by Ray Food Place.

[57:52] Again, part of that, that Tetris thing that we have to do

[57:57] with all of our routes to meet them up at Plant Street

[57:59] Station and the schedule will be six trips,

[58:04] weekdays and five trips on Saturday,

[58:08] 120 minutes apart.

[58:11] So frequencies will be about 32 hours for our, our analysis

[58:15] of how this route serves more people

[58:19] because it is an extension of service to new geo geography

[58:24] instead of just Saturdays

[58:26] and evenings where it's all of our current routes.

[58:28] This is actually new, not new service,

[58:31] but it, it is extending our geography.

[58:34] It's serving quite a lot more people.

[58:36] So 6,200 people are along this route within a quarter mile.

[58:41] Almost a quarter of those households are at the

[58:43] 100% poverty level.

[58:46] 33% of people within a quarter mile

[58:49] of this route are minorities.

[58:51] We also have 2,500 jobs around this route.

[58:56] 6% of people who are LEP,

[58:59] which is limited English proficiency

[59:02] and 16% of people who are living with disability.

[59:07] Thanks. Did you have a question? I did have a question.

[59:10] If you pause a minute, Paige, go ahead. Sure. Far as

[59:13] Valley of support Jacksonville is this filled

[59:16] with the industry three quarters of mild and the brace.

[59:20] Thank you.

[59:21] Okay, go ahead.

[59:24] Okay, so the,

[59:28] the next topic is really to address our recruitment

[59:31] and hiring of staff.

[59:33] We are staying true to the budget

[59:35] that we presented you in the fall

[59:38] and also that we have planned for the levy funds

[59:41] and that those are the positions

[59:42] that are on the left hand side of the screen.

[59:45] We, we couldn't go beyond that.

[59:47] If we went beyond that, we wouldn't have to cut service.

[59:50] And so that, that's where the, these cost control mechanisms

[59:54] with really fine tuning these hours of operation and evening

[59:58] and Saturdays became critical for us so

[1:00:01] that we wouldn't have to hire any more anywhere staff

[1:00:04] than what we had planned for.

[1:00:07] We will be hiring eight part-time operators,

[1:00:09] part-time dispatcher, part-time co supervisor,

[1:00:13] a full-time mechanic, and a full-time fielder and detailer.

[1:00:16] And that's going to start right away after tonight.

[1:00:18] So we're, we're closing these jobs next week.

[1:00:22] We will start interviews and job offers next month

[1:00:25] and then training will happen throughout November so

[1:00:28] that we can get ready for that December 2nd launch.

[1:00:33] Talking a little bit about public outreach,

[1:00:35] I'll review this quick

[1:00:37] and the next couple of months we're gonna be

[1:00:39] of course providing information out to the public

[1:00:42] with our website press release eNewsletter.

[1:00:45] We would also like to regroup with our board members

[1:00:49] to attend council meetings with, with Kelly Manning.

[1:00:54] And she has

[1:00:56] provided you with a a calendar that it has some

[1:00:59] of those meetings listed and she will follow up

[1:01:02] with you on scheduling opportunities for you to join her

[1:01:07] and, and possibly other RBTD staff to

[1:01:10] attend those counseling meetings.

[1:01:11] So look for a, an email from her please so that

[1:01:15] we can help us out with that.

[1:01:19] We'll also be distributing our updated ride guide

[1:01:22] and we'll have the, some events happening

[1:01:26] where the public will be able to learn about this

[1:01:28] service enhancement from us.

[1:01:30] And then next year, can't believe I'm already saying that

[1:01:34] next year, January, February, 2027,

[1:01:37] that's when we're really gonna start

[1:01:39] to investigate more in the public outreach

[1:01:41] because we'll be past the holidays.

[1:01:43] But you might recall this newsletter,

[1:01:45] you can see an image on the right hand side of your screen.

[1:01:48] We were sending these out twice a year

[1:01:50] in the spring and in the fall.

[1:01:53] And we're going to send out a newsletter,

[1:01:55] but it will be a lower cost newsletter.

[1:01:59] It won't quite have the number of pages

[1:02:01] and it might look different

[1:02:03] because we're trying to minimize the cost.

[1:02:06] But we definitely wanna make sure that the community,

[1:02:08] the community who supported us

[1:02:10] by 64% in support of this levy.

[1:02:14] Many of those people who do not ride the bus

[1:02:16] but understand the value of transit in the Road Valley.

[1:02:21] We wanna make sure that they are aware of

[1:02:24] what their investment has, has, has provided.

[1:02:28] And so we are going to send that out in, in January.

[1:02:33] And then we are going to have a celebration of sorts.

[1:02:36] And the first week of February, we'll,

[1:02:38] what's gonna be called Trit Transit Week.

[1:02:40] This is something that we've done in years before.

[1:02:43] We'll have passenger appreciation names.

[1:02:45] We're also going to provide a free fair Saturday

[1:02:49] encouraging people to try the service.

[1:02:52] And we need to get that ridership at, we need

[1:02:54] to encourage people to use R btd again.

[1:02:59] And so one of the best ways to do that we have found is just

[1:03:02] by simply providing free fare on, on one of those days.

[1:03:06] And so we'll be doing that that week

[1:03:08] and just making it a fun celebration and,

[1:03:10] and we hope that you all are in the room and,

[1:03:13] and also our board can participate and celebrate with us.

[1:03:20] Okay, so this next slide is for Ms.

[1:03:22] Wilbur to present to you all.

[1:03:25] Good evening board chair and board members.

[1:03:27] Debbie Wilbur, finance manager, RVTD.

[1:03:30] I'm here to talk about the reason why this amount

[1:03:35] of services is all basically we can do.

[1:03:38] So if you're looking at my graph

[1:03:40] that is the five year projection for

[1:03:43] what we will receive on the levy.

[1:03:46] And in all honesty,

[1:03:47] the levity levy will only increase about 4% per year.

[1:03:52] And so over the course of the whole five years,

[1:03:56] we might gain about $450,000.

[1:03:59] So if you're cording that off over five years, that's,

[1:04:03] that's, that's only $90,000 a year.

[1:04:05] So you, you can't, you can't really do a lot of service

[1:04:09] by a revenue source that only increases by that much.

[1:04:13] And so our goal is,

[1:04:16] and this kind of this, this is the,

[1:04:19] the financial constraint we're under is what we're trying

[1:04:22] to accomplish versus having funding sources.

[1:04:26] So on the left you will see, on the right you will see

[1:04:28] that I'm saying Levy will be used

[1:04:31] to reinstate some service cuts

[1:04:33] and to sustain existing service, RBTD will not be able

[1:04:37] to put out any additional service

[1:04:39] unless we get additional increases in

[1:04:42] funding or new funding.

[1:04:44] And RBTD manages management believes we'll be able

[1:04:47] to sustain this service for four to five years

[1:04:50] with current funding sources.

[1:04:52] And and that's what it's all about, you know, being able

[1:04:55] to put this service in

[1:04:56] and keep it at least for four to five years

[1:04:59] until the next time that we have to go out for the levy.

[1:05:03] And so we would love to put in more service,

[1:05:05] but we're kind of constrained right now.

[1:05:07] And so we're asking you to understand that we have

[1:05:10] to take baby steps and the hope for the future

[1:05:14] that we get some more funding.

[1:05:16] And I, if you have any questions,

[1:05:18] I'll be happy to answer them.

[1:05:22] And I think Julie has a few words to say.

[1:05:27] So where are we with state funding?

[1:05:31] As you know, the governor's put together a visioning group.

[1:05:34] We have subgroups from seven different areas,

[1:05:36] six different areas that are, are working

[1:05:39] and coming up with plans.

[1:05:41] I can tell you from the transit work group,

[1:05:45] what they have focused on is

[1:05:48] if we receive no new funding,

[1:05:51] how long can we maintain services

[1:05:52] and what kind of cuts are we looking at?

[1:05:54] And so for RVTD, we've already done the hard work.

[1:05:59] Unfortunately a lot

[1:06:00] of transit agencies in the state haven't.

[1:06:03] Then the second question that came was, if we received a 20%

[1:06:08] increase, what would that look like?

[1:06:09] And that's a really hard question

[1:06:11] 'cause the question was 20% of what of the stiff.

[1:06:15] If that's the case, it's about $800,000 for us.

[1:06:19] That's not a a ton,

[1:06:21] but it would be enough to put maybe some kind

[1:06:24] of service back or to enhance what we already have.

[1:06:28] But with the third thing that the group is looking at is

[1:06:34] what, how long can we maintain ourselves?

[1:06:37] And again, we've done the math, we've done the work

[1:06:39] that we need to do, so we're ahead of the curve

[1:06:44] with the other transit agencies

[1:06:45] because they haven't done this work that we've done.

[1:06:49] So looking at this, my, you know, comments back

[1:06:53] to the governor's visioning group is RVTD can maintain,

[1:06:56] maintain themselves for four to five years,

[1:06:59] but we need transit funding.

[1:07:01] And so more will be coming from that.

[1:07:05] And in my report this, this month, I'll tell you exactly

[1:07:09] what I've been doing to try to get that funding secured.

[1:07:12] But right now, that is what the vision group's looking like.

[1:07:16] Looking at, at a statewide level.

[1:07:18] It's not, it's not a great picture, to be honest with you.

[1:07:23] And it's not just us.

[1:07:24] It's roads, it's major projects,

[1:07:27] it's everything. Yeah. We need

[1:07:28] Less inflation and lower health costs across

[1:07:32] Are the healthcare is killing community.

[1:07:34] Yep. Everybody. So anyway, thank

[1:07:38] You.

[1:07:39] Any questions of Debbie now that she's left? No, thank you.

[1:07:44] She said she wasn't gonna talk anymore than she,

[1:07:46] we told her you could say this much.

[1:07:48] All right. Back to you Paige.

[1:07:52] You're muted. You're muted.

[1:07:55] Just a couple more slides here.

[1:07:57] We did receive public comment.

[1:08:00] We, we had it posted on our website, newspaper

[1:08:05] and spoke with many community

[1:08:06] stakeholders since our last meeting.

[1:08:08] Also, Evan, and my big shout out to them,

[1:08:11] they created a YouTube video

[1:08:13] that described the service additions

[1:08:15] and it received 45 views, which for the first time us doing

[1:08:19] that, I, I'm impressed by that.

[1:08:21] We did have some open houses,

[1:08:22] which just were poorly attended.

[1:08:24] And so we tried to think of a strategy to make sure

[1:08:28] that the public understood

[1:08:29] what we were proposing to the board.

[1:08:31] And they, they essentially took the materials from the open

[1:08:34] house and created the video and it was really good.

[1:08:38] So thank you for doing that.

[1:08:39] I think we'll do it in the future. We also received seven

[1:08:42] written public comments that were provided to you tonight

[1:08:46] and, and printed off.

[1:08:48] And we've attended Ashlyn and Medford meetings.

[1:08:52] Their transportation commission meetings, actually, Adam,

[1:08:55] Adam did both of those.

[1:08:57] And they, they provided us with very positive comments

[1:09:00] and support of the Saturday and and evenings.

[1:09:04] And the housing authority

[1:09:05] of Jackson County also submitted a, a letter of support,

[1:09:08] which you also have a copy of.

[1:09:12] And so this last slide is basically to, to

[1:09:15] open up the public hearing,

[1:09:17] but chair more, I'm going hand it over to you

[1:09:19] to manage the rest of our business.

[1:09:21] Okay. Thank you very much.

[1:09:22] We've already conducted our public hearing,

[1:09:25] so I would entertain Well, let me ask,

[1:09:28] does anybody have any questions of staff at this point?

[1:09:32] Okay. Then I would entertain a motion for us

[1:09:36] to approve the addition of Saturday service

[1:09:38] weekday evening service,

[1:09:40] and Route 30 as recommended by staff.

[1:09:44] I'll make that motion seconded. Thank you.

[1:09:47] Now that we're doing Robert's rules and they're nice. Okay.

[1:09:52] Any deliberations? Good work, everybody.

[1:09:57] Let's do roll call, if you don't mind, Paige.

[1:09:59] Okay. Bill Mansfield. Yes.

[1:10:03] Con Morro. Yes. Tyler Jasper.

[1:10:06] Yes. Katrina Herman.

[1:10:10] Yes. Four votes. Yes. Motion passes. Thank you. Great.

[1:10:14] Thank you guys. Thank you.

[1:10:22] The banner day, we needed that. Yes.

[1:10:27] Got goosebumps. Sorry. Okay, we'll move on to

[1:10:31] some more good policy work.

[1:10:33] That is our 20 27, 20 30 Title six plan.

[1:10:38] And staff did some awesome work on this as well.

[1:10:42] Good to see you. And are you presenting on this too,

[1:10:45] Paige? Probably. I

[1:10:46] Sure am.

[1:10:47] And, and unfortunately share more

[1:10:49] of you missed my presentation last, last

[1:10:53] Meeting.

[1:10:54] I, I did, but I did take a look at it. I good. Okay. Yes.

[1:10:57] It has been sent to me and I looked at it actually

[1:10:59] this week, so thank you.

[1:11:01] Great. Well, since the last meeting,

[1:11:04] we've really only received comments from the

[1:11:07] board at the meeting.

[1:11:09] And those, those changes had been made.

[1:11:12] There was a couple of small grammatical changes

[1:11:16] that were identified.

[1:11:17] And then also Dr.

[1:11:20] Kras had observed that the list of nonprofits

[1:11:25] that we have in the plan was a bit outdated.

[1:11:28] And so Mr. Gomez, Adam, he, he helped me

[1:11:32] to revise that list and just update it.

[1:11:36] And so other than that, there have been no changes.

[1:11:38] And we also have not received any public panel.

[1:11:42] And the resolution 26 dash zero two is in front of you to

[1:11:47] consider for approval of our 20 27 20 30 Title six point.

[1:11:53] Great. Any questions to staff?

[1:11:58] See none. I will entertain a relu, I mean, excuse me.

[1:12:01] A motion to approve resolution 26 0 2.

[1:12:05] Do you need to have book hearing?

[1:12:07] Oh, we do need the public hearing. Sorry. Sorry.

[1:12:11] Since nobody's here. But we will open the public hearing

[1:12:14] and we will ask and including those

[1:12:17] that may still be online.

[1:12:18] Is there anybody that would like to speak

[1:12:20] to our updated plan?

[1:12:27] Seeing no takers, we will close in speaking,

[1:12:31] there's a note notetaker out there.

[1:12:33] No. We will close the public hearing.

[1:12:36] And now I will ask if the board, would

[1:12:41] any of you would like to make a motion

[1:12:42] to approve this resolution? Sure.

[1:12:45] I'll do, yeah, I'll do this one.

[1:12:46] I motion to approve resolution 26 0 2

[1:12:49] to adopt the title plan.

[1:12:51] Seconded. Thank you. Any deliberation?

[1:12:56] Let's do another roll call if you,

[1:12:58] This is twenty six oh two.

[1:13:00] 26 0 2. Yes. Got it. Title six.

[1:13:05] Plan. Okay. Paige? Yes, please.

[1:13:08] Bill Manso. Yes.

[1:13:11] Signing more? Yes. Yes. Tyler Gasper. Yes.

[1:13:15] Katrina Orman Newton?

[1:13:17] Yes. Four Yes. Votes. Motion passes.

[1:13:20] Thank you. Thank you. Good work on that too. Thanks.

[1:13:27] All right. Another action item tonight, there's a big,

[1:13:30] big agenda for decisions.

[1:13:34] We have an update to our drug

[1:13:36] and alcohol policy, which again, also

[1:13:40] we are federally required to, to look at on occasion.

[1:13:44] And so did you wanna walk us through some

[1:13:48] of the changes or speak to it?

[1:13:51] Anybody? I will do that. Debbie, actually. Debbie, yes.

[1:13:54] Some questions about it.

[1:13:55] Oh, I read it over

[1:13:57] and it, I don't find anything bad about it.

[1:14:00] But how does it change from, from what it was before? Yeah.

[1:14:03] Any, any significant changes.

[1:14:05] I'm not sure we can get a red line. So let's, so I will, I

[1:14:07] Will go through those changes.

[1:14:08] So what, to bring you up to speed.

[1:14:12] In March of 2026, the FTA came in

[1:14:15] and did a separate kind of audit of our drug

[1:14:19] and alcohol policy to see if we were in compliant compliance

[1:14:23] with the Federal Trans Administration.

[1:14:26] What they found was that we had a really old

[1:14:29] drug and alcohol policy.

[1:14:31] They called to question quite a few the areas

[1:14:34] and also called to question who we were drug testing.

[1:14:37] So we had a long list of employees that were on the list

[1:14:40] that weren't necessarily in our random pool.

[1:14:43] And so we were kind of out of our DOT jurisdiction

[1:14:48] to be able to actually have them in our random pool.

[1:14:53] So RVTD went through this FTA drug and alcohol audit.

[1:14:59] What they did was they asked us to amend in coordination

[1:15:02] with FTA to bring the RVD policy into compliance

[1:15:05] and correct any audit, finding the policy language in bold.

[1:15:10] So if you look at the policy

[1:15:13] that is RV TDS language versus the,

[1:15:17] the Unbolded area is f FDA's language.

[1:15:19] So that they, we kept some of the things

[1:15:21] that RVTD already had in our drug and alcohol policy,

[1:15:25] and they allowed us to do that.

[1:15:29] RV tds drug and alcohol policy was changed.

[1:15:31] And this was the biggest change.

[1:15:33] We used to be a second chance policy

[1:15:36] and we allowed employees a chance to correct their behavior.

[1:15:40] We have now moved to a zero tolerance policy.

[1:15:45] We've found that this is,

[1:15:49] this isn't kind of in compliance with really

[1:15:52] what the FT a wanted to see,

[1:15:54] but also we found that we were pretty liberal in our policy

[1:15:59] and questioned some of the things that were happening in

[1:16:03] because there was a lot of cost to RBTD to have

[1:16:06] that second chance policy.

[1:16:08] The ft, a drug

[1:16:10] and alcohol program auditor has reviewed the amended policy

[1:16:13] and has given her approval.

[1:16:15] And the union also was privy to any changes

[1:16:19] and made comment to it.

[1:16:20] So they were all right with going from a second chance

[1:16:23] policy to a zero tolerance.

[1:16:25] So those are the main changes in it.

[1:16:28] Okay. Significant. But the, the Union Union said

[1:16:31] Fine.

[1:16:32] Yes, they did ask a couple

[1:16:35] for a couple things to be put in there.

[1:16:36] I don't know exactly the, the words

[1:16:38] and the FTA agreed to it.

[1:16:40] So the changes that they suggested were actually included.

[1:16:47] Teamwork. Anybody have any questions?

[1:16:51] No, but I have a comment. Okay.

[1:16:52] The federal government is not giving us any money,

[1:16:55] but they're still shoving it down our throat.

[1:16:57] So what our regulations should be.

[1:16:59] Yeah. Well, they are giving us money. Are they?

[1:17:02] A little bit, A little.

[1:17:05] I'd like to see a lot more if we're

[1:17:07] gonna have to go through all this work.

[1:17:09] I have a quick question first about the contacts listed.

[1:17:14] Is Luanne Spencer still the drug

[1:17:17] and alcohol program manager? Or has that changed?

[1:17:20] So as of right now, she is. Okay, cool.

[1:17:23] And this will have to be updated when we

[1:17:25] hire a new employee.

[1:17:28] Luanne has retired,

[1:17:29] but she's actually now what we consider a casual employee.

[1:17:33] So she's, so she's worked not on contract,

[1:17:37] but she just comes back

[1:17:38] and works a couple days when we need her. Okay.

[1:17:42] 'cause like, But the one thing she refused

[1:17:43] to do is the board minutes

[1:17:44] and that, so Paige got that.

[1:17:50] So she's still working on our retirement

[1:17:53] and our, our drug and alcohol,

[1:17:56] although we have included the HR person, is now

[1:18:01] the, let's see,

[1:18:03] Designated Designated employer representative.

[1:18:07] Cool. So she receives all of the results from any drug

[1:18:10] and alcohol testing that happens. Okay,

[1:18:13] Cool.

[1:18:14] No, I was just like, wait a minute.

[1:18:15] I remember the aloha. I wanted to make sure that was

[1:18:18] Yeah, I remember the aloha too.

[1:18:20] And then, then we had the, the FTA step in and, and,

[1:18:24] and kill her.

[1:18:26] Aloha. Oh no.

[1:18:27] She's been working on this policy nonstop. This the other policy.

[1:18:32] Well, thank you Lou.

[1:18:34] Huh? Aloha. Yeah. All right.

[1:18:37] Is just any board member, would any board member like

[1:18:41] to propose a motion to adopt?

[1:18:44] What is the number? Oh, 26 0 3. 26 0 3.

[1:18:50] Resolution 26 0 3. Adopting the new revised policy.

[1:18:54] I'll make that motion. Thank

[1:18:55] You.

[1:18:56] Seconded. Thank you. Any deliberations?

[1:19:00] Let's do another roll call, please, Paige.

[1:19:04] Okay. Bill Mansfield. Yes.

[1:19:07] Tanya Morrow. Yes.

[1:19:10] Tyler Jasper. Yes.

[1:19:12] And Katrina Irman Newton? Yes.

[1:19:15] Okay. Four Yes. Votes. Motion passes.

[1:19:19] Lot of work tonight. Thank you.

[1:19:25] Another, another big area to talk about.

[1:19:28] New business discussion item is the 27 29 Special

[1:19:31] Transportation Improvement Fund.

[1:19:35] Introduction to our upcoming process and timeline. Hi.

[1:19:42] It's going. Oh, there we go. There you go. All right.

[1:19:45] Good evening, chair Morrow and RVT Board.

[1:19:48] So I'll be talking, I have a short presentation ready to go

[1:19:51] to give a little bit of history

[1:19:53] and overview of the Stiff Process and also a timeline.

[1:19:56] So I understand we have a few new board members

[1:19:58] that may not have gone through this entire process in the

[1:20:01] past, but you hear us talking frequently on stiff

[1:20:06] and statewide Transportation Improvement Fund.

[1:20:07] So I wanted to provide a little bit

[1:20:10] of background information

[1:20:11] and overview of the, of the process

[1:20:14] as we start getting into this.

[1:20:15] So it'll be in the presentation,

[1:20:19] but later this fall we'll be working on the new stiff plan

[1:20:22] for the 27 29 Biennium

[1:20:29] we go.

[1:20:31] So I guess starting back at a little bit of the history

[1:20:34] of House Bill 2017,

[1:20:35] which established the statewide Transportation Improvement

[1:20:38] Fund, it was a Key mark piece legislation

[1:20:42] to really establish a sustainable source of funding

[1:20:45] for public transportation coming from state funds.

[1:20:50] It's funded through the Oregon State Payroll Tax.

[1:20:52] So it's that one 10th of 1% that a lot of us see on our,

[1:20:55] our pay stubs.

[1:20:57] I have photos here of Julie.

[1:20:58] 'cause as you know, she, she provides these great updates

[1:21:00] at, at the end of the meeting.

[1:21:02] But she's really been a huge piece of this statewide

[1:21:05] to bring statewide funding

[1:21:07] for public transit across the state.

[1:21:10] And of course, for the Rogue Valley,

[1:21:13] the h HP 20 20 17.

[1:21:16] And Stiff has a goal of expanding access to jobs,

[1:21:20] improve mobility, release relief, congestion,

[1:21:24] reduce GR greenhouse gas emissions,

[1:21:26] and also special focus on serving low income communities.

[1:21:30] So I'll get into that a little bit on how we do that

[1:21:32] through our projects and also through

[1:21:35] the low income bus pass program.

[1:21:39] So for, I guess, kind of the boring stuff as far

[1:21:41] as like terms you're gonna hear us using a lot,

[1:21:44] it's come second nature to us as staff,

[1:21:46] but every single project has like new terms,

[1:21:49] but qualified entity

[1:21:51] or QE as, as we use it, is essentially the,

[1:21:55] the agency that's responsible for developing

[1:21:58] and managing that funds within that area of responsibility.

[1:22:02] So for example, RVTD is the distributor

[1:22:06] and the receiver of those funds for Jackson County.

[1:22:09] We're also the recipients of the recipients of the ones

[1:22:11] that receive and develop SIF plans

[1:22:14] and get those funds to distribute and,

[1:22:17] and create public transportation

[1:22:19] or public transit routes in the area through the plan.

[1:22:24] And then biennium, it's just a two year period,

[1:22:26] runs July 1st of an odd number year to June 30th

[1:22:30] of the next year.

[1:22:32] So we're currently in the 2025 2027 biennium.

[1:22:35] That ends June 30th, 2027.

[1:22:38] We're gonna be working this fall on the next biennium,

[1:22:41] which will begin July 1st, 2027

[1:22:44] and run through June 30th, 2029.

[1:22:50] So I guess to get a little bit more in depth,

[1:22:53] very generally speaking,

[1:22:54] stiff is divided in two major pots of funding.

[1:22:57] One is the payroll based formula, which is what we know,

[1:23:00] which is what we've used to fund fixed Route services,

[1:23:04] capital improvement projects.

[1:23:06] And that's that one 10th of 1% payroll tax.

[1:23:10] And then there's also, also the population based formula,

[1:23:13] which was brought into Stiff a few years ago

[1:23:16] through an update in 2021.

[1:23:19] And those, those funds are used to serve older adults

[1:23:23] and people with disabilities.

[1:23:24] So we've used those to,

[1:23:26] to fund Valley Lift paratransit services

[1:23:29] here, here in the Valley.

[1:23:35] And then to go a little bit further into it,

[1:23:38] there's also stiff allocations

[1:23:39] for in-district and out of district.

[1:23:40] So when we receive actual estimate amounts of what,

[1:23:45] what money is being generated in Jackson County,

[1:23:47] it comes in a couple different forms.

[1:23:49] One of course showing CIF population fund money,

[1:23:52] and then CIF payroll fund money.

[1:23:54] And then each of those also show

[1:23:56] in district and out of district.

[1:23:58] And what that means is that us as a qualified entity,

[1:24:01] you know, are, are responsible for all of those funds

[1:24:04] that are generated within Jackson County.

[1:24:07] Even though our service area is a little smaller,

[1:24:09] it's not exactly Jackson County.

[1:24:12] So it's separated again into

[1:24:13] in-district and out of district funds.

[1:24:16] So, for example, the, the payroll funds,

[1:24:19] we've used those out of district funds to, you know,

[1:24:22] provide service to Route 63.

[1:24:24] As you heard about earlier today.

[1:24:26] We've also funded or partially funded JCTs Route 100,

[1:24:31] at least that service, which operates within Jackson County,

[1:24:34] which goes between Grants Pass and, and Medford.

[1:24:41] Another key, key piece of the plan is that

[1:24:44] all C projects have to be tied to a locally adopted plan.

[1:24:48] So a lot of these come for our,

[1:24:50] our 2040 Transit Master plan,

[1:24:51] but they can also come from other local jurisdictions,

[1:24:54] the United, we Ride Plan, TSPs, places like that.

[1:24:58] But they have to come from a locally adopted plan.

[1:25:00] So it's can't be something we, you know,

[1:25:02] make up at, at that time.

[1:25:04] So we've done a really good job of having all

[1:25:07] of these plans listed and,

[1:25:09] and drawing some good projects from existing,

[1:25:12] existing, existing plans.

[1:25:17] And then a little bit of how this process works.

[1:25:19] So we've already met with the Stiff Advisory Committee,

[1:25:23] but the C Advisory Committee, as, as you may remember,

[1:25:26] is a group of community members

[1:25:27] representing different sections of the community

[1:25:30] that are appointed by the Board board of directors.

[1:25:32] We work with them a little bit more in depth

[1:25:35] to develop the plan, prioritize the plan,

[1:25:38] making sure they're meeting the goals of, of C

[1:25:42] and they ultimately provide a recommendation

[1:25:44] to the RVT Board of Directors.

[1:25:47] Once the RVT Board of directors receives that plan,

[1:25:50] they can do a number of different things.

[1:25:52] They can accept the C ACT recommendation,

[1:25:55] they can return the plan, the C Act for modifications,

[1:25:58] or they can modify the plan themselves

[1:26:01] and return it to staff to, to submit directly to odot.

[1:26:06] And there's also the accessible transportation work group on

[1:26:09] here, which works more closely on the

[1:26:11] stiff population funds.

[1:26:12] And that rec, that's recommended to Stiff Advisory Committee

[1:26:16] and of course the board of directors as well.

[1:26:21] And then low Income Bus Pass program, as I'd mentioned

[1:26:23] before, one of the key elements of Stiff is to provide

[1:26:27] service and, and benefit

[1:26:29] to low income communities through the stiff funds.

[1:26:32] So we, we do that through a couple different ways.

[1:26:34] One of course is project selection.

[1:26:36] So all of the projects

[1:26:38] and tasks that are in Stiff Plan, we report on the number of

[1:26:44] low income populations

[1:26:46] or along that route that's reported in the plan

[1:26:49] using like census block groups

[1:26:50] and some of the mapping that we have.

[1:26:52] But we also have low income bus pass program.

[1:26:56] So we set aside a hundred thousand dollars per biennium

[1:26:59] to be able to provide free bus passes,

[1:27:01] the local nonprofit organizations

[1:27:04] that serve low income communities.

[1:27:06] So it's been an element

[1:27:08] of our stiff plan since the beginning in 2019.

[1:27:12] And essentially how that works is we'll open this up.

[1:27:15] So for this current bin,

[1:27:16] and we'll open it up in spring of 2027, send kind

[1:27:19] of a large blast out to our community partner list.

[1:27:22] They'll apply the CIF advisor committee, we'll review those,

[1:27:25] and then we'll set an award

[1:27:26] and actually distribute those beginning July 1st

[1:27:29] and start getting those passes out.

[1:27:31] So since the beginning of that program, we've distributed

[1:27:35] over 209,000 free trips since 2019.

[1:27:38] So it's, it is a very popular program

[1:27:41] and a, a great benefit for,

[1:27:43] for the folks who receive those passes.

[1:27:46] Do you want questions while

[1:27:47] you're presenting? Yeah. Or at the end?

[1:27:48] Well, well, yeah, I could take questions out.

[1:27:50] Okay. As a former public library

[1:27:54] employee, I am familiar with this program.

[1:27:55] Yeah. And it's popularity.

[1:27:58] Are there options for the district to increase the amount

[1:28:02] that goes into this program

[1:28:03] or ways to increase the funds available to it?

[1:28:06] Because I know I've spent time in all 15 public libraries

[1:28:10] and watched them run out of bus passes that were

[1:28:13] so impactful.

[1:28:15] And I'm curious about what may or may not be feasible.

[1:28:19] So I can speak to that.

[1:28:20] Yes, you could, we could increase that,

[1:28:22] but that means decreasing something else.

[1:28:25] Okay. So it means either, you know, cutting the amount

[1:28:28] of money that's going into routes.

[1:28:31] Okay. So that is,

[1:28:32] but the threshold is to make sure that we are doing it.

[1:28:37] So by law in rule, we have

[1:28:39] to do at least a hundred thousand. Got it. Per bie.

[1:28:42] Yeah. No, I think During the, during the

[1:28:46] 2 0 2 6 session of the legislature

[1:28:49] included in the omnibus transportation bill was a measure

[1:28:53] to increase this one, one 10th of 1%

[1:28:58] that passed just barely in the legislature.

[1:29:01] And then the public, in their wisdom

[1:29:03] or lack thereof, dumped it by 73%.

[1:29:06] So I guess my question is what,

[1:29:09] and then the governor appointed a committee to review it

[1:29:12] and committee didn't seem to do much except some

[1:29:15] of the interests wanted to reduce taxes

[1:29:17] and reduce regulations.

[1:29:19] 'cause there anything cooking on that now

[1:29:21] We are, we're still cooking on it

[1:29:23] and it, the report has to go to the governor

[1:29:26] by December 31st.

[1:29:27] So we're in December 31st. 31 days in December. Yes.

[1:29:32] Okay. Thank you. I can't remember anymore.

[1:29:36] Is there udon amongst the varying, varying factions or,

[1:29:40] or are we still, do we still have a big battle ahead

[1:29:43] Of us?

[1:29:44] We still have a big battle in front of us

[1:29:45] because what the, what the visioning group has been tasked

[1:29:49] with is to come up with possible revenue streams.

[1:29:53] And then it's gonna, that whole list is gonna go

[1:29:56] to legislators to pick and choose from.

[1:30:00] And there probably will be a recommendation too,

[1:30:03] but we're not sure yet

[1:30:04] what the recommendation will be from us. You're

[1:30:07] Gonna give that report a Little bit Yes.

[1:30:09] Report too. I have one question.

[1:30:12] Do you, do you guys feel that the nonprofits are able

[1:30:16] to get all of those passes out or

[1:30:19] Aren't they, do we left Over every Okay.

[1:30:20] We, we, we check with them periodically.

[1:30:23] The, the finance team does a great job

[1:30:24] of having like reports, sending them, sending 'em out.

[1:30:29] It, it hasn't been an issue, I think recently

[1:30:31] with the amount of, you know,

[1:30:32] the demand we've gotten from 'em.

[1:30:34] But in the past, what we've done is

[1:30:36] as we get closer towards the end of the biennium,

[1:30:38] these passes have to be distributed before June 30th.

[1:30:41] Ah. So we'll check

[1:30:42] and we'll look at kind of where people are.

[1:30:45] You know, for example, we've had nonprofits that,

[1:30:47] that cease operations during the time.

[1:30:49] So what we'll do is check in

[1:30:51] with them if they're not gonna use the remainder

[1:30:53] of their funds, we'll actually do a mini solicitation

[1:30:56] during the current biennium

[1:30:57] and then redistribute those out to, to folks.

[1:31:00] So we've never come in a situation

[1:31:02] where we haven't been able

[1:31:03] to distribute all of these passes to folks.

[1:31:05] And in this current biennium, we were able

[1:31:07] to a hundred percent award the funds

[1:31:09] through the initial solicitation. So,

[1:31:12] Sorry to briefly derail your Presentation.

[1:31:14] Oh, no, that's fine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

[1:31:19] And then the last slide is talking more,

[1:31:21] I guess in detail on the, the stiff plan timeline for,

[1:31:24] for this current biennium.

[1:31:26] So we've actually already started this as staff.

[1:31:29] We met with the Stiff Advisory Committee in August to do

[1:31:33] something very, very similar, a little bit more in depth

[1:31:36] for them, but just do kind of an introductory meeting

[1:31:39] with the C advisory committee.

[1:31:41] We welcomed new, a new member

[1:31:43] and kind of just set the timeline, the process

[1:31:45] and expectations of, of how this process looks,

[1:31:48] looks going forward.

[1:31:50] From August 27th through September 14th,

[1:31:53] we did a solicitation for the stiff population based funds.

[1:31:57] So those are the, the funds that are used for older adults,

[1:32:00] people with disabilities.

[1:32:03] We received some applications.

[1:32:04] Our accessible transportation work group is gonna review

[1:32:07] those applications this Friday

[1:32:09] and Pro provide a recommendation on, on

[1:32:13] what those ones to be used. Just

[1:32:14] Get clear that the, the population is

[1:32:16] the general population.

[1:32:17] They don't like to hone in on how many seniors

[1:32:20] or disability folks we have.

[1:32:23] Right. So the population is just,

[1:32:25] the formula is based on our Jackson

[1:32:27] population in Jackson County. Right.

[1:32:29] I believe that's why it's called the stiff. Yeah, yeah.

[1:32:31] Stiff population based on, but that's government. It

[1:32:34] Also hones in on that, that population too.

[1:32:36] I mean, they look at the number Yes.

[1:32:38] Right. But we get money based on

[1:32:40] how many people just in Jackson County.

[1:32:42] We have generally you

[1:32:43] Think?

[1:32:44] No, it's directly high by formula to the percentage

[1:32:48] of older adults and people

[1:32:49] with disability driven Jackson County.

[1:32:52] And we do have a higher

[1:32:55] percentage in our county compared to St.

[1:32:58] Multnomah. Right.

[1:33:00] And so we, we do have a, a slightly higher formula

[1:33:05] basis, but they they definitely have more per capita.

[1:33:09] Yeah. This used to be the special transportation fund,

[1:33:14] STF and up until just about three years ago,

[1:33:20] that's, it was, again, it was STF was based on the

[1:33:25] people with disabilities within our area.

[1:33:29] They wanted to consolidate it into the C plan

[1:33:32] and they called itif population funds.

[1:33:35] But it's essentially the same kind of of funding.

[1:33:39] And it's actually also supported by Julie Help makes to

[1:33:43] non more tax or something.

[1:33:44] We were, there's there's some other funding sources.

[1:33:49] Okay. Thanks. Sorry, I just curious. Yeah,

[1:33:53] No worries.

[1:33:54] So they're gonna review those applications at the meeting

[1:33:56] this Friday and, and provide a recommendation on

[1:33:59] award amounts for those that provided applications.

[1:34:04] And then of course, we're doing the meeting tonight with,

[1:34:06] with, with you all to kind

[1:34:07] of do an introduction on, on the stiff process.

[1:34:12] Next after that is we're gonna have a meeting

[1:34:14] with the C advisory committee on the week of October 19th.

[1:34:18] That's where we're gonna go more in depth on the project

[1:34:21] list, what the plan actually looks like.

[1:34:23] So between now

[1:34:24] and then, there'll be a lot of internal staff meetings on

[1:34:26] coming up with that C plan.

[1:34:29] And then we will present that

[1:34:30] to the Stiff Advisory Committee where they'll,

[1:34:32] they'll be able to review and approve that draft plan.

[1:34:37] And then from there we'll have two meetings with the board

[1:34:40] of directors in the November meeting.

[1:34:43] And I put TBA, 'cause I think some of those filed

[1:34:45] during holidays.

[1:34:47] So we'll I think figure out when exactly those will be at.

[1:34:51] But November meeting the board will review the draft stiff

[1:34:54] plan and then December meeting the board will have a public

[1:34:57] hearing for people to comment on the stiff plan.

[1:35:00] And, and the board will be able to adopt

[1:35:02] the proposed stiff plan.

[1:35:04] And then from that process is when Paige and I

[1:35:07] and other RFT staff actually begin the process

[1:35:09] of filling out the stiff plan online, going through

[1:35:12] that process and submitting it by JU January 14th.

[1:35:16] So that's when we will actually submit it to odot.

[1:35:19] And then after that spring 2027, we'll do this solicitation

[1:35:23] to the stiff loan combust Pass.

[1:35:25] And then July 1st, 2027, the new biennium begins.

[1:35:31] So any questions?

[1:35:33] No, thank you for laying that out. Okay.

[1:35:35] Appreciate it. Perfect. Thank you guys. We

[1:35:36] Gotta give you enough time to get

[1:35:37] that January 14th deadline met.

[1:35:40] Yeah, so it's good, good to have it here

[1:35:42] to have it all way out.

[1:35:44] Thank I did wanna add a little bit here.

[1:35:46] Well, it's, it's, it's all a little bit,

[1:35:48] it's pretty big significant in that the stiff plan

[1:35:54] will look different this time.

[1:35:56] And that is because we are, we are going

[1:35:59] to be using our SL funds to support our service

[1:36:04] that we're putting into place.

[1:36:05] And the service that we have right now

[1:36:07] over the next two years.

[1:36:10] And so in, by any of the past

[1:36:13] and in some of the board members who have been on

[1:36:15] for a while, they've seen those wonderful list of projects

[1:36:18] with, you know, Julie mentioned we had 16 routes

[1:36:21] before, now we're down to six.

[1:36:23] All of those routes that have been cut, we would love

[1:36:27] to be able to put them into the plan and,

[1:36:29] and support them with the set funding.

[1:36:30] However, our financial forecast that, that Ms.

[1:36:35] Wilbur has put together depends on us investing in

[1:36:40] theif with the funds into our existing service.

[1:36:45] And so it's gonna be a more streamlined plan

[1:36:47] and it will basically show

[1:36:49] how we're maintaining our existing routes

[1:36:53] and our existing service,

[1:36:54] our Saturday service from the evening hours, the 10 to 40,

[1:36:58] the slip C, the 21, the four, the 30

[1:37:02] with, with these funds,

[1:37:05] Yes.

[1:37:06] We better hope that the legislative session,

[1:37:07] they don't ever like roll back the

[1:37:12] 2017 provision for the payroll tax.

[1:37:15] But there's a lot of people that don't like it. Right. Yeah.

[1:37:20] Okay, well we'll just cross

[1:37:21] that bridge if we have to get there.

[1:37:23] But looking forward to it. Yeah, I won't cross it.

[1:37:27] You won't. She's gonna, she's going

[1:37:29] I will hold on the other side

[1:37:31] Dearly.

[1:37:33] I'll chain myself to that bridge.

[1:37:35] Okay. All right. Well thank you for that presentation.

[1:37:41] Next up is your report. Yes.

[1:37:43] Okay. I'm gonna give you really quick, so I'm just gonna

[1:37:47] last it all out there and give you updates really fast.

[1:37:51] First of all, we've been in union negotiations since March

[1:37:56] and it hasn't gone real well.

[1:37:59] It's been a very, very difficult conversation

[1:38:04] if you have ever followed RBTD.

[1:38:07] This is the first time we haven't gotten a contract in one

[1:38:09] day in many years.

[1:38:12] So it's, so it's really been hard on me.

[1:38:15] But we have finally TA'ed our contract

[1:38:20] and we've come to, to agreement.

[1:38:22] It will go to, I'm not gonna go into the details of it.

[1:38:27] It will go to the union members

[1:38:29] to have conversation about in a vote this weekend.

[1:38:33] And then we will come back

[1:38:34] and do an executive session

[1:38:36] with the board at our next October meeting.

[1:38:39] We will be coming out of that executive session

[1:38:43] to actually vote if we're going to ratify it or not.

[1:38:47] And so more to come, but,

[1:38:49] and we'll go into more detail then,

[1:38:51] but we did not note it as part of our executive session.

[1:38:55] Shame on us on this agenda got overlooked

[1:38:58] or I would've given you more information.

[1:39:00] Okay. But it's,

[1:39:03] we finally on fr on Friday,

[1:39:05] we were able to come to agreement.

[1:39:07] So I wanna thank the, the, the,

[1:39:14] the president of the union

[1:39:16] and the liaisons from RBT, the locals

[1:39:19] because it, it was hard

[1:39:22] and there were times

[1:39:24] that I didn't think we were gonna get it done.

[1:39:26] But everybody finally started really coming together

[1:39:30] and understanding what predicament we really were in

[1:39:34] and that we were gonna have to make sacrifices.

[1:39:36] So kudos to the employees

[1:39:38] and we'll see how they feel about the rest of 'em.

[1:39:40] Feel about it. Come voting time.

[1:39:44] Wanted to give you an update.

[1:39:45] We have seen a, we haven't, we don't know

[1:39:48] what the exact amount is yet,

[1:39:50] but there is going to be a reduction in our federal 53 10

[1:39:54] Valley lift funding,

[1:39:57] which is just one more kick to our stomach.

[1:40:02] But talking with the staff, staff from the state,

[1:40:08] they're trying to find ways of shoring that up so

[1:40:12] that the reduction won't be as hard as we anticipate.

[1:40:15] And they'll be looking at using other

[1:40:17] funding to shore that up.

[1:40:19] So more to come, I'll try

[1:40:21] to let you know as soon as possible.

[1:40:22] But we do know that there is a cut on the,

[1:40:26] but they did not cut the 53 0 7, so we're thankful for that.

[1:40:30] So fixed route is fine, it's just elderly and disabled.

[1:40:34] All the things that they could, would decide to cut.

[1:40:36] They cut elderly and disabled

[1:40:38] and stated good repair vehicle replacement.

[1:40:42] So the two federal bills are not still pending?

[1:40:45] No, they, they passed and been signed by the president.

[1:40:48] So that's where these types are coming

[1:40:50] from, is the build out.

[1:40:52] Yep. Is that right? Okay. Yep. Got it.

[1:40:54] Boy, we didn't know that just a day ago with the MPO

[1:40:58] that it's already been done, but

[1:40:59] It's already been done.

[1:41:00] Now that is the resolutions.

[1:41:02] Now they haven't done the new bill. Okay.

[1:41:05] That's what I'm talking about. The new

[1:41:06] bill hasn't been filed.

[1:41:07] These are just resolutions to the existing bill

[1:41:10] and so they did not include funding those, those things.

[1:41:15] So the fight is still on, ctaa is on it.

[1:41:19] So the Community Transit Association America,

[1:41:22] which we're part of.

[1:41:26] What else did I, so the visioning group,

[1:41:29] so a couple things are happening just

[1:41:31] to bring you up to speed.

[1:41:32] What we're doing, our lobbyists

[1:41:36] and public affairs people are working with me

[1:41:39] to actually put together a group

[1:41:43] of transit agencies from our region.

[1:41:45] So region three. So it would be Curry, Curry

[1:41:48] cos Douglas Jackson, and Josephine Counties.

[1:41:52] And we're pulling a little bit of region four in Klamath

[1:41:56] to talk to our legislators.

[1:41:58] So we're talking to rural legislators

[1:42:00] and educating them as to what is happening in all

[1:42:03] of our transit agencies in this region.

[1:42:07] What RB TT has done, what the rest

[1:42:09] of us are ha are experiencing.

[1:42:12] And we're kind of being the leader on this

[1:42:15] because they don't have public affairs people to do this.

[1:42:18] So our CFM has been setting up meetings,

[1:42:22] we'll be having meetings over in COOs Bay,

[1:42:25] probably in in Douglas County, maybe over in Klamath here

[1:42:29] to get all of our local legislators, both on the Republican

[1:42:33] and Democrat side to understand the importance

[1:42:35] of what's at stake here.

[1:42:37] And it's one of the things that Senator Starr,

[1:42:41] who is working on the transportation package with me

[1:42:47] has said is we have to get a bipartisan package.

[1:42:51] So we need Republicans and Democrats to come to the table

[1:42:55] and agree on something.

[1:42:58] And so that is what we're doing.

[1:43:00] And so that work is moving forward.

[1:43:02] Grace Uniken, who is in charge of,

[1:43:05] she's chairing the visioning group, is coming

[1:43:08] to Southern Oregon in October.

[1:43:10] I think Tanya has been invited to a meeting.

[1:43:13] We've put together your last name again. Would you mind kin?

[1:43:19] And she will be talking with us about what,

[1:43:23] what our region is doing, if anything.

[1:43:26] RVTD has been kind of the beacon of, look at they,

[1:43:30] they got their act together early, they knew

[1:43:32] what they were doing, they made these important cuts.

[1:43:35] They're surviving barely,

[1:43:38] but what is it they need to be able to

[1:43:41] continue having some kind of service.

[1:43:44] I think the biggest conversation that needs to happen,

[1:43:46] one is we're waiting to, for November, we don't know

[1:43:50] what November will hand us.

[1:43:53] And that is going to drive a lot of the conversations.

[1:43:56] So a lot of this is in limbo right now as to really,

[1:44:00] it's just going out to city councils, talking

[1:44:04] to city councils and making sure

[1:44:05] that the local level understands what's at stake here, going

[1:44:10] and working at a regional level with our state legislators.

[1:44:14] And then, you know, at some point we're gonna get our

[1:44:17] federal congressional delegation together.

[1:44:22] And unfortunately we no longer have lobbyists at the federal

[1:44:24] level because we, that was one of the things we cut.

[1:44:29] But with CTAA, I'm on the legislative committee there

[1:44:32] and still president of CTAA.

[1:44:34] So we still have a voice in Washington DC

[1:44:37] So we're working on that end of it,

[1:44:39] but it's gonna be a push pull

[1:44:43] no matter what for the next two years.

[1:44:45] It's gonna be difficult. And so I'm glad that we are able

[1:44:49] to actually roll out service, you know,

[1:44:52] our community supported transit through the levy.

[1:44:55] Thank you community.

[1:44:56] Thank you for believing in an RVTD

[1:44:59] and providing for the people that live here.

[1:45:00] Transportation. And we'll just keep after it.

[1:45:03] But it's, it's gonna be difficult.

[1:45:05] I won't kid you, this is the first week I haven't been in

[1:45:10] Salem and I, they canceled the meetings.

[1:45:13] I was supposed to leave tonight

[1:45:14] to be in another meeting tomorrow morning

[1:45:16] and they canceled it, thank goodness.

[1:45:18] So, but that said,

[1:45:19] but I will be going almost every week to Salem trying

[1:45:23] to finish this work up

[1:45:25] and we have to have everything

[1:45:27] complete by the end of December.

[1:45:29] So questions, is there any publications of any

[1:45:33] of the work on governor's website?

[1:45:35] Not yet. So right now there has been,

[1:45:38] every single subgroup has put together a documentation

[1:45:43] and it is all being compiled now.

[1:45:45] There is work groups that are happening to kind

[1:45:48] of clean it up and finish it,

[1:45:50] and then it'll all be milled together into one big

[1:45:52] publication and given to the governor the big red bow

[1:45:59] look or something.

[1:46:02] So that's where we're at.

[1:46:04] But you can go back in, you can watch the,

[1:46:07] the different meetings.

[1:46:09] There has been presentations on the different

[1:46:11] scenarios and what they're looking at.

[1:46:13] And we finally got the finance committee,

[1:46:18] they were suggesting all these different things for,

[1:46:24] for taxation or ways that we could fund

[1:46:29] transportation, network

[1:46:31] and general maintenance operations,

[1:46:33] major projects, all of it.

[1:46:35] And the one thing they didn't have on the table and,

[1:46:38] and it was like, why,

[1:46:40] why are you not talking about a sales tax?

[1:46:44] And everybody looked at each other and went, oh.

[1:46:48] I go, I realize it's not constitutional

[1:46:50] and we'd have to amend the constitution, state of Oregon,

[1:46:53] but dogone it, people don't leave any rock unturned.

[1:46:58] It's sort of like taboo though.

[1:47:00] No, you know what though? I would, I was shocked.

[1:47:03] And I will tell you this, I was at a tra co meeting

[1:47:06] and heard a, a long time Republican say,

[1:47:10] it's time for a cell sex.

[1:47:12] Really? Yes. Well, let's, let's find out who that is

[1:47:15] and give him a peel him a grape.

[1:47:18] For God's sake. I thought, I thought all of the state senate

[1:47:22] on the omnibus bill were, were opposed. All of,

[1:47:27] Well, we're not talking about legisl

[1:47:28] Except one senator voted in favor of

[1:47:31] It.

[1:47:32] Well, we're not talking about our

[1:47:32] legislators, we're talking about

[1:47:35] The business Person, business person saying it's time

[1:47:38] because none of this other stuff is working. Well, why

[1:47:40] Don't, why don't they jam on the, on their legislation?

[1:47:43] Well, I have a fire under the Jackson County Chamber

[1:47:46] right now to do that. So we'll see what happens.

[1:47:48] Any any prospects of any success with them?

[1:47:52] They're listening. Are They? Yeah.

[1:47:54] I think everybody Is. Let us,

[1:47:55] let us know how they come out.

[1:47:56] Okay. I will Really happened. I was there.

[1:48:00] You were there? Yeah. You heard it.

[1:48:02] Oh, I noted it. Well, I'm just so cynical because

[1:48:07] Don't be cynical because

[1:48:09] They, they took Oh, springs eternal.

[1:48:10] They they rolled the dice and the public

[1:48:13] Yeah, but okay.

[1:48:14] With them, you know.

[1:48:15] Right. They rolled the dice.

[1:48:17] But if they come up

[1:48:18] with a bipartisan package, it's, I know, but

[1:48:21] What's the incentive to do

[1:48:23] that if they know the public supports

[1:48:25] Well, No, no position.

[1:48:27] So, because you know what, I think that

[1:48:31] even on the Republican side,

[1:48:33] people are screaming. Okay. Doesn't matter.

[1:48:35] They're getting yelled at. Everybody's yelling at 'em.

[1:48:37] Good. Because at this point it's like,

[1:48:39] what are we doing here?

[1:48:41] Everywhere. Gambling, nothing working.

[1:48:42] Something must change. Okay. I like it. Okay.

[1:48:46] I'll try to be So

[1:48:47] You think you might pick up some votes

[1:48:49] from them on this round?

[1:48:50] Is that right? I hope you're right.

[1:48:53] I'm gonna get my magic wand out

[1:48:55] and put everybody under a spell.

[1:49:01] Are There, I'm trying, are there any reports

[1:49:02] From any other staff tonight?

[1:49:05] I won't let 'em report. Okay. No reports guys. All right.

[1:49:09] Oh No,

[1:49:14] Everybody received the financial reports

[1:49:16] for July and August.

[1:49:18] Yes. And are there any general questions

[1:49:22] or comments from the board?

[1:49:25] Okay, now we're moving on to reports from board liaison.

[1:49:28] So start with RV cog

[1:49:30] Rev Cog.

[1:49:32] The, the principal of discussion for us today was

[1:49:36] a discussion by one of the RIV COD employees

[1:49:39] who specialized in, in bicycle safety.

[1:49:42] So he brought some maps

[1:49:43] and told us about the importance of bi bicycling,

[1:49:47] us being safe, but also the importance of good facilities

[1:49:51] that some fac he, he pointed out that some fac

[1:49:56] city facilities

[1:49:57] for biking go all the way from very dangerous to very safe.

[1:50:01] He also pointed out one statistic,

[1:50:03] and that is the accident rate is higher

[1:50:06] amongst the bicyclists than it is the automobile drivers.

[1:50:10] I regret that. But

[1:50:11] Do you know his name offhand or is he associated

[1:50:14] With some of the, let's see.

[1:50:16] I can, it's okay. I, I think I, I think I still have it.

[1:50:19] I I'll give him, give him that info.

[1:50:20] I'll give you that info meeting

[1:50:22] In the meantime.

[1:50:23] Yeah. Okay. So MPO, we,

[1:50:27] the biggest issue at the MPO was

[1:50:31] they didn't have a quorum last meeting, which I missed.

[1:50:33] And so there were considering a letter

[1:50:39] to our delegation regarding the Bill Act

[1:50:43] and the basic act, there's two potential,

[1:50:45] there's two federal acts pending.

[1:50:48] I think that at least one of them, both of them gotten

[1:50:50] through the house already.

[1:50:51] Yes, yes. So, so we staff

[1:50:56] and I had had a conversation about this letter

[1:51:00] of recommendation because it looked like it was an error

[1:51:03] because it suggested

[1:51:05] that the BUILD act was actually proposing

[1:51:08] to increase transit funding and it was not.

[1:51:10] So at the TAC meeting,

[1:51:12] which is the technical advisory committee meeting,

[1:51:15] Paige brought that up and the TAC agreed that, you know,

[1:51:18] we don't want it to not state the truth,

[1:51:22] but I, I think there was some,

[1:51:25] some something lost in the translation

[1:51:28] because the TAC wanted it, the letter to say

[1:51:30] that we support current funding for transit

[1:51:33] and support additional funding.

[1:51:36] Ultimately it ended up in the letter, the revised letter

[1:51:39] of suggesting that that's what the BUILD Act does,

[1:51:42] is it maintains current funding

[1:51:44] and of course then would also support additional funding.

[1:51:47] So I had a concern about it.

[1:51:48] 'cause again, I still feel like it does

[1:51:50] not reflect the truth.

[1:51:52] So I raised the issue and I spent just a minute

[1:51:55] because I, I had spent three

[1:51:58] or more hours actually deep diving into these bills.

[1:52:03] And so I spent a minute just telling them that

[1:52:05] that's not what's happening.

[1:52:07] There's some other issues.

[1:52:08] I didn't specify anything other than the fact

[1:52:10] that there's the Highway trust fund

[1:52:13] is really not resolved by this.

[1:52:16] And I just told them I wasn't gonna be able to vote for,

[1:52:20] you know, I acknowledged that there's a lot

[1:52:21] of really great stuff in there except for transit.

[1:52:24] So I, you know, didn't necessarily wanna discourage them,

[1:52:27] but I couldn't vote for it.

[1:52:28] And so I just want you to know I did not vote for it.

[1:52:31] And I, you know, I've got a whole list of things that are

[1:52:36] of concern and I don't think there's some other things

[1:52:38] besides that are a little adjacent to transit

[1:52:41] that are more like alternative transportation kinds

[1:52:46] of things that, programs that they're cutting

[1:52:48] that I think this board would also not agree with.

[1:52:51] So I, I don't want us to be signing onto that

[1:52:55] and I don't think you would either.

[1:52:57] I'm at a place where I don't want our delegation

[1:52:59] to necessarily think that support them.

[1:53:02] So I may try to, since I don't think

[1:53:06] propose our own letter since I spent so much time on it,

[1:53:10] making some comments and see if we want to approve

[1:53:13] that at the next meeting.

[1:53:14] So I'll get that to you.

[1:53:17] I guess one thing I wanted to point out was that staff

[1:53:21] actually, you know, has a memo that suggested

[1:53:23] that there is a fix for the Highway trust fund,

[1:53:26] which is a new electric vehicle federal fee

[1:53:30] that's gonna automatically go up.

[1:53:33] And while that is, you know, going to be collected

[1:53:36] by the hand, the Highway department

[1:53:39] or whomever, it's gonna be collected

[1:53:41] or it's gonna be remitted there, it's not earmarked

[1:53:44] for transportation or the highway fund in the bill.

[1:53:48] That's still up to ways

[1:53:49] and means as to what they do with that money.

[1:53:51] So, and the current Secretary

[1:53:54] of Transportation is pretty hostile, I would say,

[1:53:59] frankly, to public transportation and alternative mode.

[1:54:03] So we, we should be working on that.

[1:54:06] And so that's what happened at the MPO

[1:54:08] and I will bring something to you guys to consider soon.

[1:54:12] Okay. Next meeting was track and they

[1:54:16] Did not meet.

[1:54:17] Okay, that's good. And then finally, RV act.

[1:54:21] RV ACT did meet, and I'm not gonna

[1:54:26] go into a whole bunch of detail,

[1:54:27] but they talked about the Capital Investment program

[1:54:30] and where they were at and with our community,

[1:54:32] if you wanna dive into it, go to their website

[1:54:35] and you can actually see the plan.

[1:54:36] What, what programs were actually funded.

[1:54:39] There were some here in our region, not very many.

[1:54:44] I think what the whole idea

[1:54:46] behind the capital investment plan was

[1:54:49] to look at a 10 year look on, on road project 'cause

[1:54:51] or projects that belonged to ODOT

[1:54:53] and try to prioritize across the state and fund them.

[1:54:57] But I think what it shows is there's not enough money.

[1:55:01] It doesn't even touch what needs to happen here.

[1:55:05] And we're talking anything, you know,

[1:55:06] we're talking about bridge culverts, roads, you know, again,

[1:55:10] most people don't even understand that the pavement

[1:55:16] in your county, your county road pavement, all

[1:55:18] that stuff comes from gas tax.

[1:55:21] So on in your gasoline, when you buy a a gallon of gas,

[1:55:25] a percentage of that 30% of that gas tax goes to our county

[1:55:31] to actually repave your roads.

[1:55:34] But that doesn't help with the bridges

[1:55:36] and the culverts and everything else. I mean, I think

[1:55:38] The build out does put some more money in It

[1:55:41] Does put some more money, but it's,

[1:55:43] but it's, right now it's at the hands

[1:55:46] of the federal government

[1:55:47] and we don't know what they're gonna do.

[1:55:49] Yeah. So the other thing was they kinda just gave a update

[1:55:53] on constructions

[1:55:55] that construction projects were happened here.

[1:55:58] And then the one thing is they're looking at their charter,

[1:56:01] so RVX charter and making sure that it's up to date

[1:56:05] because it hasn't been up to date

[1:56:06] and everybody kind of just forgot about the charters

[1:56:10] and making sure that it's in compliance with what,

[1:56:12] because these are advisory committees to the commission.

[1:56:16] And so what has happened, I was saying

[1:56:18] That there was an attempt by, I think Talend to raise,

[1:56:23] the charter needed to be amended

[1:56:25] after OO amended the, you know,

[1:56:29] organizing document.

[1:56:32] And it was not, it was just not picked up by the chair.

[1:56:35] So I'm glad to hear that they're talking about it again.

[1:56:39] 'cause it needs to be done. I agree. Yeah. Okay.

[1:56:41] And that's what happened at the RV Act.

[1:56:44] Alright, anything else for the good of the order? Okay.

[1:56:49] It's been a nice long meeting. Lots of business Got done.

[1:56:52] Thank you. Staff and everybody that came out.

[1:56:54] And do we need a motion to adjourn

[1:56:57] or did we decide I can do that.

[1:56:58] Call it. I do. Okay. Adjourned. I'm declaring as adjourned.

[1:57:02] Thank you. Adjourn. Things have been changing.

[1:57:07] I just needed to double check.

[1:57:09] Thank you board for, for, for being our, our

[1:57:13] Recommendation.

[1:57:14] Okay. Absolutely. Heck yeah. Super hyped to do it. Yeah.

[1:57:18] After our first meeting was cutting it all, it was nice.

Rogue Valley Transportation District Board of Directors

Transcript