[00:00:03]
THANK YOU AND WELCOME EVERYBODY TO OUR THIRD BOARD MEETING OF THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
THE TIME IS, UH, 2:06 PM HELLO.
BOARD MEMBER STRATTON, AND THANK YOU FOR JOINING US.
I KNOW YOU JUST FINISHED A REALLY LONG MEETING WITH
HAD TO THROW SOMETHING DOWN, THROW SOMETHING DOWN MY GULLET REAL QUICK, AND THEN GET READY FOR THE NEXT ONE.
SO, THIS IS GONNA BE A REMOTE MEETING JUST AS A REMINDER TO KEEP YOUR CAMERAS ON WHEN WE'RE VOTING ON AN ACTION ITEM.
AND, UM, SO TODAY WE'RE GONNA BE A LITTLE BIT OUT OF ORDER THAT YOU SEE IN THE PO IN THE AGENDA.
SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE THE PUBLIC COMMENT FIRST, WHICH IN THIS TIME WE DON'T HAVE ANYBODY SIGNED UP.
AND, UH, THE MONTHLY PROGRAM UPDATES.
THEN WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO OUR ACTION ITEMS, THEN THE DISCUSSION ITEMS. AND WE'RE GONNA END WITH THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT.
[III.1. Monthly Community Engagement & Involvement Update]
SINCE WE DON'T HAVE ANY SPEAKERS, WE'RE GONNA JUMP OVER TO THE MONTHLY PROGRAM UPDATES.AND OUR FIRST DISCUSSION ITEM TODAY IS THE MONTHLY UPDATE FOR OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FROM JACKIE BERG.
GOOD AFTERNOON, MADAM CHAIR, BOARD MEMBERS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CLARK.
I AM DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND INVOLVEMENT AT THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
AND IT'S MY PLEASURE TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT ACTIVITY.
SOME OF THIS IS REVIEW, UH, BUT WE HAVE NEW NUMBERS IN, SO I WANTED TO UPDATE THOSE.
SO, UH, IN JANUARY, END OF JANUARY, WE HAD NEPA OR NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY ACT, ENVIRONMENTAL SCOPING MEETINGS FOR THE ORANGE AND BLUE LINES.
AND, UM, SCOPING MEETINGS ARE JUST SORT OF THE KICKOFF WITH OUR COMMUNITY ON THE ENVIRONMENTAL, UH, STUDY.
SO WE DID A SERIES OF THOSE MARCH, UH, EXCUSE ME, JANUARY 25TH THROUGH THE 29TH.
UM, AND THESE HAD AN ACCOMPANYING VIRTUAL OPPORTUNITY THAT WAS SELF-GUIDED IN THE LIVE MEETINGS FOR THE ORANGE LINE.
WE HAD A TOTAL OF 752 PARTICIPANTS.
AND FOR THE BLUE LINE, THE LIVE MEETINGS HAD 735 PARTICIPANTS.
UM, FOR THE SELF-GUIDED MEETINGS, WHICH JUST CLOSED ON MARCH THE 12TH, WE HAD, UH, 428 UNIQUE VISITORS FOR THE ORANGE LINE SCOPING MEETING, AND 517 FOR THE BLUE LINE.
SO OUR TOTAL FOR ORANGE AND BLUE LINE LIVE MEETINGS WAS 1,409, UH, 87 FOR, UH, THE, UH, THE SELF-GUIDED VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSES 945, WHICH, UH, WHICH WAS A GRAND TOTAL OF, UH, OVER, LET'S SEE, ALMOST 3000 PEOPLE.
SO WE DID REALLY FANTASTIC WITH THESE VIRTUAL SCOPING MEETINGS AND THE LIVE MEETINGS.
UM, WE ALSO DID IN THE BEGINNING OF FEBRUARY, SOME LIVE, UH, COMMUNITY MEETINGS FOR THE FIRST TWO OF OUR METRO RAPID LINES, THE EXPO IN THE PLEASANT VALLEY LINES.
UM, WE HAD 353 PARTICIPANTS IN THOSE LIVE MEETINGS.
WE HAVE A SELF-GUIDED, UH, VERSION ONLINE RIGHT NOW.
WE, WE PUSHED THE, UH, CLOSING PERIOD TO THE 19TH, UM, BECAUSE OF THE STORM LAST MONTH.
UH, GIVE PEOPLE A LITTLE BIT LONGER OF A CHANCE TO, TO WEIGH IN ON STATION AMENITIES AND IT TO PROMOTE THESE.
WE DID NEIGHBORHOOD GROUP OUTREACH AS WELL AS SOME AT STOP ENGAGEMENT.
SO WE ARE STARTING TO GET OUT THERE LITTLE BY LITTLE, UM, AND LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING A LOT MORE IN-PERSON OUTREACH, UM, AS WE MOVE TOWARDS THE SUMMER AND FALL.
UM, FOR UPCOMING ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES, WE HAVE OUR NEXT ROUND OF OUTREACH FOR THE ORANGE AND BLUE LINES.
IT WILL BE THE WEEK OF APRIL 26TH.
WE PLAN TO DO A SIMILAR CADENCE WITH A COUPLE OR THREE ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES, LIVE PLUS ONE IN SPANISH, UM, AND THEN A VIRTUAL SELF-GUIDED VERSION FOR PEOPLE TO DO ON THEIR OWN TIME, WHICH WE'LL LEAVE LIVE FOR ABOUT A MONTH.
UM, I JUST QUICKLY WANTED TO GO OVER SOME OF THE THEMES THAT CAME UP, UM, WITH PEOPLE'S COMMENTS DURING THE LIVE MEETINGS AND IN THE SELF-GUIDED, UH, SCOPING MEETINGS.
UM, AND IT'S ALWAYS INTERESTING, INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT PEOPLE HAVE TO SAY ON THESE OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS.
AND WE START TO GET AN IDEA OF WHAT THEMES ARE IMPORTANT TO PEOPLE.
SO ON THE ORANGE LINE, THE THEMES WERE THE LARGEST, UH, RESPONSE WAS IN COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, WHICH WAS VERY ENCOURAGING.
IT MEANS PEOPLE REALLY WANT TO CONTINUE TO PLUG IN AND FOLLOW ALONG AND BE PART OF THIS PROCESS.
[00:05:01]
UH, REALLY ENCOURAGED ABOUT THAT.UM, THE NEXT, UH, MOST TALKED ABOUT AREA WAS PROJECT DESIGN AND ELEMENTS, WHICH IS NOT SURPRISING.
UM, THE NEXT ONE AFTER THAT WAS CONNECTIVITY.
WE HAD ABOUT 13% OF FOLKS, UM, GAVE US COMMENTS ABOUT SYSTEM CONNECTIVITY, FOLLOWED BY TIMELINE AND PHASING, AND THEN SERVICE AND FARES, AND THEN A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER LITTLE SLIVERS THAT YOU SEE THERE, INCLUDING THINGS LIKE, UH, PROGRAM EQUITY AND STATION AMENITIES.
UM, SO YOU'LL BE ABLE TO SEE THOSE IN YOUR PACKETS IF YOU WANNA DEEP DIVE ON SOME OF THE SMALLER, UM, THEMES THAT CAME OUT.
UM, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, WE CAN SEE THE SAME FOR THE BLUE LINE SCOPING MEETINGS.
UM, THE BLUE LINE HAD A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT, UH, PROPORTION OF COMMENTS.
THE LARGEST, UH, PORTION OF THE THEME OF THE COMMENTS INCLUDED, UH, PROJECT ELEMENTS AND DESIGN FOLLOWED BY, ONCE AGAIN, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT HAD A LARGE RESPONSE.
UM, ENVIRONMENTAL CONSIDERATIONS DID, DID POP UP ON THE RADAR HERE AS A LARGER PORTION OF THE COMMENTS, UM, TIMELINE AND PHASING, UH, SYSTEM CONNECTIVITY.
AND THEN STATION LOCATIONS CAME UP ON THE BLUE LINE.
AND ON THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'LL LOOK AT THE PLEASANT VALLEY AND EXPO METRO RAPID ROUTES.
UM, THE THEMES WERE BY FAR THE LARGEST WERE PROJECT ELEMENTS AND DESIGN AND STATION DESIGN AND AMENITIES, FOLLOWED BY, UH, COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
AND FINALLY, SERVICE AREA QUESTIONS.
AND THAT IS THE UPDATE I HAVE FOR YOU THIS MONTH, AND I WILL PASS IT ALONG NOW TO DAVE COUCH WHO'S GOING TO GIVE US A PROGRAM, PROGRAM UPDATE.
JACKIE, THIS, THIS IS COLETTE.
I JUST HAVE A QUICK QUESTION BEFORE WE MOVE FORWARD.
CAN YOU EXPAND A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MEANS? WHAT, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? WELL, IT, IT ACTUALLY COVERS A, A, A FEW POSSIBILITIES.
SOME PEOPLE, UH, MENTIONED THEY WANTED TO FIND OUT HOW THEY COULD GET MORE INVOLVED.
OTHER PEOPLE HAD COMMENTS ABOUT, THEY LIKED VERY MUCH THE, UH, THE FORMAT OF THE VIRTUAL MEETINGS.
SO IT DID COVER A VARIETY OF PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT TOPICS.
BUT I BELIEVE THE LARGEST PORTION OF THOSE WERE THEY WANT TO REMAIN INVOLVED AND ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO HEARING ABOUT OTHER OPPORTUNITIES TO PLUG IN.
DOES ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? I WAS GONNA SAY, JACKIE, GOOD JOB TO ENGAGING THAT MANY PEOPLE.
AND, UH, ONCE AGAIN, THE, THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THAT YOU WENT THROUGH LEADING UP TO THE ELECTION IS ONE OF THE REASONS THAT WE DID AS WELL AS WE DID.
SO THANK YOU FOR THAT CONTINUED WORK.
[III.2. Monthly Project Connect Technical Update]
THANK YOU, MAYOR.SO, OUR SECOND DISCUSSION ITEM IS OUR MONTHLY PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM UPDATE FROM DAVE COUCH.
GOOD AFTERNOON, MADAM CHAIR, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, UH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CLARK.
UH, I'D LIKE TO GIVE, TAKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO GIVE YOU AN UPDATE ON TWO PARTS.
ONE IS WHERE WE ARE WITH THE ONGOING CONSTRUCTION PORTION.
UH, WE'VE COMPLETED THE RIGHT OF WAY SERVING SURVEY ALL THE WAY UP BOTH LINES.
UH, SO THAT COVERS THE ENTIRETY OF THE ORANGE AND THE BLUE LINE.
UH, ALONG WITH THAT, UH, WE'RE DOING AS-BUILTS TO FIND OUT EXACTLY WHERE UTILITIES ARE.
EVERYTHING FROM BEING ABLE TO OPEN MANHOLES TO SEE WHERE SEWER LINES ARE, HOW DEEP THINGS ARE, UH, CHECKING VALVES, CHECKING MANHOLES, UH, BECAUSE THAT'S GONNA HELP IMMENSELY AS WE START TO GO INTO THE NEXT PHASE, WHICH IS ALL OF THE, UH, UTILITY DESIGN AND THE TRACK GEOMETRY.
UH, PICTURE ON THE TOP RIGHT IS A SURVEYOR OUT DOING SOME OF THAT WORK, UH, GOING TO THE TRACK GEOMETRY.
UH, THAT'S WHAT WE ARE WORKING OUR WAY THROUGH RIGHT NOW.
UH, WE HAVE GOT THE VAST MAJORITY OF WHAT'S THERE ON THE BLUE LINE, UH, AT THE LOCATIONS AND GRADES THAT WE EXPECT THINGS TO BE AT.
UH, WE'VE GOT A FEW PLACES THAT WE'RE WORKING THROUGH, UH, AT THE CONVENTION CENTER, UH, ON THE ORANGE LINE.
UH, WE'RE DOING THE SAME THING WITH THE TRACK GEOMETRY.
WE'VE GOT THREE OR FOUR PLACES THERE, UH, THAT WE'VE GOT MORE DETAILED WORK TO DO, UH, PLACES LIKE CRESTVIEW, THE DRAG, AND ALSO SOME AREAS IN SOCO.
UH, SO WE'RE WORKING THROUGH THOSE AND WORKING WITH JACKIE AND THE COMMUNITY, UH, TO GO AHEAD AND MOVE FORWARD ON THOSE.
UH, THE LAST THING THAT'S ON THIS SHEET IS REALLY SOMETHING THAT I WANTED TO GO AHEAD, UH, AND BEGIN TO WALK OUR WAY THROUGH.
THE, THE DIAGRAM THAT'S ON THE RIGHT IS WHAT THE GUIDEWAY WILL LOOK LIKE.
UH, IT BASICALLY SHOWS, UH, IN A LITTLE BIT DARKER KIND OF THE PALE ORANGE.
UH, THAT'LL BE A CONCRETE SLAB WITH TRACKS EMBEDDED ON BOTH SIDES.
UH, SO YOU HAVE BI-DIRECTIONAL WITH THE TRACKS, UH, AND IT
[00:10:01]
GIVES US AN OVERALL DIMENSION OF SOME 28 FEET.SO THAT'S WHAT WE'LL BE FOR THE MOST PART, UH, DOWN THE CENTER OF EACH ONE OF THE CITY STREETS.
UH, THERE WILL BE THE EXCEPTION WHEN WE GO INTO THE TUNNEL, UH, AND THERE WILL BE ALSO BE AREAS WHERE WE GO AERIAL, UH, SUCH AS GOING INTO THE AIRPORT.
UH, BUT THIS IS THE BASIC STARTING POINT THAT YOU NEED, UH, WITH THE DEFINITION OF WHAT THE WIDTHS ARE THAT'S BASED UPON, UH, THE VEHICLES, THE DYNAMIC OUTLINE OF THE VEHICLES, AND THEN PROVIDING A SAFE SEPARATE AREA, UH, FROM ANY OF THE LOCAL TRAFFIC IN THE NEXT LANE.
UH, TO BUILD UPON WHAT JACKIE SAID EARLIER ABOUT THE SCOPING, UH, IN ADDITION TO THE PUBLIC MEETINGS, WE ALSO HAVE A SERIES OF MEETINGS THAT ARE THERE, UH, WITH THE AGENCIES.
AND WE'VE GONE THROUGH A SEPARATE SCOPING PROCESS WITH THE AGENCIES.
UH, WE'RE LOOKING AS WE GO FORWARD TO GET COMMENTS ON THE SCOPING REPORT, UH, FROM EACH ONE OF THE PARTICIPATING AGENCIES, WE'RE DEVELOPING THE HISTORIC RESOURCES AND THE OUTREACH.
ABOUT A MONTH AGO, YOU RECEIVED COPIES OF A LETTER, UH, THAT WILL GIVE US A TEMPORARY RIGHT OF ENTRY, UH, TO BE ABLE TO GO INTO, START TO DO SOME OF THE THINGS ON THE PROPERTY THAT WOULD BE LOOKING FOR, UH, THE THINGS THAT ARE ARCHEOLOGICAL IN NATURE.
SO LOOKING TO SEE THAT THERE MAY BE ANYTHING THAT WOULD BE ENVIRONMENTAL OR HISTORIC.
SO THAT WILL OCCUR ON EACH ONE OF THE PROPERTIES AS WE GO UP AND DOWN THE LINES.
UH, WE STARTED WITH THE BLUE LINE AND THERE WERE, I BELIEVE, 27 DIFFERENT LOCATIONS, UH, THAT WE'RE GONNA DO THAT TYPE OF WORK.
THE ORANGE LINE WILL BE RIGHT BEHIND IT, PROBABLY IN THE NEXT MONTH OR MONTH AND A HALF.
SO THAT'S A PROCESS THAT WE GO THROUGH, UH, AS THE FIRST PART OF THAT ENVIRONMENTAL FOR NEPA TO REALLY LOOKING AT WHAT'S THERE IN THE AREAS THAT WE WILL BE LOOKING TO GO AHEAD AND BUILD, UH, SO THAT WE CAN, WE CAN IDENTIFY ANY OF THOSE SENSITIVE AREAS, AREAS, AREAS THAT COULD BE HISTORIC, UH, SO WE KNOW WHAT WE HAVE TO DO AND HOW WE HAVE TO PRESERVE DIFFERENT AREAS.
THAT CONCLUDES WHAT I WANTED TO DO FOR A REPORT TODAY, MADAM CHAIR.
AND I'D BE WHAT, AH, ONE MORE, SORRY.
UH, THE WORK ON THE RED LINE CONTINUES.
UH, THEY'RE WORKING RIGHT NOW ON ESTABLISHING THE TIMELINE FOR THE MCCULLOUGH STATION, UH, AS THEY GO FORWARD WITH THAT, THEY'RE LOOKING, UH, TO GO AHEAD IN THE AUGUST TIMEFRAME.
UH, THE AREA, THE DESIGN OPTIONS ARE UNDERWAY.
THEY'RE CONSIDERING WHETHER THAT WOULD BE A CENTER PLATFORM STATION, WHETHER IT COULD BE A SIDE PLATFORM STATION.
UH, THE LAKELINE, UH, OF THE SECOND TRACK IS AT A HUNDRED PERCENT DESIGN.
AND LOOKING TO GO FORWARD WITH THAT SHORTLY, UH, ON METRO RAPID, UH, CONTINUING THE WORK TO GET TO THE 30% DESIGN AND THE CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION.
AND WE'RE EXPECTING THAT LATER THIS MONTH AND INTO THE BEGINNING OF NEXT MONTH.
WE'RE DOING A COORDINATION ON LOCATION OF THE STATIONS.
UM, THERE ARE 80 OF THEM ALONG THE CORRIDORS COMBINED BETWEEN EXPO AND PLEASANT VALLEY.
SO WE'RE LOOKING AT EACH ONE OF THOSE LOCATIONS AND DOING THE COORDINATION, UH, WITH THE CITY AND WITH THE NEIGHBORHOODS.
UH, AS WITH THE EARLY WORK THAT WE'RE DOING ON THE NEPA PROCESS, AS WE FINISH THE CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION, UH, WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT CULTURAL RESOURCES AND OTHER ASPECTS THAT ARE THERE, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DID FOR THE FULL NEPA PROCESS FOR THE ORANGE AND THE BLUE.
UH, WE'RE PROGRESSING INTO THE FDA SMALL STARTS PROGRAM.
UH, WE PROVIDED A RATING LAST AUGUST, UH, AND WE'RE WAITING NOW TO GO AHEAD AND SEE THE PUBLISHED BOOK, UH, THAT NORMA COMES OUT AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR WHEN THE PRESIDENT, UH, PUTS HIS BUZZARD IN.
AND WE'RE OPTIMISTIC THAT BOTH OF THOSE WILL BE INCLUDED IN THAT BOOK.
UH, WHETHER THERE WILL BE ANYTHING THAT IS FINANCIAL WITH IT, UH, IS, IS SOMETHING THAT I WOULD NOT NECESSARILY EXPECT IN THE FIRST YEAR.
UH, BUT OUR EXPECTATION, OUR HOPE IS THEY WILL BE LISTED IN THE BOOK.
UH, WE HAD A WORKSHOP TO LOOK AT WHAT THE EXPOSURES WERE, WHAT THE RISKS WERE ON BOTH EXPO AND PLEASANT VALLEY, UH, ON THE NEIGHBORHOOD CIRCULATORS.
UH, THE GUIDELINES ARE IN THE FINAL STAGES OF BEING DEVELOPED.
BASED UPON THOSE GUIDELINES, THERE ARE THE NEXT THREE PICKUP ZONES THAT WOULD BE LOOKED, UH, TO GO AHEAD AND BE PUT TOGETHER AND SCHEDULED TO START, UH, IN THE SUMMER.
UH, AND WITH EACH ONE OF THOSE, UH, WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO THE SAME KIND OF GROWTH HOPEFULLY THAT WE SAW IN THE EARLY ONES.
[00:15:01]
ALL OF THIS WILL BE PUT UP ONLINE, UH, SO THAT IT IS AVAILABLE ON THE DASHBOARD AS WE GO INTO THE SUMMER.BUT THAT DOES CONCLUDE OUR PRESENTATION.
JUST A QUICK QUESTION ON THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING, HOW, HOW'S THAT KIND OF GOING? JUST, UM, IN A NUTSHELL, ARE WE ON SCHEDULE ANY BIG CHALLENGES THAT YOU'VE SEEN TO DATE IN THE PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING? OR IS IT JUST KIND OF GOING ACCORDING TO PLAN? WE'RE ON TRACK.
UH, WE'RE ON TRACK ON THE ORANGE, ORANGE, BLUE, AND TUNNEL.
THE, UH, WE'RE ON TRACK WITH WHERE WE ARE HITTING A GOOD SCHEDULE.
WE HAVE SOME COMPLICATED AREAS ON EACH ONE OF THE LINES THAT WE'RE WORKING THROUGH.
UH, THAT'S WHY I MENTIONED CRESTVIEW SOCO, UH, AND THE AREA OUT BY THE AIRPORT.
UH, BUT WE KNOW THAT WE'VE GOT SIX OR EIGHT OF THOSE LOCATIONS THAT ARE GONNA TAKE VERY CLOSE COORDINATION AS WE CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THE DESIGN.
NONE OF THEM THAT I EXPECT ARE GONNA BE ANY MAJOR PROBLEMS, UH, JUST PARTICULAR FOCUS AREAS.
BUT NO, WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE IN VERY GOOD SHAPE, UH, BOARD MEMBER ELKINS.
UM, DAVE, I JUST GOT, UH, ONE QUICK QUESTION FOR THOSE OF US, UH, FOR SOME LAYMEN OUT THERE.
CAN YOU PLEASE BRIEFLY EXPLAIN WHAT THE TERM TRACK GEOMETRY MEANS? OKAY.
UM, BA BASICALLY WHAT IT IS, IS THAT IF YOU THINK OF A, A CONVENTIONAL RAILROAD, UH, THAT WE WILL BE PUTTING IN THOSE TYPES OF TRACKS THAT WILL BE EMBEDDED IN CONCRETE THROUGH THE CITY STREETS.
UH, AND THE GEOMETRY HAS TWO DIFFERENT WAYS.
IT IS A VERTICAL GEOMETRY VERTICAL COMPONENT THAT YOU'RE LOOKING TO DO SOMETHING THAT PROVIDES A MAXIMUM GRADE AND PROVIDES, UH, A SMOOTH TRANSITION BETWEEN GRADES TO GET RIDE COMFORT.
SO THAT'S THE VERTICAL COMPONENT.
THE HORIZONTAL COMPONENT IS WHAT'S THERE AND WHERE IT FITS WITHIN THE ROADWAY.
UH, SO THOSE ARE THE TWO PIECES THAT YOU LOOK AT.
AND WHEN YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE HORIZONTAL, YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE TYPES OF CURVES, HOW TIGHT THE CURVES CAN BE.
UH, AND THERE ARE ACTUALLY MINIMUMS THAT YOU CAN GO DOWN TO, UH, ON CURVES.
YOU, YOU DON'T WANNA GO BELOW A HUNDRED, UH, FOOT RADIUS, BUT YOU CAN GO DOWN AS LOW AS 82 FEET.
UH, SO THAT'S THE BASIS OF HOW WE WORK THROUGH IT.
UH, AND, AND ONE OF THE IMPORTANT THINGS IS MAKING SURE THAT YOU'VE GOT, UH, THE RADIUS AS MUCH AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN, UH, TO ELIMINATE ANY NOISE THAT WILL OCCUR AS YOU GET TO A TIGHTER RADIUS.
UH, AND ALSO IT'S IMPORTANT FOR, UH, TRANSITION.
IF YOU THINK OF GOING DOWN, UH, A STEEP HILL, UH, WHEN YOU GET TO THE BOTTOM, IF IT FLATTENS OUT, UH, YOU NEED TO BE ABLE TO GET A GOOD TRANSITION AND A SLOPE ON THE RAIL, UH, SO THAT YOU GET A SMOOTH RIDE.
UH, WE DON'T WANNA DO SOMETHING THAT STARTS TO TURN INTO SOMETHING THAT COULD BE A ROLLER COASTER.
UH, SO IT, IT'S ALL OF THOSE THINGS THAT GO INTO THAT EQUATION, UH, AS YOU LOOK HOW TO PUT IT TOGETHER.
IT, IT REALLY IS A BASE STARTING POINT, UM, THAT EVERYTHING ELSE GOES AROUND, THAT ONCE WE ESTABLISH WHAT THAT WILL BE AND THE LOCATION, THAT'S WHEN WE GO THROUGH THE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT UTILITIES, RELOCATION, AND THINGS OF THAT NATURE.
SO IT, IT'S A BUILDING BLOCK, IF YOU WILL.
SO AS, AS WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT, AND THEN IN THE, THE NEXT PIECE YOU TALKED ABOUT WHEN YOU WERE LOOKING AT, UH, THAT, THAT LITTLE DIAGRAM THAT YOU SHOWED US, THAT IT WAS KIND OF A BASIC PROPOSED PLAN OF, OF KIND OF THE RIGHT OF WAY DESIGNING PIECE THERE.
UM, WE'RE GONNA BE AT, AT SOME POINT WE'RE LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE, UH, THE, THE, THE, THE, THE, WHAT THE VEHICLES ARE GONNA BE AND, AND THE BEST WAY TO, TO, UM, UH, THE BEST FORM OF PROPULSION ON THESE.
I KNOW IT'S GONNA BE LIGHT RAIL, BUT, UH, I KNOW THAT, THAT WE'VE TALKED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICES AND SOME OF THE BEST, UH, THE, THE BEST SYSTEMS AROUND, NOT JUST THE COUNTRY, BUT THE WORLD.
AND I KNOW SOME OF 'EM, THEY HAVE G THEY HAVE ELECTRIC G, THEY HAVE ELECTRIC, UH, ELECTRIC WIRE, UH, THAT GOES ABOVE THE TRAINS THAT THEY, THEY ELECTRIC GUIDEWIRE THAT THEY, THEY HAVE ABOVE THE TRAINS.
SOME OF 'EM ARE BUILT IN THE GROUND.
BUT, UM, IS, IS IT, UH, AND AGAIN, JUST TO HELP ME UNDERSTAND THIS BETTER, SINCE THIS IS EVEN FOR ME AS A CAP METRO BOARD MEMBER ON THIS BOARD, THIS IS, THIS IS WHOLE BRAND NEW STUFF FOR, FOR ME AS WELL.
IS IT, IS IT, UH, A FAIR ASSUMPTION OR SAFE TO SAY THAT, UM, REGARDLESS OF WHAT WE ULTIMATELY MAY DECIDE AND WHAT YOU AS STAFF ARE, ARE
[00:20:01]
LOOKING INTO ABOUT, ABOUT, YOU KNOW, HOW WE'RE GOING TO MAKE THIS THING RUN, YOU KNOW, ELECTRICALLY OR WHATEVER, WHETHER IT'S GOING TO BE WITH A, WITH A RAIL THAT, THAT, THAT GOES UNDERNEATH OR, OR, YOU KNOW, SOME SORT OF A GUIDEWIRE SYSTEM UP ABOVE.UM, WE, THIS IS THE FIR THIS IS THE VERY FIRST STARTING POINT BECAUSE YOU, YOU GOTTA HAVE, YOU GOTTA HAVE YOUR, YOUR, YOUR, YOUR TRACK IN PLACE BEFORE YOU CAN EVEN FIGURE OUT THESE OTHER, THE OTHER PIECES LIKE THAT.
IS THAT, IS THAT KIND OF A SAFE WAY? YEAH.
LET ME, LET ME TRY THAT IN TWO DIRECTIONS.
UH, THE FIRST IS, UH, THE, ON THE EIGHTH AND 9TH OF APRIL, UH, WE'RE HAVING A VEHICLE DAY.
UH, AND WE HAVE GOT SIX OF THE TOP VEHICLE MANUFACTURERS IN THE WORLD, UH, THAT ARE GONNA PARTICIPATE IN THAT PROCESS.
SO WE CAN FIND OUT WHAT THEY HAVE NOW, WHAT THEY'RE PLANNING FOR THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, WHAT THEY'VE GOT THAT THEY'RE LOOKING AT FOR OUT IN THE FUTURE INTO THE 10 YEAR RANGE, SO THAT WE START TO GET THE BACKGROUND ON THAT.
UM, THE TRACK IS, THE TRACK IS THE TRACK.
IT HASN'T CHANGED IN OVER A HUNDRED YEARS.
UH, SO IT IS THE BASIC GEOMETRY THAT YOU'VE GOT, UH, THAT YOU CONTINUE WITH.
UH, AND THEN IN TERMS OF HOW YOU GET POWER, UH, THERE ARE A TREMENDOUS NUMBER OF WAYS TO GET POWER.
UH, OUR INITIAL GOAL, UH, AND THE WAY THAT WE'RE LOOKING AT THIS IS TO TRY TO ELIMINATE ANY OVERHEAD CANARY, UH, TO PUT EVERYTHING SO THAT IT IS EITHER IN THE GROUND OR AT SPECIFIC LOCATIONS, UH, TO GO AHEAD, UH, AND RECHARGE THE BATTERIES.
UH, THAT'S A PROCESS WE'RE GOING THROUGH RIGHT NOW, UH, TO DETERMINE WHAT IT IS THAT IS THE BEST WAY TO GO AHEAD AND DO THAT.
UH, ALONG WITH IT COMES OTHER PARTS OF THE SYSTEM, UH, THAT ARE COMMUNICATION BASED, TRAIN CONTROL, UH, A SYSTEM THAT TIES BACK TO THE CONTROL CENTER, UH, SO THAT YOU ALWAYS KNOW WHERE THE VEHICLES ARE.
UH, THERE ARE A WHOLE SERIES OF THINGS, INTERFACE WITH THE TRAFFIC SIGNALS.
ALL OF THOSE THINGS BUILD ONE UPON THE OTHER.
UH, AND, AND THAT'S THE PROCESS THAT WE WILL GO THROUGH.
BUT IT ALL STARTS RIGHT HERE WITH YOU.
YOU, YOU GOTTA HAVE THE GEOMETRY OF THE TRACK, AND YOU GOTTA HAVE THAT KIND OF BASIC FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF THEN THE, THE, UM, THE RIGHT OF WAY AND PATTERNS AND, AND THAT, THAT DIAGRAM YOU SHOWED US, YOU GOTTA START THERE.
YOU GOTTA START SOMEWHERE BEFORE YOU CAN TAKE IT.
YOU GOTTA CRAWL, YOU GOTTA CRAWL, YOU GOTTA, YOU GOTTA CRAWL BEFORE YOU CAN, CAN WALK, OR IN THIS CASE, YES.
AND I THINK DAVE, DAVE, CORRECT IF I'M WRONG, I THINK IN MAY FOR OUR INSIGHT INFORMATION BOARD TOPICS, UH, WE ARE DOING VEHICLES AND INFRASTRUCTURE.
SO BE THE FIRST DEEP DIVE ON THIS TOPIC AREA FOR THE BOARD.
UM, I HEARD YOU MENTION 80, 80 LOCATIONS FOR THE STATION, IS THAT CORRECT? ALONG THE WEB? THAT'S CORRECT.
UH, IT'S, IT'S ACTUALLY, UH, IT IS 80 STATIONS, BUT IT'S 40 LOCATIONS BECAUSE ONE IS, YOU KNOW, THEY'RE OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE STREET.
UH, SO YES, THERE'S 40 LOCATIONS.
UH, I SHOULD HAVE CLARIFIED THAT THERE'S 40 LOCATIONS, BUT THERE ARE 80 INDIVIDUAL STATIONS.
AND THOSE CAME ABOUT FROM COMMUNITY INPUT.
THAT'S PART OF THE INPUT THAT WE'RE GETTING.
UH, WE LOOK AND WE START WITH A NORMAL SPACING, UH, AND THEN THOSE ARE ADJUSTED AS WE GO THROUGH THE PROCESS.
THEY'RE ADJUSTED IN CONJUNCTION WITH WORKING WITH THE CITY.
UH, THE NORMAL WAY OF LOOKING AT THOSE IS TO TRY TO GET 'EM ON THE FAR SIDE OF AN INTERSECTION.
UH, BUT YES, THERE IS COMMUNITY INPUT AS WE GO THROUGH IT.
AND SO WHEN THE STARS ALIGN AND YOU GUYS DECIDE WHAT ARE THE PERFECT LOCATIONS, IF THERE'S SUCH THING AS PERFECT, SO HOW ARE WE DISCERNING THOSE? WHO PICKS THOSE LOCATIONS? LIKE, WHAT IS, HOW ARE YOU GUYS SELECTING THOSE? YEP.
PART OF IT IS TECHNICAL MM-HMM
UH, AND THERE ARE SOME LOCATIONS THAT IT IS VERY, VERY CONDUCIVE TO HAVING THOSE, UH, SUCH AS AT MAJOR INTERSECTIONS.
UH, ONE EXAMPLE OF THAT WOULD BE ON PLEASANT VALLEY.
UH, YOU WOULD WANT TO HAVE ONE THAT IS RIGHT NEAR THERE, THE INTERSECTION OF CESAR CHAVEZ.
AND IT, AND IT'S SIMPLY BECAUSE OF WHAT'S THERE IN THE POTENTIAL RIDERSHIP.
UH, SOME OF THEM ARE TIED TO CROSS TOWN ROUTES, UM, THAT ARE THERE FOR THE EXISTING BUS SYSTEM.
UH, AND SOME OF THEM ARE ADJUSTED BASED UPON, UH, THE RIDERSHIP, THE AREA, AND THE COMMUNITY.
SO THERE ARE A WHOLE SERIES OF STEPS THAT YOU GO THROUGH.
UH, ONE OF THE NEXT THINGS THAT WE'LL BE DOING, AND IT WILL BE COMING OUT IN THE JUNE TIMEFRAME, UH, IS THAT WE'RE GONNA COME UP WITH A PROTOTYPE OF WHAT THE EX,
[00:25:01]
WHAT THE STATIONS COULD BE, AND WE'LL BRING THAT OUT TO THE COMMUNITY TO GO AHEAD AND GET COMMENTS ON THAT.AND THAT'S REALLY FOR THE, THE FEEL AND LOOK OF THE STATIONS AND WHERE IT'S BEEN DECIDED WHERE IT'S GONNA LAND.
NOW THIS BEHIND THE SCENES WORK FOR THE SPECIFICALLY TO THE, TO THE WORK THAT YOU GUYS ARE MOVING FORWARD WITH, I NOTICED THAT AS, YOU KNOW, WITH THE PREVIOUS BOARD MEETING FOR CAB METRO AS THE MATRIX OF WHAT DESIGNS THE, THE PICKUP AREAS FOR THAT PIECE OF THE PUZZLE THERE, THERE'S THE GRADING CRITERIA THAT GOES ALONG WITH IT.
UH, I HAVE YOU GUYS DEVELOPED THAT GRADING CRITERIA? YOU TALKING ABOUT THE PICKUP SERVICE? YES, BUT ALSO IN RELATION, SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THAT.
BUT FOR THE METRO RAIL AND THE STATIONS AND THE FUTURE LOCATIONS FOR ALL OF THE BLUE AND ORANGE LINES, YOU, YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE POTENTIAL RIDERSHIP FOR A PARTICULAR AREA.
YOU'RE ALSO LOOKING FOR A TYPICAL, UH, LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM THAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR STATIONS THAT ARE IN THAT MILE TO MILE AND A HALF RANGE APART.
SO THERE'S A SERIES OF BASE PARAMETERS, AND, AND SOME OF THAT THEN GETS TEMPERED BY THE EXACT LOCATION.
FOR EXAMPLE, THERE WILL BE A LIGHT RAIL STATION THAT WOULD BE AT REPUBLIC SQUARE.
UH, THERE WILL BE A SERIES OF THEM THAT BECOME LOCATED JUST BECAUSE OF WHAT IS THERE IN THAT AREA, AND TO PROVIDE SERVICE TO IT.
UH, IT'S, THAT'S ONE OF THE PARAMETERS THAT'S THERE.
UH, ANOTHER PARAMETER IS WHAT'S THERE IN TERMS OF PROJECTED RIDERSHIP, THE AREA AROUND THE STATION AND THE SERVICE THAT CAN BE PROVIDED.
UH, AND THEN ALL OF THAT IS LOOKED THROUGH.
AND THEN THERE'S PARTICIPATION BY THE COMMUNITY, UH, IN EXACTLY WHERE EACH ONE OF THOSE STATIONS WILL GO.
UH, IN A LOT OF CASES, WE CAN MOVE STATIONS TO A CERTAIN POINT.
UH, BUT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S THERE, GOING BACK TO GEOMETRY, UH, IS THAT WE ARE GONNA HAVE A 400 FOOT LONG LIGHT RAIL STATION, AND THAT HAS TO BE IN A TANGENT.
SO THAT REQUIRES YOU TO HAVE THINGS AT CERTAIN LOCATIONS, UH, SO THAT, THAT'S ALL PART OF WHAT YOU CAN AND CAN'T DO.
IT'S, IT'S A COMPLICATED PROCESS, UH, AND, AND IT JUST HAS TO, YOU HAVE TO WORK THROUGH IT FROM ONE END TO THE OTHER.
ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE GONNA BE DOING WITH THE, UH, IN THE NEXT COMMUNITY OUTREACH IS TO GO AHEAD AND THERE'S THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF STATIONS.
THERE'S ONE THAT'LL BE A CENTER PLATFORM, ONE WILL BE SIDE PLATFORM, AND ONE WILL BE SPLIT ACROSS THE INTERSECTION.
SO IT, IT'S ALL OF THOSE THINGS, UH, AND IT REALLY TIES TO WHAT THE CONDITIONS ARE AT A SPECIFIC LOCATION.
YEAH, THERE'S, THERE'S A LOT OF PIECES OF THE PUZZLE THAT HAVE TO COME TOGETHER.
AND I JUST REALLY WANNA ENCOURAGE THE, THE COLLABORATION WITH THE CITY IS, IS SOMETHING THAT YOU GUYS HAVE ELEVATED, UH, AND DONE REALLY WELL.
AND I JUST REALLY HOPE THAT WE CAN CONTINUE ON THAT TREND.
[II.1. Approval of minutes from the February 24, 2021 Austin Transit Partnership board meeting.]
THANK YOU, MR. COUCH.UM, SO WE'RE MOVING ON TO ACTION ITEM NUMBER ONE.
SO, APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES FROM OUR FEBRUARY 24TH, 2021, A TP BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING.
EVERYBODY HAS HAD A CHANCE TO READ THOSE.
UM, SO CAN I HAVE A MOTION AND A SECOND PLEASE? FOR ACTION? ITEM NUMBER ONE, THIS IS COLETTE.
AND, UM, MAYOR ADLER, YOU SECOND IT.
UM, I'M GONNA TAKE A ROLL CALL, SO MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR CAMERAS ON.
MEMBER ELKINS FOR THE APPROVAL OF THE, OF THE MEETING MINUTES.
YEAH, WE COULDN'T HEAR, I THINK.
[II.2. Approval of the Committee Charter Statements for each of the following Technical Advisory Committees of the Austin Transit Partnership (“ATP”) Board of Directors: (I) the Engineering, Architecture and Construction Committee (“EAC”); (ii) the Planning, Sustainability, Equity & DBE Advisory Committee (“PSEC”); and (iii) the Finance and Risk Committee (“FAR”).]
APPROVE.UM, SO NOW WE'RE GONNA GO, UM, WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO ACTION ITEM NUMBER TWO.
SO THIS IS THE APPROVAL OF THE COMMITTEE CHARTER STATEMENTS FOR EACH OF THE FOLLOWING TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES OF THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, A TP BOARD OF DIRECTORS, THE ENGINEERING ARCHITECTURE
[00:30:01]
AND CONSTRUCTION COMMITTEE, EAC, THE PLANNING, SUSTAINABILITY EQUITY, AND DBE ADVISORY COMMITTEE STANDS FOR PSEC AND THE FINANCE AND RISK COMMITTEE, FAR.SO, UM, SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE JACKIE GIVE US A BIT OF A BACKGROUND ON THIS.
GOOD AFTERNOON AGAIN, EVERYONE.
UM, I WANTED TO REVIEW, AS YOU RECALL, THE LAST TIME THAT WE HAD A MEETING, WE WENT OVER THE BOARD ADVISORY COMMITTEES, AND, UM, WE TOLD YOU THAT WE WOULD COME BACK THIS MONTH WITH CHARTERS, WHICH IS WHAT WE'VE DONE.
WE DEVELOPED CHARTERS FOR EACH OF THE THREE TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES.
WE ALSO, UH, TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE THAT HAS ALREADY GONE THROUGH AN APPLICATION PROCESS, AND THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE IS CURRENTLY REVIEWING APPLICATIONS.
SO WE'LL BE LOOKING AT CHARTERS TODAY FOR THE ENGINEERING ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION ADVISORY COMMITTEE, OR THE EAC, THE FINANCE AND RISK ADVISORY COMMITTEE, THE FAR, AND THE PLANNING, SUSTAINABILITY EQUITY AND DBE ADVISORY COMMITTEE, PSEC, OR IF YOU PREFER PSEC.
UM, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, WE'LL LOOK AT A TIMELINE, UH, OF OUR COMMITTEE PROCESSES.
I MENTIONED THE COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE IS ALREADY PASSED THE APPLICATION PHASE AND IN THE REVIEW PROCESS.
SO THE NOMINATING COMMITTEE IS REVIEWING, UH, APPLICATIONS WITH THE GOAL OF, UH, APPOINTING THE MEMBERS TO THAT COMMITTEE BY MARCH 31ST.
UM, AND HAVING THE APPROVAL OF THOSE, UH, COMMITTEE MEMBERS IN EARLY APRIL WITH THE FIRST MEETING TO BEGIN OR TO, TO, UH, TAKE PLACE IN LATE APRIL FOR OUR TECHNICAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES.
UM, WE ARE CURRENTLY AT THE, AT THE POINT WHERE WE ARE, UH, APPROVING THE COMMUNITY, THE COMMITTEE CHARTERS, UM, AND THEN WE PLAN TO LAUNCH THE APPLICATION PERIOD IN EARLY APRIL, UM, WITH COMMITTEE MEET MEMBER APPOINTMENTS, UH, IN MAY.
AND, UH, THE GOAL OF INITIATING THE FIRST COMMITTEE MEETINGS IN JUNE.
WHEN WE WERE DEVELOPING THESE CHARTERS, THERE WERE A NUMBER OF CONSIDERATIONS.
WE THOUGHT ABOUT, UM, WE LOOKED AT SOME BEST PRACTICES FROM OTHER, UM, CITIES AND TRANSIT AGENCIES, AND WE REALLY DIDN'T NEED TO LOOK MUCH FURTHER THAN OUR PARTNERS AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN, WHO HAVE DONE AN AMAZING JOB OF PROVIDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITY MEMBERS TO GET INVOLVED IN A VARIETY OF COMMISSIONS AND COUNCILS.
UM, SO SOME OF THE CONSIDERATIONS THAT WE, THAT ROSE TO THE TOP FOR US TO, TO LOOK AT WERE PURPOSE OF THE COMMITTEE, THE COMPOSITION OF THE COMMITTEE, TERM LIMITS OF MEMBERS, A MEETING CADENCE, THE DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEES LEADERSHIP, THE LIAISONS TO THE COMMITTEES, BOTH BOARD AND STAFF.
AND, UH, AN UNDERSTANDING THAT THERE WOULD BE A CONFLICT OF INTEREST IN LOBBYING PROVISION FOR EACH OF THESE CHARTERS.
SO WE'LL START ON THE NEXT SLIDE WITH OUR ENGINEERING ARCHITECTURE AND CONSTRUCTION, OR EAC COMPONENTS OF THE CHARTER.
SO THE PURPOSE OF THE EAC WILL BE TO ADVISE THE BOARD ON MATTERS RELATED TO TECHNICAL ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE, AND CONSTRUCTION ISSUES.
THEY WOULD REPORT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING ON A MONTHLY BASIS AND STAFFED BY OUR CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER DAVE COUCH, OUR DEPUTY PROGRAM OFFICER, JOHN ROHN, WHO WILL BE STARTING WITH THE A TP SOON.
AND OUR CHIEF ARCHITECT, PETER MULLEN, WHO WILL ALSO BE STARTING WITH US SOON.
UH, IT WILL BE COMPOSED OF FIVE TO NINE MEMBERS WITH TECHNICAL INTEREST.
OUR BOARD LIAISON WILL BE, UH, MADAM CHAIR, CHAIR CUSTER DE BARRERA.
UM, AND THE DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEE WOULD BE TO PROVIDE INPUTS ON MATTERS AND PROCESSES RELATED TO TECHNICAL ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE, AND CONSTRUCTION SELECTION WOULD BE BOARD MEMBER APPOINTMENT VIA A BOARD APPLICANT POOL, AND, LIKE I MENTIONED, WILL BE LAUNCHING THE APPLICATION PROCESS SHOULD YOU APPROVE TODAY, UM, IN EARLY APRIL WITH A TERM LENGTH FOR, FOR, UH, COMMITTEE MEMBERS OF TWO YEARS.
WE COULD MOVE ON TO OUR NEXT ONE, WHICH IS THE FINANCE AND RISK ADVISORY COMMITTEE.
THE PURPOSE OF THE FINANCE AND RISK ADVISORY COMMITTEE IS TO ADVISE THE BOARD ON FINANCIAL MATTERS AND RISK ANALYSIS REPORTING TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
AGAIN, MEETING ON A MONTHLY BASIS, STAFFED BY OUR CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER, GREG CANELLI, WITH CONSULTANT SUPPORT.
UH, THE MEMBER COMPOSITION WOULD BE FIVE TO NINE MEMBERS WITH FINANCIAL EXPERIENCE.
UM, AND THIS IS BOTH PROFESSIONAL AND LIVED EXPERIENCE.
I DO WANNA MENTION THAT IN OUR APPLICATION PROCESS, WE WANT TO OPEN THAT UP TO AS MANY COMMUNITY MEMBERS WHO FEEL THEY, THEY HAVE THE
[00:35:01]
QUALIFICATIONS FROM LIFE EXPERIENCE OR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE.UM, BOARD LIAISON WOULD BE BOARD MEMBER ELKINS.
THE OUTPUTS OF THAT COMMITTEE OR DUTIES WOULD BE FINANCIAL AND RISK REVIEW AND SELECTION PROCESS WOULD BE THE BOARD BOARD MEMBER APPOINTMENT VIA THE, THE APPLICANT POOL.
AND AGAIN, THE TERM LENGTH FOR MEMBERS TWO YEARS.
AND THEN FINALLY, THE PLANNING, SUSTAINABILITY, EQUITY AND DBE ADVISORY COMMITTEE COMPONENTS.
THE PURPOSE OF THE PSAC IS TO ADVISE THE BOARD ON MATTERS RELATED TO COMMUNITY PLANNING AND SUSTAINABILITY, EQUITY INVOLVING DISADVANTAGES, DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISES, AND PROGRAM EQUITY.
THE FOCUS WOULD BE ON DBE AND LOCAL BUSINESS SUPPORT PROGRAMS, COMMUNITY PLANNING AND ENGAGEMENT, UH, AND PROGRAM EQUITY, URBAN DESIGN, ACCESSIBILITY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS. THE COMMITTEE REPORTS TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS, UH, WILL MEET ON A MONTHLY BASIS.
WE'LL BE STAFFED BY MYSELF, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT, AND OUR CHIEF ARCHITECT, PETER MULLEN, MEMBER COMPOSITION WILL BE FIVE TO NINE MEMBERS WITH COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE.
AND THE BOARD LIAISON WILL BE VICE CHAIR PIERCE BURNETT.
THE OUTPUTS OR DUTIES OF THE COMMITTEE WOULD BE, UH, INFORMED BUSINESS ASSISTANT PROGRAMS, UH, PROGRAM CONCEPT NON HOUSING, URBAN DESIGN EQUITY ASSESSMENTS, AND DBE CONTRACTING STANDARDS.
THE SELECTION WOULD BE BOARD MEMBER APPOINTMENT VIA BOARD APPLICANT POOL, AND AGAIN, TERM MEMBER LENGTH WOULD BE TWO YEARS.
AND THEN FINALLY, WE'LL JUST GO THROUGH THE TIMELINE FOR THE APPLICATION PROCESS.
UM, THE GOAL WOULD BE TO LAUNCH THE APPLICATION APRIL 1ST, HAVE IT LIVE THROUGH APRIL 23RD TO GIVE PEOPLE PLENTY OF TIME TO APPLY.
UM, WE WOULD POST THESE ON THE A TP WEBSITE, ALSO ON THE PROJECT CONNECT WEBSITE.
AND I'M SURE OUR, OUR FRIENDS AT THE CITY OF AUSTIN WOULD ALSO LINK, PROVIDE A LINK TO THAT ON THE CITY WEBSITE.
UM, APRIL 26TH THROUGH MAY 2ND WOULD BE, UH, THE REVIEW OF THE APPLICATIONS BY THE BOARD MEMBER LIAISON AND ANY OTHER BOARD MEMBERS WHO WISH TO WEIGH IT.
UM, MAY 3RD THROUGH SEVENTH, POTENTIAL INTERVIEWS.
THESE ARE OPTIONAL, BUT BOARD, BOARD LIAISONS MAY CHOOSE TO DO THAT.
UH, MAY 7TH, THE TECHNICAL COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS WOULD BE FINALIZED.
AND THEN FINALLY ON MAY 19TH, AT THE NEXT BOARD MEETING, THE BOARD MEMBER LIA LIAISONS WOULD PRESENT COMMITTEE SLATES FOR THE BOARD'S CONSIDERATION.
AND THAT IS THE PROCESS AND THE CHARTERS THAT WE HAVE DEVELOPED.
AND I AM OPEN TO QUESTIONS AT THIS TIME.
THIS, IT'S KIND OF LIKE ALPHABET SOUP, THESE FOUR DIFFERENT, UH, COMMITTEES.
NOT SURE I'LL BE ABLE TO KEEP IT STRAIGHT
I KNOW IT'S PRETTY BROAD AND, AND PRETTY, UM, UH, BASIC RIGHT NOW.
BUT I WOULD ENVISION ONCE THESE COMMITTEES ARE, ARE UP AND STANDING, THAT THEY WOULD PUT TOGETHER, UH, A MORE DETAILED LIST OF AGENDA ITEMS AND THINGS THAT THEY WILL BE REVIEWING.
RIGHT? SO, UH, I WOULD IMAGINE THAT THEY WOULD COME BACK TO THE BOARD, THE COMMITTEES AND SAY, YOU KNOW, THE, THE, THESE ARE THE DETAILED SCOPE OF OUR COMMITTEE, UH, THE, THE EIGHT OR NINE ITEMS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE FOCUSING ON, AND THEN WE WOULD APPROVE THAT, THAT'S CORRECT.
AND WE EXPECT THAT THESE WILL EVOLVE OVER TIME AS WELL.
SO WE WANNA LEAVE SOME WIGGLE ROOM FOR THAT.
UM, IT'S GONNA TAKE A WHILE TO ONBOARD THESE NEW COMM COMMITTEE MEMBERS.
UM, AND SO YES, I EXPECT THAT WE'LL GET MUCH MORE SPECIFIC DETAIL FROM THEM ON, ON THE KIND OF RECOMMENDATIONS THEY'LL BE MAKING.
YEAH, THAT'S A GOOD POINT, JACKIE.
I THINK THAT THESE, UM, CHARTERS AND THESE COMMITTEES ARE GONNA BE FLUID.
UM, THINGS MAY GET ADDED TO SCOPE, GET REMOVED FROM SCOPE AS AS THE PROGRAM PROGRESSES.
I KNOW, MAYOR, YOU RAISE YOUR HAND AND THEN I'LL GO TO, UH, DR. BURNETT.
I WANTED TO THANK, UH, COLLEAGUE BOARD MEMBERS THAT, UH, UH, HAVE BEEN DRAFTED TO TAKE THE LABORING OR, UH, THE, UH, UH, KIND OF LEAD IN HELPING TO SET UP THE COMMITTEES.
UH, MY UNDERSTANDING IS, IS THAT, THAT THAT OTHER BOARD MEMBERS HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE INTERVIEWS IF THEY WANT TO, BUT YOU GUYS HAVE SIGNED UP FOR IT REGARDLESS.
AND THEN LOOK FORWARD TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM, FROM WHOEVER IT IS THAT'S PARTICIPATING.
JUST TO SAY OUT LOUD, WE HAD DISCUSSED EARLIER, THERE WERE SOME PEOPLE THAT, UM, UH, HAD APPLIED FOR, UH, SOME OF THE SPOTS, UH, ON THE A TP, UH, THAT, UM, THAT REVIEW PROCESS THAT THOUGHT WERE, WERE REALLY QUALIFIED AND, AND
[00:40:01]
COULD HAVE SAT AND THEN, AND, AND WERE CLOSE TO BEING RECOMMENDED.MY UNDERSTANDING IS, IS THAT BECAUSE THEY WENT THROUGH SUCH AN EXTENSIVE PROCESS BEFORE THAT THEY'RE, UH, UM, GOING TO BE TOLD ABOUT THE PROCESS, BUT THAT THEY WILL AUTOMATICALLY BE CONSIDERED AS, AS FOLKS THAT MAKE IT INTO THE, THE, THE, THE FINAL INTERVIEW PROCESS.
AND THAT THE OTHERS THAT APPLIED THAT MAYBE DIDN'T GET THAT FAR WILL BE REACHED OUT TO, UH, ABOUT THIS PROCESS SO THAT THEY KNOW THEY CAN GO ONLINE IF THEY WANT TO, UH, TO, TO, TO APPLY.
AND I, AND I APPRECIATE THAT, THAT REACH OUT, UH, FOR, FOR THAT GROUP TOO.
WE APPRECIATED THEIR, THEIR, THEIR INTEREST EARLIER.
JACKIE, AS USUAL, UM, EXCELLENT PRESENTATION AND LOTS OF WORK BEHIND IT.
HOW WILL THE COMMUNITY KNOW THAT THE POSITIONS ARE THERE? THAT'S A REALLY GOOD QUESTION.
SO IT'S REALLY INCUMBENT UPON US TO GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT THIS.
SO IN ADDITION TO, UM, POSTING THESE ON OUR WEBSITES, WE'LL ALSO BE DOING AN EMAIL BLAST TO OUR PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS.
WE HAVE A ALSO A PROJECT CONNECT, UH, AMBASSADOR NETWORK WHO WE REACH OUT TO WHEN THESE OPPORTUNITIES COME AVAILABLE.
UM, AND IN ADDITION, WE'LL BE DOING SOME SOCIAL MEDIA POSTING ON THOSE, AND HOPEFULLY OUR PARTNER ORGS WILL ALSO BE SHARING ON THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA AND ON THEIR WEBSITES AS WELL.
UM, UH, PERHAPS A NEWS RELEASE, ALTHOUGH I'LL HAVE TO CONSULT WITH OUR COM COMMUNICATIONS TEAM ABOUT THAT, UM, WOULD GO OUT AS WELL.
UM, BACK TO YOUR ORIGINAL, UM, REPORT ABOUT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT.
UM, IS THAT A MAILING LIST OF PEOPLE THAT ATTENDED THOSE EVENTS IN SOME WAY THAT WE COULD PUSH IT TO THOSE INDIVIDUALS ALSO? YES, ABSOLUTELY.
WE DO ADD THEM TO OUR DATABASE.
WHEN THEY REGISTER, WE DO GET THEIR EMAIL ADDRESSES.
SO THAT'S ANOTHER SOURCE OF, UH, PEOPLE THAT WE CAN E E-BLAST TWO.
UH, BOARD MEMBER STRATUM HAD TO PUSH TOO MANY BUTTONS.
THANK YOU, UH, ADAM, CHAIRMAN, UH, JACKIE, UH, JUST TO SAY DITTO, WHAT EVERYONE ELSE HAS SAID, THANK YOU.
I KNOW THIS HAS BEEN A REAL HEAVY LIFT, ESPECIALLY, UM, SINCE BETWEEN THE FEBRUARY MEETING AND NOW WE'VE HAD THE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE, AND EVEN BEFORE THAT, WE HAD THE WINTER STORM.
WE HAD TO DEAL WITH YOU, YOU GUYS WERE STANDING UP A, A BRAND NEW STARTUP HERE.
YOU'RE, YOU'RE A VERY SMALL TEAM AND STAFF, AND THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF MOVING PARTS AND A LOT GOING ON.
AND THEY'RE THE, THESE, THESE ARE A LOT OF CHARTERS,
SO THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WORK THAT, THAT, UM, YOU ALL HAVE THAT YOU AND OTHERS HAVE, HAVE PUT INTO MAKING THIS POSSIBLE AND CONTINUING TO SHOW THE COMMITMENT TO THE COMMUNITY AND TO ENGAGEMENT AND MOVING THIS FORWARD.
UM, THE ONE QUESTION I JUST, UH, I WANTED TO FOLLOW UP WITH ON, I KNOW AT OUR LAST MEETING, WE, AS WE WERE KIND OF STARTING TO PRELIMINARILY FLESH THIS OUT AND BOUNCE SOME IDEAS AROUND, WE KIND OF CON BACK, WE, WE KIND OF WENT BACK AND FORTH ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF, UH, THE HOW OFTEN THEY SHOULD MEET, WHETHER IT WAS MM-HMM
YOU KNOW, MONTHLY OR QUARTERLY.
AND, UM, I'M, I'M JUST KIND OF, I'M SCRATCHING MY HEAD A LITTLE BIT, AND THIS IS MAYBE, UH, DOVETAILING A LITTLE BIT OFF OF WHAT BOARD MEMBER ELKINS WAS SAYING.
UM, YOU KNOW, IS, IS HOW DO YOU, AND, AND THE TEAM, AND MAYBE THIS IS ALSO A QUESTION FOR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CLARK, UH, ENVISION, UM, MONTHLY MEETINGS GOING RIGHT NOW.
BECAUSE AS I LOOK AT THIS, AT LEAST INITIALLY, I'M, I'M KIND OF SITTING HERE THINKING, DO, DO WE, WHAT, WHAT KIND OF WORK DO WE HAVE FOR THESE PEOPLE? MM-HMM
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I RUN INTO IS, YOU KNOW, YOU, YOU GET, YOU, YOU, YOU ASK FOR 20 VOLUNTEERS FOR A PROJECT AND 30 SHOW UP, YOU KNOW, YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT SOMETHING FOR SOMEBODY TO DO.
I, I, YOU KNOW, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT, THAT, YOU KNOW, WHEN WE GET THESE PEOPLE ENGAGED, THAT THAT, THAT WE'VE GOT SOMETHING FOR THEM TO ENGAGE IN, TO BE PREPPED AND READY TO ADVISE US ON.
AND RIGHT NOW, WE'RE STILL, SO, WE'RE STILL FIG, WE'RE STILL GETTING OUR SEA LEGS ABOUT US, AND STILL, YOU GUYS ARE STILL GETTING STAFF ON.
SO I GUESS I'M, I'M JUST WANTING TO GET YOUR FEEDBACK.
DO, DO YOU ALL STILL FEEL COMFORTABLE THAT THAT MONTHLY MEETINGS ARE A GOOD BALANCE? OR DO WE WANNA LOOK AT, YOU KNOW, CHANGING THAT UP TO BIMONTHLY OR, OR, OR QUARTERLY INSTEAD SINCE NOW WOULD BE THE TIME TO, TO CONSIDER THAT FOR, FOR CERTAIN, AS WE'RE SOLIDIFYING THIS? THAT IS A REALLY GOOD QUESTION.
IT IS SOMETHING WE CONSIDERED.
AND, UM, I THINK THAT THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF, UH, LEARNING FOR THESE COMMITTEE MEMBERS
[00:45:01]
TO DO.YOU KNOW, THEY'RE GONNA BE GIVING US RECOMMENDATIONS AND OPINIONS ABOUT A NUMBER OF PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES WITHIN THE PROGRAM.
AND THERE'S A LOT TO LEARN, NOT JUST ABOUT, UH, PROJECT CONNECT, BUT ABOUT TRANSIT IN GENERAL, UH, ABOUT THE, THE HISTORY OF THIS PROGRAM, HOW WE GOT HERE, UM, THE, THE NEPA PROCESS.
I MEAN, THERE'S JUST SO MUCH TO IT.
AND LIKE YOU SAID, WE'RE STILL ALL GETTING OUR SEA LEGS TOO.
SO I ENVISION THAT THE FIRST FEW MONTHS THAT THESE COMMITTEES MEET AND PERHAPS THEY MEET TOGETHER, THAT MIGHT BE ONE WAY TO DO IT.
UM, THAT WE DO A SERIES OF PRESENTATIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR EDUCATION SO THAT THEY FEEL CONFIDENT AND EQUIPPED THEN TO MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS WHEN THE TIME DOES COME TO GET TO WORK.
UM, SO I THINK THAT THIS WILL BE A VERY VALUABLE TIME, THESE FIRST FEW MONTHS TO, TO, UH, RAMP UP THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF TRANSIT OF THE PROGRAM AND, AND OF CAPITAL METRO AND THE CITY AND OUR RELATIONSHIP AS WELL.
SO, SO SOMETHING PERHAPS SAY VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT WE ARE GOING THROUGH, JUST ON A MORE, JUST ON A DELAYED TIMELINE, BECAUSE THEY'D BE STARTING, YOU KNOW, SIX MONTHS BEHIND WHERE WE ARE.
AND THEN YOU CAN EVEN THROW IN, I GUESS, SOME OF THE, THE, THE OTHER, UH, INFORMATION AND REPORTS DATING BACK TO, YOU KNOW, LAST FALL, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT CAP METRO AND THE CITY EXACTLY.
JOIN MEETINGS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
NOW THAT, THAT, THAT SOUND, TO ME, THAT SOUNDS LIKE A, A, A GREAT OPPORTUNITY AND, AND REALLY GET THEM UP TO SPEED ON WHAT'S GOING ON SO THAT THEY'RE READY TO REALLY DIVE IN WHEN WE START GETTING INTO SOME OF THE ISSUES.
AND THEN IN THE MEANTIME, THAT GIVES US AN OP AN OPPORTUNITY AS A BOARD TO, TO REALLY KIND OF WRAP OUR HEADS AROUND WHAT, WHAT KIND OF INFORMATION, YOU KNOW, WHAT DO WE WANT, YOU KNOW, AND, UH, EXTRA INFORMATION AND ADVICE ON FROM TECHNICAL PERSPECTIVES IN THESE THREE DIFFERENT, UH, VENUES AND, AND, AND, AND, AND DIRECTIONS AS WE MOVE FORWARD AS WELL.
AND I, I THINK THAT, UH, I, I CAN, I CAN DEFINITELY SUPPORT THIS GOING FORWARD TOO, THE WAY IT'S DRAFTED.
UH, MADAM CHAIR, I JUST HAD ONE COMMENT ON WHAT BOARD MEMBER STRATTON SAID, AND I THINK I'M TRYING TO PUT MYSELF IN THE POSITION OF STAFF, AND IF I WAS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CLARK, WHAT COULD I BE THINKING? I'D SAY, OH MY GOD, THERE'S FOUR COMMITTEES MEETING EVERY MONTH.
SO I'M VERY MINDFUL OF THE AMOUNT OF WORK THAT STAFF HAS TO DO TO PREP THESE MEETINGS, AND IT'S A LOT OF WORK.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, I THINK THE HEADS OF THESE COMMITTEES NEED TO OBVIOUSLY KEEP THAT IN, UH, THE BACK OF THEIR MIND.
'CAUSE STAFF OBVIOUSLY HAS TO PREP THE BOARD MEETINGS, BUT THEY ALSO GOT THEIR DAY JOB TO DO.
SO HOPEFULLY WE'LL GET THE BALANCE.
AND I THINK THE EDUCATION, AS YOU SAID JACKIE, IS REALLY IMPORTANT SO THAT WE GET PEOPLE UP TO SPEED AND, UH, MAYBE WE'RE NOT MEETING EVERY MONTH, MAYBE WE'RE MEETING EVERY OTHER MONTH.
MAYBE IT'S QUARTERLY IF WE'RE IN ALL, MAYBE THERE'S A WAY, AS YOU SAID, TO COMBINE COMMITTEES SO THAT WE DON'T PUT AS MUCH BURDEN ON STAFF, BUT, UH, SOMETHING WE JUST KEEP IN THE BACK OF OUR MIND.
UH, I JUST WANNA, UH, BASICALLY THANK, UH, BOARD MEMBER ELKINS FOR THAT LAST PIECE AND, UH, FOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE, I THINK BOARD MEMBER STRATTON REALLY HIT WHAT WE WERE TRYING TO DO, WHICH IS LET, LET'S GET THESE SET UP.
YOU KNOW, THERE'S A HUGE FOCUS IN THIS COMMUNITY ABOUT THIS PROGRAM, AND, AND THIS IS NEW FOR THIS COMMUNITY.
SO THERE'S A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF LEARNING CURVE TO HAPPEN IN THIS COMMUNITY, BOTH ON, FROM STAFF TO BOARD MEMBERS, TO ELECTED OFFICIALS, TO THE COMMUNITY AT LARGE, TO BUSINESS OWNERS, UH, TO ADVOCATES.
UH, THIS IS, THIS IS SOMETHING THAT WE'VE NEVER CLOSE TO DOING IN THIS COMMUNITY, NOT REMOTELY CLOSE.
SO THERE'S GONNA BE A LOT OF BUILDING BLOCKS HERE.
SO YOUR WILLINGNESS TO BE CREATIVE WITH US AS THE THREE, UH, LIAISONS IS PROBABLY GONNA BE THE, THE MOST APPRECIATED WHERE, YOU KNOW, WE WERE ALREADY THINKING ABOUT COULD WE COMBINE A COUPLE MEETINGS TO DO, HEY, WE'RE GONNA TAKE AN HOUR AND A HALF, EVERYONE, WE'RE GONNA TALK ABOUT THE GRANT PROCESS AND NEPA, AND WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT AT THREE DIFFERENT TIMES.
WE DO THAT ONE IN A MONTH, AND THEN MAYBE IT'S LIKE THIS VEHICLE AND INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN STUFF, AND THAT MIGHT BE VALUABLE FOR EVERYONE IN THE FINANCIAL GROUP SIX MONTHS LATER, OR EIGHT MONTHS LATER.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I JUST WILLINGNESS TO BE FLEXIBLE AND UNDERSTAND THAT THESE ARE BUILDING BLOCKS WOULD GO A LONG WAY, AND I KNOW THE STAFF WOULD APPRECIATE THAT.
AND, AND JUST TO DOVETAIL ON, ON BOARD MEMBER ELKINS COMMENT AND, AND, UM, UH, AND RANDY'S COMMENT, I THINK ALSO THAT THAT CAN COME FROM LEADERSHIP FROM THIS BOARD WITH EACH OF Y'ALL AS THE LIAISONS.
I SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, NOT BEING A LIAISON, BUT
[00:50:01]
THAT, THAT Y'ALL'S INTERACTIONS WITH THE RESPECTIVE CHAIRMAN OF THOSE COMMITTEES, BRINGING THEM ALONG AND HAVING GOOD CONVERSATIONS WITH THEM CAN, CAN BE HELPFUL AS WELL.KIND OF HELPING TO, TO STEER THEM AND KIND OF HELP THEM UNDERSTAND, OKAY, WELL, WHAT DO WE EXPECT FOR THEM? YES, WE'VE WRITTEN THIS OUT ON PAPER, AND YES, WE'VE APPROVED THIS HOPEFULLY IN A FEW MINUTES HERE, BUT, UM, WHAT ARE PRACTICALLY THE, THE, UM, THE DIRECTION AND WHAT ARE WE PRACTICALLY LOOKING FOR, FOR, AND, AND HOW DO WE STRIKE THAT BALANCE? I THINK THAT'LL, THAT'LL COME AN AWFUL LOT FROM, FROM THE BOARD LEVEL LEADERSHIP WORKING IN, UH, IN INTERACTING WITH THOSE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN AS WELL.
AND I THINK, I MEAN, IT JUST GOES BACK TO SAY THAT NOTHING HAPPENS IN A VACUUM.
WE'RE ALL GONNA HAVE TO CONTINUALLY TALK TO ONE ANOTHER.
AND THE MORE CROSS POLLINATION WE HAVE WITH EACH OF THESE COMMITTEES, BECAUSE THE ONLY, YOU KNOW, AT THE LAST BOARD MEETING WHEN, UH, BOARD MEMBER ELKINS POINTED OUT ABOUT HAVING A RISK ASSESSMENT, I, I DON'T THINK THAT RISK ASSESSMENT NEEDS TO JUST BE ON THE FINANCIAL END.
I MEAN, THAT RISK ASSESSMENT NEEDS TO BE PART OF CONSTRUCTION DESIGN, EXECUTION.
I MEAN, IT NEEDS TO BE PART OF OUR EQUITY ENDEAVORS.
I MEAN, RISK MANAGEMENT FALLS INTO EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE COMMITTEES.
AND I ALSO WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT AS, AS WE CONTINUE THIS DIALOGUE, THE OTHER THING THAT IS GOING TO, I MEAN, RIGHT NOW THERE'S A LOT OF ENERGY, A LOT OF WONDERFUL MOMENTUM HAPPENING THAT WE DEFINITELY WANNA CAPITALIZE ON.
THEN WE'RE GONNA HIT A POINT WHERE IT'S, IF IT'S NOT PRODUCTIVE, IT'S GONNA, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE CAN GET BURNED OUT OR, YOU KNOW, I, I, I ATTENDED ALL THESE MEETINGS AND I DON'T SEE IT EXECUTED ON THE OTHER END.
THESE TAKE A LOT OF PATIENCE, A LOT OF DIALOGUE, A LOT OF UNDERSTANDING OF ISSUES.
AND I DO WANT TO ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO, AS YOU PARTICIPATE ON THIS BOARDS AND AS WE INVITE PEOPLE TO APPLY TO THESE POSITIONS, THAT THEY'RE ALSO LOOKING BEYOND AND THINKING OF WHO THEY WANNA MENTOR TO.
ALSO, KIND OF THAT LEARNING PROCESS HAPPENS ALWAYS CONTINUOUSLY.
SO WE HAVE A BACKLOG OF PEOPLE THAT ARE ALWAYS INTERESTED, RIGHT? SO,
I, I REALLY WANNA ENCOURAGE EVERYONE TO THINK ABOUT, ALWAYS THINKING AHEAD OF HOW WE'RE GONNA MAKE THIS HAPPEN ON A REALLY GREAT MOMENTUM AND ENERGY AND LEARNING FROM ONE ANOTHER.
SO, UM, WITH THAT, IS THERE ANY, BUT DOES ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY OTHER COMMENTS? NO.
SO LET'S MOVE ON TO MAKE A MOTION
UM, SO CAN I HAVE A PLEASE, A MOTION AND A SECOND BOARD MEMBER STRATTON MAKES A MOTION.
UM, IS THERE, IF THERE'S NO MORE DISCUSSION, I'LL DO, UH, THE ROLL CALL, UH, VICE CHAIR.
UH, BOARD MEMBER STRATTON? YES.
AND, UH, MY VOTE IS ALSO, YES.
SO IT PASSES UNANIMOUSLY, UH, UM, THAT'S THE ONLY THING I DIDN'T DO AT THE LAST MEETINGS.
I DIDN'T KIND OF GIVE THE, THE SUMMARY OF
[II.3. Approval of a resolution authorizing the Executive Director, or his designee, to finalize and execute a grant agreement with the City of Austin for the provision of $300,000,000 of the Project Connect tax revenue over the next thirteen (13) years in accordance with the Project Connect Implementation Sequence Plan, as provided in the City’s “Contract with the Voters” under City Council Resolution No. 20200812-015.]
HOW WAS THE FINAL ROLL CALLUM, SO NOW MOVING ON TO ACTION ITEM NUMBER THREE, THE APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OR HIS DESIGNEE TO FINALIZE AN EXECUTE A GRANT AGREEMENT WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN FOR THE PROVISION OF $300 MILLION OF THE PROJECT CONNECT TAX REVENUE OVER THE NEXT 13 YEARS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PROJECT CONNECT IMPLEMENTATION SEQUENCE PLAN AS PROVIDED IN THE CITY'S CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS.
AND FOR THIS, I HAVE, UH, GREG CAN, OUR CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER WHO'S GONNA GIVE US A BRIEF, A BRIEF PRESENTATION.
MR. CANALI, GOOD AFTERNOON, MADAM CHAIR AND BOARD MEMBERS.
UH, GREG CANALI, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
UM, WE'RE EXCITED TO BE HERE TODAY FOR THIS ACTION ITEM.
UM, UH, TWO MONTHS AGO WHEN WE APPROVED OUR FIRST BUDGET, UH, WHEN YOU APPROVED THE FIRST BUDGET, I SHOULD SAY, IT INCLUDED THE FIRST, UH, ROUND OF FUNDING FOR THE ANTI DISPLACEMENT PROGRAM THAT WAS INCLUDED IN THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM, UH, AND WAS REALLY KEY AND REALLY DIFFERENT FOR AUSTIN TO HAVE, UH, AS PART OF OUR TRANSIT INVESTMENT.
UM, SO WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO REALLY ADVANCE THAT DISCUSSION WITH THE
[00:55:01]
CITY AND BRING IT FORWARD TODAY, UM, FOR YOUR APPROVAL SO THAT WE CAN BEGIN THE PROCESS OF GETTING THESE FUNDS OVER TO THE CITY SO THEY CAN, UH, START LOOKING AT, UH, PROGRAMMING THAT, THAT, THOSE FUNDS AND GETTING THOSE FUNDS OUT THE DOOR TO, TO HELP ON THIS REALLY KEY ISSUE FOR OUR COMMUNITY.SO WHAT THIS GRANT AGREEMENT DOES, AND AGAIN, WHAT THIS IS ALLOWING US TO DO, THIS, THIS, UH, THIS ACTION ITEM ALLOWING US TO, UH, FINALIZE AND EXECUTE THE, THE GRANT AGREEMENT, UM, IN ESSENCE WHAT IT IS, IT'S A, IT'S A, IT'S A FINANCIAL AGREEMENT FOR THE PROCESSES, THE PROCEDURES, UM, AROUND THE $300 MILLION THAT WAS STIPULATED, UH, PER THE CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS.
JUST SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS OF IT.
IT TALKS ABOUT HOW FIRST AND FOREMOST THE FUNDS MUST BE SPENT IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS, AND THE SEQUENCING PLAN.
AND I'M GONNA SHOW THAT TO YOU.
THERE'S GONNA BE AN ANNUAL BUDGETING PROCESS EACH YEAR THAT WE'LL WORK ON WITH THE STAFF.
THE TYPICAL REIMBURSEMENT PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES YOU WOULD SEE IN ANY GRANT AGREEMENT BETWEEN, UH, PUBLIC ENTITIES, UH, FOR, FOR AUDIT PER AUDIT REASONS, UM, AND FINANCING REASONS.
UM, THE IDEA, IF THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR FEDERAL MATCHES, WE WANNA WORK COLLABORATIVELY WITH THE CITY ON THAT.
AND THEN REALLY A KEY TECHNICAL ISSUE IS TO MAKE SURE THAT AS, AS THE CITY IDENTIFIES IN THE, IN THE EXAMPLE WHERE SOME OF THESE FUNDS WOULD BE FOR USED FOR LAND ACQUISITION, THAT THERE'S A PROCESS WHERE THERE'S A COLLABORATION, UH, AROUND IDENTIFYING LAND, UH, TO MAKE SURE THAT THERE'S, WE DON'T HAVE ANY CONFLICTS AROUND ENGINEERING AND CONSTRUCTION.
SO AGAIN, I THINK ACTUALLY IT'S A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CONTINUE, UH, THE DIALOGUE AND, AND COLLABORATION WITH THE CITY STAFF THAT'S WORKING IN THIS AREA.
AND AS I MENTIONED, REPORTING AND AUDITING PROVISIONS.
UH, AND THEN, AND THEN WE HAVE, AT THE PART OF THIS, WE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE REALLY IMPORTANT TO SHOW THE PLANNED, UH, ANNUAL BUDGET FOR 13 YEARS, ALTHOUGH AGAIN, IT WILL BE AN ANNUAL PROCESS AS WE GO THROUGH THAT BUDGET PROCESS AND BRING IT BACK EACH BUDGET BACK TO THE BOARD.
IT WILL HOWEVER, BE THE, THE, THE BUDGET, THE BUDGET ALLOTMENTS WILL BE, UH, IN LINE WITH THE CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS THAT WILL SAY, UM, AND SO ON THE NEXT PAGE, I CAN SHOW THAT TO YOU.
AND THIS ACTUALLY WILL BE PART OF THE GRANT AGREEMENT.
THERE'S AN ATTACHMENT A IN THE GRANT AGREEMENT THAT THIS WILL BE A, UH, AN EXHIBIT.
AND SO THIS IS, AS WE'VE SHOWED THIS TO YOU MANY TIMES, THIS ENTIRE SEQUENCING PLAN, THE LAST, UH, LINE ITEM, THERE'S REALLY THREE PIECES TO THE ANTI DISPLACEMENT IN TERMS OF FUNDING TRANCHES.
THE FIRST IS THE FIRST THREE YEARS AT A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS.
AND, AND ONE OF THE THINGS, I JUST WANT TO STOP THERE.
UH, I THINK IT WAS CLEAR THE BOARD GAVE US DIRECTION, UH, IN JANUARY WHEN WE WERE LOOKING AT THIS FIRST 2 MILLION, A HUNDRED MILLION, IF THERE WAS A WAY THAT WE COULD, UM, TO MAKE SURE THAT YEAR TWO WAS BIGGER THAN YEAR ONE, AND TRIED TO, WITHIN THIS FIRST THREE YEAR TRACHE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE COULD, UH, OPTIMIZE THAT AND GET AS MORE MONEY, AS MOST MONEY AS WE CAN.
AND, AND I, AND I'M PLEASED TO SAY THAT WE ARE ABLE TO COMMIT TODAY IN THE SCHEDULE.
UH, AND AGAIN, GRANTED, WE STILL HAVE TO GO THROUGH A BUDGET PROCESS TO LOOKING AT YEAR TWO FUNDING OF $42 MILLION ON TOP OF THE $23 MILLION IN YEAR ONE.
UM, SO WE HEARD YOU LOUD AND CLEAR, AND WE TRY TO BRING THAT BACK, UH, AND SHOW YOU THAT, UH, IN THE SCHEDULE THAT'S PART OF THIS GRANT AGREEMENT.
THE SECOND TRANCHE IS FROM YEARS FOUR THROUGH YEAR, UH, EIGHT, UH, THAT'S A HUNDRED MILLION.
AND THEN THE THIRD TRANCHE OF THE A HUNDRED MILLION IS IN THE, IN THE FINAL YEARS.
UH, THAT, UH, SO THAT'S KIND OF WHAT WE LAY THAT OUT AND THIS IS A KEY PART OF THE GRANT AGREEMENT ITSELF.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I TURN IT BACK OVER TO YOU, UH, MADAM CHAIR.
UM, DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FROM, FOR MR. CANALI? MAYOR RADLER, UH, THIS REPRESENTS REAL GOOD WORK AND I APPRECIATE THIS AND I'M EXCITED THAT WE'RE MOVING FORWARD WITH THIS ELEMENT.
IT'S CERTAINLY A PIECE THAT THE COMMUNITY HAS SHOWN GREAT INTEREST IN.
UH, AND, UM, UM, I KNOW THAT, UH, LAST FALL WE WERE THINKING ABOUT THIS BEING JUST A STRAIGHT LINE DISTRIBUTION OVER TIME.
UM, I DIDN'T REMEMBER WE'D ACTUALLY SHOWN THAT DOCUMENT TO THE PUBLIC.
UH, BUT GREG, YOU REMINDED ME THAT WE HAD, BUT I KNOW THAT WAS THE GENERAL DISCUSSION AS WE WERE FIGURING OUT WHAT THE TOTAL PRICE TAG WOULD BE OF PROJECT CONNECT AND HOW WE COULD MAKE EVERYTHING FIT WITHIN THE, THE TIMEFRAME THAT WE REPRESENTED TO THE, TO THE, TO THE COMMUNITY.
SO I APPRECIATE YOU TAKING A LOOK AT AND TRYING TO GET A LITTLE GREATER DOLLARS UP FRONT HERE IN THE SECOND YEAR.
UH, 'CAUSE I THINK THE COMMUNITY RECOGNIZES WE ALL DO THAT.
THERE'S GONNA BE AN OPPORTUNITY PERHAPS TO BE ABLE TO, TO BUY SOME THINGS EARLY BEFORE VALUES GO UP, ENHANCED BY THE PROJECT ITSELF.
UM, THERE'S BEEN SOME QUESTIONS THAT I HAVE GOTTEN, UH, FROM MULTIPLE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY, UH, ASKING IF WE COULD PUSH THAT EVEN FURTHER.
UH, AND, UH, YOU'VE GIVEN US A MEMO INDICATING THAT AT THIS POINT, BASED ON ALL THE ASSUMPTIONS AND, AND THAT WE
[01:00:01]
HAD INHERENT IN THE PLAN THAT WE TOOK TO THE VOTERS, UM, UH, THERE'S NOT AN ABILITY TO BE ABLE TO DO THAT NOW WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE TIMELINE FOR THE PROJECTS AND THE DELIVERY OF THE PROJECTS AS WE HAD LAID OUT.UM, THEN SOME OF THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY CAME TO AND SAID, WELL, COULD WE PUT IN THERE THE POLICY GUIDANCE THAT SAYS THAT, UH, ANNUALLY, LET'S TAKE A LOOK AT THAT SCHEDULE B AND SEE IF IT'S SOMETHING THAT WE CAN, UH, ACCELERATE, UH, PAYMENTS, UH, INTO THAT, UH, DISPLACEMENT ACCOUNT, UH, WITHOUT, UH, ASSUMING THEY'RE AVAILABLE FUNDS WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE DELIVERY SCHEDULE.
AFTER TALKING TO THE, TO THE LAWYERS, UM, UH, IT WAS POINTED OUT TO ME THAT THIS DOCUMENT WE'RE PROVING TODAY IS MORE OF A MECHANICS DOCUMENT, UH, AND IT REPRESENTS HOW WE WORK BACK AND FORTH THE A TP AND THE CITY.
UM, BUT IF THERE IS A DESIRE AMONG THE A TP AND THE CITY TO, UH, PASS SOME ADDITIONAL POLICY DIRECTION THAT WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, ON AN ANNUAL BASIS, OBVIOUSLY IT WOULDN'T HAPPEN IN THE FIRST THREE YEARS 'CAUSE THOSE ARE SET.
UH, BUT AFTER THAT PERIOD OF TIME, TO THE DEGREE THAT WE CAN GET DOLLARS EARLIER THAN LATER WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE DELIVERY OF THE PROJECT OR THE MONEY FOR IT, UH, DO WE WANT TO HAVE STAFF TAKE A LOOK AT THAT, UH, AS PART OF THE ANNUAL BUDGET PROCESS WITH, WITH AN EYE TO SEEING, UH, AS WE GO THROUGH THIS, IF WE CAN ACCELERATE, UH, MORE.
AND WHAT I'VE SUGGESTED TO PEOPLE IS, IS THAT THIS ISN'T THE DOCUMENT TO PUT THAT IN 'CAUSE IT'S THE NUTS AND BOLTS DOCUMENT, BUT A SEPARATE POLICY STATEMENT, EITHER AS PART OF THE JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT OR JUST INDEPENDENT OF THAT AS CERTAINLY SOMETHING THAT WE COULD CONSIDER IN THE FUTURE.
UH, SO I BOOKMARK THAT FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY THAT WANT US TO ENGAGE IN THAT KIND OF, UM, UH, POLICY, UH, CONVERSATION.
UH, 'CAUSE I THINK THAT ONE OF THE THINGS THAT, THAT WE, THAT WE TOGETHER THAT WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE DELIVER THIS PROJECT ON TIME AS WE PROMISED WITHIN THE BUDGET THAT WE HAVE OR BETTER.
UH, AND TO THE DEGREE THAT WE CAN ACCOMPLISH THOSE THINGS AND ALSO TAKE THE FULL LEVERAGE TO THE FULLEST EXTENT FOR 300.
UH, I KNOW THAT'S SOMETHING WE ALL WANT TO DO.
SO I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT OUT LOUD BECAUSE I KNOW THERE'S SOME PEOPLE THAT WERE URGING US TO MAKE CHANGES NOW, AND, AND I'VE LOOKED AT IT AND, AND THINK THAT THAT'S A SEPARATE KIND OF POLICY CONVERSATION TO HAVE.
SO I JUST MENTIONED THAT AND, AND, AND, AND GREG, DID I GENERALLY SPEAKING HAVE THAT RIGHT? YEAH.
AGAIN, WE'RE, WE'RE WORKING WITHIN THE APPROVED CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS AND THE SEQUENCING PLAN.
UH, I WILL CO I THINK, I THINK IT WOULD BE REMISS FOR ME NOT TO COMMEND WITH THE CITY COUNCIL AND THE CAP METRO BOARD DID BACK IN AUGUST TO PUT THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY ON THE, ON, IN FRONT OF THE VOTERS AND ALSO FRONT LOAD, TRY TO FRONT LOAD SOME OF THAT IN A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS IN THE FIRST THREE YEARS.
BUT YEAH, I THINK YOU, YOU, YOU NAILED IT ON THE HEAD.
AND I THINK, UH, AS WE GO THROUGH THE PROCESS OVER THE YEARS, ESPECIALLY BEYOND YEAR FOUR, UM, LOTS OF MOVING PARTS IN THIS PROGRAM, I THINK WE DO WANNA STRESS THAT IT IS, UM, AS YOU HEARD FROM DAVE EARLIER, LOTS OF STUFF GOING ON AND, AND WE NEED TO MAKE SURE WE'RE MANAGING THE ENTIRE PROGRAM HOLISTICALLY.
AND THEN THE LAST QUESTION WITH RESPECT TO SECTION 12, UH, THERE'S A SENSE AT THE END OF SECTION 12 THAT BEGINS NOT WITHSTANDING, UH, THAT I DIDN'T UNDERSTAND, AND I ASKED A QUESTION ABOUT THAT, AND I UNDERSTOOD THAT PERHAPS WE WERE JUST GONNA BE THE ATTORNEYS.
WERE JUST GONNA TAKE OUT THAT, THAT LINE.
IS THAT CORRECT? YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT.
IT'S JUST, UM, WE USED A, A CITY TEMPLATE AND, YOU KNOW, PART OF FINALIZING
BUT I APPRECIATE YOU POINTING THAT OUT AND WE'LL JUST STRIKE THAT LAST SENTENCE.
LET, LET ME START WITH, WITH MAYOR, UH, MAYOR ADLER'S, LAST POINT.
IF WE ARE STRIKING SOMETHING IN THAT, DOES THAT REQUIRE, UH, CASEY DOES THAT REQUIRE US TO AMEND THIS DOCUMENT FROM THE FLOOR? THAT'S, I GUESS THAT'S MORE OF A PROCEDURAL QUESTION.
UM, I, YOU KNOW, I, THE WAY I SEE THE VERBIAGE IS IT'S REALLY, UM, YOU KNOW, IT'S NOT A MEANINGFUL CHANGE.
I WOULD SAY THAT IT'S REALLY CLEAN PART OF THE CLEANUP PROCESS AND WHEN WE'RE GONNA GO BACK AND WE'RE GONNA, I NOTICED A COUPLE THINGS NEED TO BE CAPITALIZED OR JUST TWEAKED, BUT I, TO ME, THAT'S REALLY THE RESOLUTION IF YOU GUYS, UM, APPROVE IT, IS TO AUTHORIZE US TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE.
BECAUSE THE ACTION ITEM SAYS ADDRESSES, GIVES THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR THE POWER TO EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT.
SO THAT WOULD BE WITHIN THE POWER YEAH.
FINALIZE AND EXECUTE SPECIFIC TO FINALIZE AND EXECUTE THE AGREEMENT.
SO IT'S REALLY KIND OF, THAT WAS OKAY.
[01:05:01]
NOTHING, NOTHING SUBSTANTIVELY MAKES CLARIFICATION.I APPRECIATE THE CLARIFICATION.
UM, MY, MY SECOND POINT, UM, I, I, I JUST WANNA SAY, I, I CAN, I CAN UNDERSTAND AND APPRECIATE WHERE, UH, WHAT MAYOR ADLER HAS SAID AND WHERE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY ARE COMING FROM, UH, ABOUT THIS.
UM, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT I, I, I CAN GREATLY APPRECIATE IS, UM, AS WHEN IT COMES TO ANTI DISPLACEMENT FUNDING, IS, UM, PERHAPS ONE OF THE THINGS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS IS, UH, THE LAND ACQUISITION PIECE OF IT, BECAUSE, WELL,
I, I TOTALLY DO, BUT I, I JUST WANT TO, TO ALSO KIND OF GO ON RECORD AND REMIND FOLKS THAT, UH, ANY CONSIDERATION OF, OF ANY POLICY, UM, BACK WHEN WE FIRST PASSED THIS THING, UH, BACK LAST AUGUST, UH, IT WAS A JOINT EFFORT BETWEEN WHEN WE CREATED A TP AND SAID WE WANTED TO GO DOWN THIS ROAD, WAS A JOINT EFFORT BETWEEN THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL AND THE CAPITAL METRO BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
SO THE, THE AGREEMENT IN AND OF ITSELF THAT CREATED THE A TP, UH, STIPULATED, AND FOR THAT MATTER, THE SEQUENCING PLAN DIDN'T IN AND OF ITSELF STIPULATE THAT ANY CHANGES TO SEQUENCING OR TO, UH, ANYTHING ASSOCIATED WITH THE AGREEMENT WOULD INVOLVE FUNDAMENTALLY.
UH, AND THAT WOULD BE A CHANGE IN POLICY TO WHAT I, I WOULD SUBMIT TO WHAT THE, THE MAYOR WAS TALKING ABOUT, THE COMMUNITY MEMBERS WOULD LIKE TO DO, UH, WOULD INVOLVE FUNDAMENTALLY AN ACTION BY BOTH BOARDS, BY BOTH THE AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL AND CAP METRO WORKING IN CONJUNCTION TO GIVE THAT DIRECTION TO THE AT P BECAUSE THE ATP'S ROLE IS TO IMPLEMENT THE POLICY THAT WAS GIVEN TO US.
AND SO I WOULD, I WOULD SAY THAT, UM, YOU KNOW, I, I THINK THAT, THAT ALONG THE LINES, WE, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS.
WE, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT, I MEAN, WE MAY COME DOWN THE LINE AND, YOU KNOW, THERE MAY BE A GREAT OPPORTUNITY WHERE SOMEBODY DROPS, YOU KNOW, TEXDOT DROPS, YOU KNOW, $2 BILLION IN OUR LAP AND SAYS, HEY, YES, WE WANT YOU TO BUILD OUT THOSE EXTENSIONS ON THE ORANGE LINE.
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN, WHAT WE ONCE THOUGHT WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO HAPPEN UNTIL YEAR 13, 14, AND 15, YOU KNOW, RANDY'S GONNA BE JUMPING UP AND DOWN GOING, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, CAN WE DO THIS? THE MONEY'S AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW AND CITY COUNCIL.
AND THE ONLY WAY WE COULD DO IT IS IF THE CITY COUNCIL AND CAP METRO BOARD WERE TO COME TOGETHER AND TAKE A VOTE ON THAT.
AND, AND I WOULD SAY THAT, THAT THAT WOULD BE, I THINK, APPROPRIATE JUST AS MUCH AS IT WOULD BE FOR US TO TAKE A LOOK AT AND EVALUATE ANY CHANGES TO THE SEQUENCING IN OUR FINANCIAL MODEL RIGHT NOW ASSOCIATED WITH, UH, WITH THE ANTI DISPLACEMENT FUNDS.
UM, SO I, I WOULD SUBMIT THAT THERE ALREADY IS SOMETHING IN PLACE FOR THAT.
AND, AND AS A CAP METRO MEMBER, AS A MEMBER OF THE CAP METRO BOARD OF DIRECTORS, I WOULD VERY MUCH WELCOME THAT.
AND I BELIEVE THAT IT'S ABSOLUTELY APPROPRIATE FOR US TO LOOK AT AND CONSIDER THAT WHEN THE TIME COMES, UH, IN, IN, IN FUTURE YEARS, UH, AS, AS WE GET DOWN THE LINE AND WE HAVE, UH, ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW THE MODEL LIKE IN YEAR, UH, IN YEAR THREE OR FOUR OR OR BEYOND.
UM, FINALLY, THAT SAID, I, I DO WANT TO CONGRATULATE STAFF AND, AND THANK GREG AND, AND RANDY AND OTHERS FOR ALL THEIR HARD WORK, BECAUSE I, I THINK THIS, LIKE MAYOR ADLER, I, I COMPLETELY AGREE, THIS IS A HUGE, HUGE WIN FOR THE COMMUNITY.
UM, WE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS UNPRECEDENTED, $300 MILLION, AND, YOU KNOW, INITIALLY WE DIDN'T THINK WE'D BE ABLE TO GET THE, UH, TO, TO, TO SECURE THE FUNDING MECHANISM FOR THE FIRST, YOU KNOW, THREE YEARS UNTIL, AND HAVE THIS IN PLACE FOR A FEW MORE MONTHS DOWN THE ROAD.
SO HERE, WE'RE COMING IN EARLY, YOU'RE BRINGING THIS TO US.
AND, AND TWO, NOT ONLY ARE YOU COMING IN EARLY, YOU'RE SAYING, OH, AND BY THE WAY, WE CAN GET YOU MORE MONEY, CITY OF AUSTIN TO, TO IMPLEMENT THIS GRANT PROGRAM, UH, EVEN MORE MONEY THAN WE ANTICIPATED FOR YEAR TWO.
THAT IS A MASSIVE WIN, I THINK.
I THINK THIS IS A GREAT WIN FOR THE, UM, UH, FOR THE COMMUNITY.
AND I, YEAH, I WOULD ABSOLUTELY WELCOME HAVING THAT JOINT POLICY DISCUSSION WITH OUR PARTNERS BETWEEN CAPITAL METRO AND THE CITY OF AUSTIN AS WE GET FURTHER DOWN THE ROAD WHEN THE TIME COMES AND IT'S NECESSARY FOR US TO REVIEW THAT.
BOARD MEMBER STRATTON, UH, VICE CHAIR BURNETT.
UM, I THINK I'M GOING TO REPEAT A LITTLE BIT OF WHAT ERIC SAID, AND I APOLOGIZE AHEAD OF TIME IF I DID THAT.
I WANNA THANK YOU, GREG, FOR, I WAS ONE OF THE PERSONS I WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE, UM, $100 MILLION BEING, YOU KNOW, THE BEGINNING FRONT, THE, LIKE, IT WASN'T FRONT LOADED WHERE I FEEL MOST OF OUR EXPENSES WILL BE.
UM, SO I JUST WANNA MAKE IT SURE THAT IT'S A MATTER OF RECORD THAT, SO I APPRECIATE YOU DOING THAT A LOT.
I WANNA MAKE SURE IT'S A MATTER OF THE RECORD THAT WE WILL REVISIT IT WHEN POSSIBLE SO THAT WE DON'T GET IN THIS SO FAR IN THAT WE DON'T GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE PARAMETERS AND SEE WHAT OUR OPTIONS ARE AS WE MOVE THROUGH THE PROJECT.
[01:10:01]
SO WITHIN THE, WITHIN THE PARAMETERS OF WHAT, WHAT THE, UM, WHAT ALL THE AGREEMENTS SAY, IS THAT POSSIBLE, UM, UH, BOARD MEMBER BRETT? SO YES, I DO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE, RIGHT, I THINK THE CONVERSATION WE HAD IN JANUARY AT THE BOARD, YOU KNOW, YOUR, YOUR DESIRE.SO IT'S REALLY HELPFUL FOR US TO KIND OF MOVE THIS FORWARD, BOTH THE NUMBERS, BUT ALSO THE TIMING OF GETTING THIS DONE.
WHAT I CAN SAY IS THE GRAND AGREEMENT IS WRITTEN RIGHT NOW.
AGAIN, IT STIPULATES AN ANNUAL BUDGET PROCESS.
UM, AS A MEMO THAT WENT OUT YESTERDAY, WE KNOW THAT WE'RE ABOUT THREE TO FOUR YEARS AWAY.
WE HAVE TO, DAVE HAS A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF WORK TO DO ON THE, UH, THE, THE GETTING TO 30% ENGINEERING ON ALL OF THE PROJECTS THROUGHOUT THE PROGRAM.
WE WILL NECESSARILY, AT THAT POINT, AS WE GO THROUGH, LOOK AT, BE LOOKING AT ALL OF THIS AS ARE WE DO OUR ANNUAL BUDGET, AS WE DO OUR ANNUAL FORECASTING MODEL.
SO NOTHING IN THE AGREEMENT AS WRITTEN PRECLUDES THOSE CONVERSATIONS FROM HAPPENING.
YEAH, I WOULD EVEN ADD THAT, I MEAN, THERE'S SPECIFIC LANGUAGE ABOUT MEETING, UM, NEGOTIATING AND IMPROVING, APPROVING IN GOOD FAITH, THE ANNUAL FUNDING ALLOCATION.
AND I THINK THAT THAT WOULD BE PART OF THAT DEFINITION.
UM, I THINK NEXT WE HAVE, UH, BOARD MEMBER ELKINS.
I CAN'T WAIT TILL WE MEET IN PERSON
ANYWAYS, UM, THIS IS AN IMPORTANT TOPIC AND, UH, I'M GLAD WE HAD A CHANCE TO CHAT ABOUT IT.
I MEAN, WHAT, WHAT, UM, AUSTIN CITY COUNCIL AND CAT METRO BOARD HAS DONE, UH, BACK LAST YEAR, SOMETHING UNPRECEDENTED IN THE WORLD OF TRANSIT, PUTTING 300 MILLION FOR ANTI-DISPLACEMENT.
IT'S SOMETHING TO BE COMMENDED.
UM, AND I THINK EVERYBODY SHOULD BE APPLAUDED FOR THAT.
UM, THE NUMBER, THE BIGGEST NUMBER I EVER SAW PRIOR TO THAT WAS, I THINK IN DENVER THEY DID 24 MILLION BACK IN 2010, MAYBE I'M MISTAKEN, BUT CERTAINLY 300 MILLION IS UNPRECEDENTED.
I THINK, YOU KNOW WHAT, WHAT GREG SAID IS IMPORTANT.
YOU KNOW, WE HAVE ACCELERATED, UM, ANTI DISPLACEMENT MONIES FROM YEAR ONE TO THREE.
I THINK WE HAD ORIGINALLY PLANNED 69 MILLION, AND NOW WE'RE, UH, PUTTING A HUNDRED MILLION.
SO WE'VE ACCELERATED BY ABOUT $31 MILLION IN THE FIRST THREE YEARS.
SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT, ANOTHER THING WE SHOULD BE APPLAUDED FOR.
YOU KNOW, WE, WE NEED TO BE MINDFUL.
IT'S GONNA BE, YOU KNOW, 10 TO 13 YEARS.
THERE'S A LOT OF UNKNOWNS, AS WE ALL KNOW.
UH, DAVE TALKED ABOUT ENGINEERING AND, AND, UM, UH, WHAT MAY OR MAY NOT HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE.
UH, ONCE, UH, WE KNOW, UH, UH, WE GET TO 30% DESIGN, WE HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT THE INFRASTRUCTURE IS GOING TO COST US, WHAT INTEREST RATES ARE GOING TO DO, WHAT THE FEDERAL REIMBURSEMENT OR THE FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION MIGHT BE.
THERE'S A HUGE AMOUNT OF UNKNOWNS AS WE GET THROUGH THIS PROGRAM.
MORE OF THOSE UNKNOWNS WILL BE KNOWN, AND THEN WE CAN QUOTE UNQUOTE RELEASE CONTINGENCY.
AND AS WE RELEASE CONTINGENCY IN THE FUTURE YEARS, WE'LL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVISIT IT, RERUN THE MODEL, AND SEE IF THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY TO ADVANCE SOME OF THESE MONIES INTO THE EARLY YEARS.
I WOULD TRY TO, YOU KNOW, THINK ABOUT THE FACT THAT IF WE TAKE, YOU KNOW, ALL THIS DISPLACEMENT MONEY IN FRONT LOAD IT, WE'RE NOT GONNA HAVE ANY, NOT A LOT OF MONEY FOR THE BACK END.
SO I DON'T THINK ANYBODY WANTS TO BE IN A POSITION WHERE WE'RE YEARS NINE THROUGH 13 AND WE'VE ONLY GOT 15 MILLION LEFT.
SO WE'VE GOTTA THINK ABOUT THE FULL 13 YEARS AND MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE BEING MINDFUL SO THAT WE'VE GOT FUNDS TO LAST THE FULL 13 YEARS.
SO I THINK DOWN THE LINE WHEN IT COMES TO THE BOARD, PERHAPS ADDRESSING THIS IN YEAR THREE AND YEAR FOUR AND YEAR FIVE WOULD BE THAT 13 YEARS, MAKING SURE WE'VE GOT MONEY FOR THE 13 YEARS.
UM, WHAT DOES THAT FINANCIAL MODEL LOOK LIKE? HOW DO THE, SOME OF THOSE UNCERTAINTIES LOOK? UM, AND THEN THE OTHER THING IS, HOW'S THE MONEY GONNA BE SPENT? BECAUSE IF, IF WE JUST FUNNEL A MONEY, A BUNCH OF MONEY TO THE CITY AND THERE'S NO PLAN TO SPEND IT, WHAT GOOD DOES THAT DO? I THINK IT WOULD BE HELPFUL IN THE FUTURE FOR THE CITY TO COME BACK TO A TP AND SAY, HERE'S HOW WE'RE PLANNING TO USE THIS MONEY.
HERE'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO FOR RENT WAIVERS.
HERE'S WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO FOR BUYING REAL ESTATE.
'CAUSE THAT WAY THEN WE'LL HAVE A PLAN OF HOW IT'S GONNA BE SPENT, AND THEN WE CAN MAKE A BETTER DECISION.
BOARD MEMBER ELKIN, MAYOR ALER, YOU ALSO HAVE, UM, THE FLOOR.
UM, I THINK THAT, UM, MEMBER ELKINS, UH, LAYS OUT I THINK REALLY WELL, THE KIND OF CONSIDERATIONS THAT, THAT HAVE TO BE TAKEN TO ACCOUNT, UH, UH, IN THOSE ANNUAL BUDGET, UM, UH,
[01:15:01]
MEETINGS TO DECIDE WHAT HAPPENS OR DOESN'T HAPPEN.MY, UH, AND I THINK THAT'LL HAPPEN.
AND, AND TO, UH, VICE CHAIR, UH, UH, UH, CHRIS BURNETT'S COMMENT.
I THINK AS I READ SECTION FOUR, THAT ANNUAL BUDGET GETS APPROVED NOT ONLY BY US, BUT BY OTHER ENTITIES AS WELL.
AND, AND I'M SURE THOSE OTHER ENTITIES COULD ALSO RAISE THE SAME ISSUE 'CAUSE THEY'RE HAVING TO, TO APPROVE IT.
AND, AND THE ALLOCATIONS ARE PART OF THOSE, OF THOSE BUDGETS.
SO I KNOW IT'S GONNA BE COMING BACK, BACK TO US IN THAT CONTEXT.
UM, THE, MY UNDERSTANDING FROM READING THE DOCUMENTS IS THAT GENERALLY SPEAKING, UH, THE, THE SPEND OF THOSE 300 MILLION WE'RE DELEGATING TO THE CITY, UH, AND ITS PLANNING DEPARTMENT AND THAT KIND OF THING, AS OPPOSED TO US MAKING VALUE JUDGEMENTS ON HOW THE 300 MILLION IS, IS SPENT.
AND I SAY THAT AGAIN, JUST TO REDIRECT THE, THE, THE COMMUNITY, UH, TO THE DEGREE THAT YOU WANT TO IMPACT KIND OF THE POLICY ON THE SPEND ITEM DON'T COME TO US, UH, IN THIS CONTEXT, COME TO, UH, THE, THE, THE FOLKS THAT'LL BE DECIDING THAT.
SO, UH, I POINT PEOPLE IN, IN THAT DIRECTION.
BUT WHAT THIS DOES SAY IS THAT, UH, BEFORE THE, THE CHECKS ARE ACTUALLY CUT, UH, AS PART OF THIS DOCUMENT, THE, THE, THE DOCUMENT, THE, THERE HAS TO BE KIND OF THE REIMBURSEMENT PROVISIONS, UH, THAT PROTECT THE A TP IF WE'RE AUDITED FROM BEING ABLE TO DEMONSTRATE AS, UM, UH, I REMEMBER ELKINS POINTED OUT THAT IT'S ACTUALLY GOING FOR THE PURPOSES IT'S SUPPOSED TO.
UH, AND I, UH, INQUIRED AND, AND SAW FROM THAT PROCESS ALSO SOME CONCERNS RAISED BY FOLKS THAT IT'S NOT A HURDLE AND IT'S NOT GONNA DELAY THINGS.
IT'S, IT'S SO THAT WE CAN MEET OUR FIDUCIARY DUTY TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE, THE MONEY WAS BEING SPENT IN ACCORD WITH THE COMMUNITY CONTRACT AND, AND THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE, I GUESS THE, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN TERMS OF HOW MONEY SPENT ON A, ON A PROJECT.
UM, BUT I DO APPRECIATE THAT WE TOOK THAT A HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS THAT WE HAD TOLD THE COMMUNITY WOULD BE SPENT IN THE FIRST THREE YEARS AND, AND HAVE MOVED UP, UH, TO, TO FRONT LOAD THAT AS WE'RE ABLE TO DO THAT.
AND, UM, UH, TRUST IN, IN THE WISDOM OF THE, OF THE GROUPS FOUR YEARS FROM NOW, OR THREE YEARS FROM NOW.
AND WHEN YOU'RE ENTERING INTO THAT NEXT CYCLE TO, TO BE, TO TAKE INTO ACCOUNT AND BE WISE ON ALL THOSE THINGS.
UH, BUT THE COMMUNITY DOES KNOW, UH, THAT, UH, THESE, IT, IT IS PART OF THE BUDGETS THAT ARE APPROVED AND THEY'RE APPROVED BY MULTIPLE PARTIES.
AND, AND, AND THERE'S BEEN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE COMMUNITY TO BE ABLE TO, TO, TO WEIGH IN.
THE ONLY QUESTION I HAD WAS, AND NOT SOMETHING FOR US TO DECIDE AT THIS MEETING, UH, IS WHETHER OR NOT THERE IS A POLICY.
AND I TAKE, UH, MEMBER STRATTON'S COMMENTS.
I HADN'T REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT THAT WAY, BUT THAT MIGHT BE RIGHT IF THERE WAS A POLICY DIRECTION THAT SAID, TO THE DEGREE THAT YOU CAN, WITHOUT COMPROMISING THE PROJECTS, ITS DELIVERY.
AND IF THEY'RE AVAILABLE FUNDS, TRY TO, TO FRONT LOAD IN THAT SECOND $100 MILLION PERIOD.
AND IN THAT THIRD $100 MILLION PERIOD, YOU KNOW, IT PROBABLY IS RIGHT THAT THAT COME FROM THE, THE POLICYMAKING ENTITY.
SO FROM THE CITY AND THE CAP METRO BOARD, UM, UH, AGAIN, UH, NOT SO MUCH US 'CAUSE WE'RE, OUR JOB IS TO GET THE PROJECT BUILT ON BUDGET AND ON TIME.
BUT TO THE DEGREE THAT THAT POLICY REQUEST WOULD BE MADE, I, I THINK, I THINK YOU MIGHT BE RIGHT, ERIC, THAT REALLY SHOULD ORIGINATE OVER ON THAT SIDE OF THE HOUSE, BECAUSE THAT'S A, THAT'S A POLICY CHOICE.
UM, MR. CLARK, THANK YOU, CHAIR.
I JUST WANNA ADD JUST A LITTLE COMMENT ON THAT, WHICH IS, UH, YOU, YOU CERTAINLY HAVE A STAFF'S COMMITMENT THAT AS WE GET, YOU KNOW, THE, THE BIG ANIMAL IN THIS ENTIRE PROGRAM, REALLY FROM AN EXPENDITURE POINT OF VIEW, IS BLUE, ORANGE, AND TUNNEL.
THAT MAKES UP JUST SUCH A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE OVERALL EXPENDITURES.
SO ONCE WE ARE AT 30% DESIGN, WE ARE GONNA KNOW A LOT MORE, AS
WE'RE GONNA HAVE A GOOD SENSE OF THE FEDERAL GRANT PARTICIPATION PARTNERSHIP.
WE'VE GOTTA REALLY UNDERSTAND THE 30% DESIGN COST PLUS POTENTIAL CONTINGENCIES.
WE'LL ALREADY HAVE SOME OF THE, THE, UH, LESS EXPENSIVE PROJECTS ALREADY ACTUALLY EXECUTED SOME RED LINE STUFF.
METRO RAPIDS WILL BE MOVING FORWARD, SOME VEHICLE BUYS ON THE BUSES.
SO WE ARE GONNA BE IN A BETTER SHAPE.
UH, I THINK, YOU KNOW, IF WE ARE HERE IN THREE AND A HALF YEARS TALKING ABOUT THE, YOU KNOW, 2024, IF YOU WILL, FISCAL YEAR AS AN EXAMPLE, AND THE SCENARIO IS THAT WE ARE ACTUALLY GOOD AT ALL OF THOSE AREAS.
WE ARE GONNA BE, UH, ALL VERY, VERY HAPPY TO HAVE A DISCUSSION OF HOW WE'RE GOING TO FRONT LOAD OR MOVE THINGS AROUND.
AND I, AND I THINK BOARD MEMBER STRATTON IS
[01:20:01]
CORRECT THE WAY THE, THE JOINT RESOLUTION WAS LAID OUT LAST AUGUST, THAT WOULD BE A DECISION BY THE CAP METRO BOARD AND CITY COUNCIL TO SAY, WHAT, WHAT POLICY CHANGED TO THE SEQUENCE PLAN.SO KNOCK ON WOOD, WE ARE ALL IN THAT SCENARIO.
AND MAYBE THAT MEANS THERE'S AFFORDABLE HOUSING, MONEY CAN SPEED UP.
MAYBE IT'S THE GREEN LINE GETS SPED UP.
BUT, UH, I THINK THAT'S THE BIG GOOD NUGGET THAT WE HAVE TO REMIND THE COMMUNITY IS WE ARE, AGAIN, THE FIRST PITCH OF THE BASEBALL GAME.
AND WE REALLY NEED TO GET A SENSE OF, UM, WHERE THE ENGINEERING COSTS TRULY ARE FROM CONCEPTUAL TO PRELIMINARY.
'CAUSE, UH, THIS BOARD'S GONNA HAVE TO HAVE SOME SERIOUS CONVERSATIONS ABOUT DESIGN.
YOU KNOW, WE CAN, YOU GET TO AN ORANGE LINE DECISION, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO DO ONE STATION AREA FOR $40 MILLION, AND ANOTHER CONCEPT MIGHT BE $250 MILLION.
AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITY THAT SAY, I WANT THIS, AND IF WE WANT THAT, THEN YOU HAVE TO OFFSET IT SOMEWHERE ELSE.
SO IT'S NOT LIKE IT'S NEVER, YOU KNOW, AS WE ALL KNOW, AN UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF MONEY, AND THERE WILL BE TRADE OFF DECISIONS THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE DECADE OF THE PROGRAM, UH, THAT WE'LL ALL HAVE TO KEEP IN MIND.
ANYBODY ELSE HAS ANY OTHER QUESTIONS? BECAUSE I, I WANTED TO GIVE THE FLOOR TO ALL OF YOU FIRST TO, TO SPEAK WITH WHAT'S IN YOUR MINDS.
AND ONE THING I DO LIKE TO SAY IS THAT I WAS GRATEFUL TO BE INVITED TO THE FORMULATION THAT THE BEGINNING, UH, DISCUSSIONS FOR THE EQUITY TOOL.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WAS BROUGHT UP BY THE FOLKS THAT PUT TOGETHER THE PROGRAM, UH, THEY GAVE US A COUPLE CASE STUDIES, AND ONE OF THE CASE STUDIES IS PORTLAND.
AND IN RELATION TO THIS FUNDING FOR ANTI DISPLACEMENT PORTLAND, I BELIEVE IT WAS WITH THE ORANGE LINE, THEY WENT AHEAD AND REDIRECTED THOSE FUNDS TO BE ABLE TO HAVE A BETTER BOND RATING.
AND IT WAS, YOU KNOW, LATER ON THINKING THAT, YOU KNOW, THE ANTI-DISPLACEMENT TOOL THAT THEY HAD SET UP WOULD, YOU KNOW, THEY COULD REINVEST IT LATER THROUGH THE BONDING MECHANISMS TO AFFORD TO BUY MORE AFFORDABLE HOUSING.
RIGHT? LIKE, IT, IT SOUNDED REALLY GOOD IN THEORY, BUT I REALLY APPRECIATED LEARNING THAT CASE STUDY IN, IN THE FACT THAT IF WE MISS THAT WINDOW, THEN IT'S 10 TIMES HARDER, A HUNDRED TIMES HARDER LATER TO RE TO RECOUP THE, THE DISPLACEMENT.
LIKE, IF PEOPLE ARE DISPLACED, THEY'RE DISPLACED, AND WE CAN'T GO THERE.
SO I DO WANT TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT MOVING THIS MONEY FORWARD, RECOGNIZING STAFF EFFORTS TO PRIORITIZE, HAVE THIS CONVERSATION EARLY AND OFTEN ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF ANTI DISPLACEMENT.
WE NEED TO DO THIS WELL AND NOT PATCH IT OR HEAL IT AT THE BACKEND.
ALSO, IF THIS ALLOWS US TO LEVERAGE THIS MONEY TO APPLY FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING, IF THERE'S MORE PROGRAMS OUT THERE THAT HAVING THIS MONEY FORWARD AND AND SHOWING THE COMMITMENT THAT WE HAVE TO ADDRESS A, A NATIONAL CRISIS OF AFFORDABILITY, DOES THAT GIVE US ANY KIND OF PREFERENTIAL, UH, IT ALLOWS US TO QUALIFY FOR BETTER GRANTS THAT CANNOT AUGMENT THIS MONEY AND MAKE IT GROW.
AND, UH, MR. ALIA, I MEAN, THAT'S A QUESTION THAT I KNOW THAT THE HOUSING AND PLANNING GROUP WITH THE CITY IS GOING TO.
I WILL ENCOURAGE THEM TO REALLY LOOK AT THIS OPTIONS TO MAKE THIS MONEY AND THIS BUCKET GROW AND BE MORE THAN, THAN, THAN THIS FUNDING CAN ALLOW.
BECAUSE I, WITH THE, WITH THE NEED THAT WE HAVE IN OUR COMMUNITY, WHICH HAS BEEN EXTREMELY VISIBLE DURING COVID, IF NOBODY HAS SEEN, NOBODY CAN SAY IN THIS ENTIRE CITY THAT THEY HAVE NOT SEEN THE CAMPSITES, NOBODY CAN SAY THAT THEY HAVEN'T SEEN THE CRISIS IS IN OUR FACES.
AND, UM, THE OTHER PIECE I REALLY APPRECIATED ABOUT PARTICIPATING IN THE, IN THE DISCUSSIONS WITH THE EQUITY TOOL WAS LISTENING TO THE STORIES OF THE FOLKS THAT HAVE SHARED THEIR, THEIR LIVES.
THEY, THEY'RE COMING OUT FORWARD.
THE PEOPLE THAT HAVE NOW LIVE IN DENTON, THEY'RE NO LONGER IN AUSTIN.
AND I, I APPLAUD THE EFFORTS FROM THE CITY TO REACH OUT TO FOLKS TO WHO ARE NO LONGER IN OUR COMMUNITY THAT ARE, YOU KNOW, MY HEART BREAKS TO HEAR THEIR STORIES, THAT HOW THEY HAVE BEEN DISPLACED AND HOW THEY'RE IMPACTED BY THIS.
SO IF THIS MONEY NOW GOES EARLY AND IN THE HANDS OF THE CITY AND WE CAN, UH, HELP, YOU KNOW, JUST ADDRESS THE NEED EARLY RATHER THAN LATER, UH, LET'S, LET'S HELP EACH OTHER OUT.
THIS IS A MAJOR CRISIS IN OUR CITY.
UM, SO MAYOR ADLER, I MOVE PASSAGE OF, UH, ITEM THREE.
THE, UH, THE AGREEMENT, UH, NOTING, UH, THAT, UH, THAT CLAUSE IN, IN SECTION 12 BEGINNING NOTWITHSTANDING, WILL
[01:25:01]
BE STRICKEN.DO WE HAVE A SECOND? I SECOND.
UM, AND I'M GONNA DO NOW THE, THE ROLL CALL.
SO, UM, SO WE HAVE, UH, VICE CHAIR DR. BURNETT.
AND, UH, MYSELF ALSO, THE VOTE IS YES.
UM, SO IT PASSES UNANIMOUS AND IT'S BEEN
[III.3. Federal Grant Program Overview]
APPROVED.UM, SO NOW WE'RE GONNA HAVE ITEM NUMBER FOUR, DISCUSSION ITEM AND OVERVIEW OF THE FEDERAL GROUND PROGRAMS FROM MR. BRIAN BUCHANAN, THE PRINCIPAL, PROJECT MANAGER FOR PROJECT CONNECT WITH HDR, UH, MR. BUCHANAN.
THANK YOU, MEMBER MADAM CHAIR, AND MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.
UM, MY NAME IS BRIAN BUCHANAN.
UM, AS WAS STATED, I AM A PRINCIPAL PROJECT MANAGER, UM, WITH HDR.
AND I'M HAPPY TO BE INVOLVED, UM, WITH THE MOVEMENT OF THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM, UM, OVER THE LAST TWO YEARS AND LOOK FORWARD TO, UH, SPENDING A LOT MORE TIME WITH YOU GUYS AS WE GO THROUGH THIS JOURNEY, JOURNEY TOGETHER.
UM, TODAY, UM, I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO TALK TO YOU A LITTLE BIT ABOUT SOME OF THE GRANT TYPES THAT ARE OUT THERE THAT WILL HOPEFULLY HELP US MOVE THIS PROGRAM FORWARD, UM, THROUGH SOME OF THE FEDERAL GRANT, UM, PROGRAMS TO HELP BRING MONEY INTO THE AUSTIN REGION.
UM, AS PART OF THE FEDERAL INVESTMENT IN THE PROGRAM, WE'LL ALSO HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF DISCUSSION ABOUT, UM, SOME CREDIT PROGRAMS, UM, THROUGH TIA AND THE RAILROAD REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT FINANCING, UM, PROGRAM.
AND THEN THE LAST ONE IS, IS, UH, IS SOME DEEPER DISCUSSION ON THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM, WHICH IS THE BIG, THE BIG PROGRAM THAT WE'LL BE LOOKING AT, UM, TO HELP, UM, MOVE THE PROGRAM FORWARD.
SO I WILL ALSO BE KEEPING WITH THE ALPHABET SOUP, UM, CONVERSATION IN THIS.
SO, UM, IF, UH, IF AT ANY TIME I, I USE, UH, SOME TERMS THAT I DON'T EXPLAIN, UH, PLEASE STOP ME OR, UH, ASK ME, UM, WHAT THAT MEANS.
BUT, UH, I, I SOMETIMES THINK THAT THEY COME UP WITH THE ACRONYM AND THEY, THEY DECIDE WHAT THE NAME OF THE PROGRAM'S GOING TO BE AFTER THAT.
SO, UM, THE FIRST ONE I'D LIKE TO SPEAK ABOUT IS THE LATEST ONE COMING OUTTA THE, THE, UH, THE ADMINISTRATION.
THAT'S THE INFRA PROGRAM, UM, INFRASTRUCTURE FOR REBUILDING AMERICA.
UM, THERE'S APPROXIMATELY AN, UH, A CALL OUT FOR PROJECTS RIGHT NOW OF ABOUT $1 BILLION, UM, IN THIS APPLICATION CYCLE.
UM, YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE KEY OBJECTIVES THAT WERE IN THE NOTICE OF, UH, OF FUNDING OPPORTUNITY, UM, SUPPORTING ECONOMIC VITALITY AT THE NATIONAL AND REGIONAL LEVEL, ADDRESSING CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, RACIAL EQUITY, REDUCING BARRIERS TO OPPORTUNITY, LEVERAGING FEDERAL FUNDING TO ATTRACT NON-FEDERAL SOURCES OF INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT, AND DEPLOYING INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY AND INCURRING INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO PROJECT DELIVERY.
I THINK YOU WILL AGREE THAT A LOT OF THAT DESCRIBES PROJECT CONNECT, DESCRIBES THE PROGRAM UNDER WHICH WE ARE, WE HAVE LAUNCHED HERE, AND THAT THE COMMUNITY HAS INVESTED IN.
SO WE REALLY, UH, HAVE GREAT, UM, ANTICIPATION THAT THESE TYPES OF METRICS WILL BE USED AS WE CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH THIS ADMINISTRATION AND THE CALL FOR FEDERAL PROJECTS AND SOME OF THE GRANT PROGRAMS THAT THEY, THEY CURRENTLY ADMINISTER.
I WILL, UH, ALSO SAY THAT THE CALL FOR PROJECTS FOR THIS PROGRAM, UM, IS DUE THIS FRIDAY.
AND I DO KNOW THAT CAP METRO IS SUBMITTING A, A, A SERIES OF PROJECTS, UM, FOR THIS CALL AND TRYING TO BRING, ONCE AGAIN, SOME FEDERAL FUNDING THROUGH THE INFRA PROGRAM, UM, INTO THE AUSTIN REGION.
SO THE BUILD PROGRAM, UM, WHICH IS BETTER UTILIZING INVESTMENTS TO LEVERAGE DEVELOPMENT IS ACTUALLY, UM, KIND OF A FOLLOW UP TO WHAT USED TO BE CALLED THE TIGER PROGRAM, WHICH WAS TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENTS GENERATING ECONOMIC RECOVERY.
AND THIS WAS, UM, SOME OF THE PROGRAMS THROUGH THE OBAMA, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION AND ON, UM, WITH ADDITIONAL ADMINISTRATIONS.
IT IS A COMPETITIVE PROGRAM FOR ALL MODES OF, OF TRANSPORTATION.
SO IT'S NOT JUST A PROGRAM THAT IS SLATED OR EARMARKED TOWARDS TRANSIT PROJECTS OR TRANSIT PROPERTIES.
UM, AND IT ALSO HAS TRADITIONALLY HAD SOME TYPE OF DISTRIBUTION BETWEEN RURAL AND URBAN PROJECTS.
AND THE SELECTION OF PROJECTS, UM, THAT WERE, UH, AWARDED GRANTS UNDER, UNDER THIS PROGRAM IN 2020, THE GRANT AWARDS RANGED ANYWHERE FROM 5.4 MILLION TO 25 MILLION.
THAT $25 MILLION, UM, KIND OF CAP HAS, HAS KIND OF HELD STEADY, UM, THROUGH, THROUGH THE YEARS.
UM, SO THIS IS NOT NECESSARILY A
[01:30:01]
PROGRAM THAT YOU'RE GONNA BE FUNDING SOMETHING LIKE THE ORANGE LINE OR THE BLUE LINE THROUGH, BUT COULD BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO, YOU KNOW, DO SOME FACILITIES WORK OR SOME, SOME BUS RAPID TRANSIT WORK.UM, THROUGH THE PROGRAM, WE DO ANTICIPATE, UM, THROUGH OUR CHANNELS AND THROUGH SOME OF OUR, UM, PEER AGENCIES AND, UH, PEER GROUPS, UM, A CALL FOR PROJECTS AND A CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FROM THE, UM, CURRENT ADMINISTRATION, UM, MAYBE AS SOON AS, UM, NEXT MONTH.
SO, UM, WE'LL CONTINUE TO DETRACT THAT.
AND I KNOW, UM, THAT, UH, CAP METRO ALONG WITH A TP, UM, WILL HAVE DISCUSSIONS ABOUT PROJECTS TO SUBMIT FOR THAT, FOR THAT ROUND OF FUNDING.
SO, BUS AND BUS FACILITIES IS A PROGRAM THAT IS, IS GEARED DIRECTLY TOWARDS TRANSIT AGENCIES.
UM, ONCE AGAIN, IT'S A COMPETITIVE PROCESS, UM, AIMED AT, YOU KNOW, BUS PURCHASES AND RELATED EQUIPMENT IN AND AROUND BUS PURCHASES, BUS RELATED FACILITIES, AND ITEMS LIKE THAT.
UM, IT, IT TRIES TO HELP SUPPLEMENT SOME OF THE FORMULA FUNDING THAT WHICH IS FUNDING THAT TRANSIT AGENCIES GET, UM, JUST THROUGH THEIR SIZE AND THEIR GENERAL CONFIGURATION THROUGH GENERAL FORMULAS, BUT HELPS THEM, UH, HAVE ANOTHER COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM THAT ALLOWS THEM TO DO SOME, UM, OTHER, OTHER CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS SUCH AS THE BUILDING OF A BUS WASH, THE BUILDING OF A, OF SOME MAINTENANCE FACILITIES AND SOME MAINTENANCE BAYS, AND ALSO PURCHASE FLEET, UH, ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
AND CAP METRO, UH, UNDER EACH ROUND HAS TRADITIONALLY, HISTORICALLY COMPETED IN ALL THE ROUNDS OF AVAILABLE FUNDING.
SO IF THERE'S AN OPPORTUNITY OUT THERE, UM, CAP METRO HAS SUBMITTED A, A PROGRAM OR A A PROJECT ASSOCIATED WITH THAT.
SO, DIVING DOWN A LITTLE BIT AND GET A LITTLE MORE SPECIFIC, THERE IS ALSO A PROGRAM, UM, CALLED THE LOW OR NO EMISSIONS VEHICLE PROGRAM, OR LOW NO, UM, AS, AS WE KNOW IT.
AND THIS ALSO, UM, KIND OF THE SAME AS THE BUS AND BUS FACILITIES, BUT THIS IS AIMED TOWARDS SUPPORTING ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS WITHIN THE NATION'S TRANSIT FLEET.
SO THIS IS YOUR ELECTRIFIED BUS FLEET.
THIS IS YOUR HYDROGEN CELL, UM, FLEET.
UM, AND SOME OF THE STUFF THAT'S COMING OUT COMPRESSED NATURAL GAS, SOMETHING, UM, OTHER THAN YOUR TRADITIONAL DIESEL POWERED POWERED BUS.
AND, UM, ONCE AGAIN, UM, VERY PRUDENT TO OUR PROGRAM, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD AND HAS BEEN PRUDENT TO CAP METRO'S PROGRAM, UM, IN THE PAST.
AND THEY'VE BEEN AWARDED ABOUT $4.9 MILLION IN GRANT FUNDING IN THE 2019 AND 2020 GRANT PROCESS.
UM, SO ONCE AGAIN, UH, BRINGING THOSE FEDERAL DOLLARS HOME TO HELP, UH, WITH THE VEHICLES THERE AT CAT METRO.
UH, YEAH, A PILOT PROGRAM, ALTHOUGH I WILL SAY THAT IT HAS CONTINUED FOR A LITTLE BIT OF OF TIME.
UM, BUT THE TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT AND PLANNING PILOT PROGRAM, UM, IS A PILOT PROGRAM THAT WAS PUT OUT THERE BY THE FDA TO HELP GET GRANTEES AND COMMUNITIES THINKING ABOUT HOW THEY WOULD SHAPE EITHER LAND USE POLICY OR COMMUNITY CONVERSATION OR COMMUNITY INVESTMENT IN PRIVATE INVESTMENT, UM, IN AND AROUND MAJOR CAPITAL INVESTMENT PROGRAMS, UM, LIKE LIGHT RAIL SYSTEMS AND, UH, OTHER LARGE, UH, BUS RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEMS AND OTHER LARGE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS.
UM, THE, THE, THE PROGRAM, UM, RIGHT NOW, UM, IS GEARED TOWARDS THOSE THAT ARE IN A NEW PLANNING, A NEW FIXED GUIDEWAY, WHICH IS A, BASICALLY A LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM OR A BRT SYSTEM OR A CORE CAPACITY TRANSIT CAPITAL INVESTMENT, UM, WHICH WE ARE DOING AS PART OF, OF PROJECT CONNECT.
UM, HOWEVER, THERE IS SOME, UH, EFFORT UNDERWAY TO TRY TO LOOSEN THOSE GUIDELINES A LITTLE BIT SO THAT OTHER COMMUNITIES AND OTHER IN, UM, AREAS CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS, UM, GRANT PROGRAM IF THEY'RE NOT DOING THOSE THINGS.
UM, 'CAUSE ONCE AGAIN, TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT AND, UH, YOU KNOW, WORKING ON LIVE WORK PLAY AND EQUITY ISSUES IS, IS IMPORTANT TO ALL TRANSIT.
AND, UH, SO THERE IS SOME EFFORT UNDERWAY FOR THAT.
UM, CAP METRO, UM, WAS AWARDED IN 2020.
UM, THEY AWARDEE OF THIS PROGRAM, AND THEY, UH, APPLIED FOR PLANNING TOD PLANNING AT 13 STATIONS ON THE BLUE AND ORANGE LINE.
AND THAT WORK IS JUST GETTING UNDERWAY AS PART OF, UH, THE PROJECT CONNECT AND PART OF THE EFFORTS OF THE CAPITAL METRO PLANNING ORGANIZATION.
SO SWITCHING GEARS A LITTLE BIT.
SO THOSE ARE ALL GRANT PROGRAMS, AND JUST TO PUT IT SIMPLY, GRANTS ARE NOT NOT PAID BACK.
THEY ARE, THEY'RE GRANT PROGRAMS. THEY, THEY COME TO YOU, THEY USUALLY REQUIRE A LOCAL MATCH OF LOCAL FUNDS, UM, BUT THEY ARE NOT A LOAN.
UM, SO TIA IS, IS A LOAN TYPE VEHICLE CREDIT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.
[01:35:01]
UM, IT IS ELIGIBLE, ANY PROJECT IS ELIGIBLE, UM, THAT IS A, UM, HIGHWAY PROJECT OR A TRANSIT CAPITAL PROJECT, UM, IS ELIGIBLE TO, TO UTILIZE THIS AND, AND LOOK AT THIS, UM, PROGRAM.UM, I WOULD SAY THAT THIS IS A TOOL IN THE TOOLBOX WHEN YOU'RE BUILDING THE FINANCIAL MODEL FOR THE PROGRAM.
THERE ARE SOME BENEFITS TO THE TIA PROGRAM, SUCH AS DELAYED REPAYMENTS AND, AND SOME, UM, TERMS AND CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH YOU APPLY, UM, FOR THESE DIFFERENT PROGRAMS. UM, BUT IT ALSO NEEDS TO BE WEIGHED AGAINST THE ABILITY FOR THE AGENCY TO GET THEIR OWN BONDING OR THEIR OWN PRIVATE PLACEMENT AND THINGS.
SO IT'S JUST A TOOL IN THE TOOLBOX THAT IS BEING LOOKED AT AS PART OF THE, PART OF THE CAPITAL STACK, UM, FOR THE, UH, PROJECT CONNECT, UM, IMPLEMENTATION.
AND, UH, IS, IS, UH, WILL BE LOOKED AT, UM, AS WE MOVE FORWARD.
ALONG WITH THAT NEXT SLIDE, PLEASE.
THE, THE RAILROAD REHABILITATION AND IMPROVEMENT FINANCING, ONCE AGAIN, A CREDIT ASSISTANCE PROGRAM, AS THE NAME SUGGESTS, MAINLY TOWARDS RAILROADS AND RAILROAD REHABILITATION.
UM, THIS WOULD APPLY TO ITEMS LIKE THE RED LINE AND THE GREEN LINE, UM, WHERE WE CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SOME OF THE, THE, UH, FINANCING AVAILABLE TO US, UM, THROUGH THIS PROGRAM.
UM, ONCE AGAIN, A, A LOT, A BIG POOL OF ELIGIBLE BORROWERS, INCLUDING, YOU KNOW, THE RAILROAD YOU SEE OUT THERE, STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS, GOVERNMENT SPONSORED AUTHORITIES, BUT ALSO CORPORATIONS THEY CAN ALSO APPLY.
SO THE CSX AND THE BURLINGTON NORTHERNS AND THE SANTA FES, THE TRAINS YOU SEE OUT THERE CAN ALSO APPLY THROUGH THIS PROGRAM FOR SOME OF THEIR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS. ALSO.
SO THE BIG, UM, PROGRAM THAT IS, UM, KEY, UM, TO PROJECT CONNECT AND THE ORANGE LINE, UM, THE TUNNEL, THE BLUE LINE IS THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM, OR 53 0 9 IS, IS ANOTHER TERM THAT IT, IT GOES BY.
AND THIS PROVIDES FUNDING THROUGH A MULTI-YEAR COMPETITIVE PROCESS FOR MAJOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS.
UM, BUT THERE ARE RULES AND REGS AND PROCESSES THAT GO AS PART OF THIS CAPITAL INVESTMENT PROGRAM, UM, THAT THE LAW DOES REQUIRE, UM, TO COMPLETE A SERIES OF STEPS OVER SEVERAL YEARS TO BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE FUNDING.
THERE ARE TWO KEY CATEGORIES INSIDE THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT PROGRAM THAT WE ARE LOOKING AT.
UM, ONE IS CALLED THE NEW STARTS PROGRAM, AND WE'RE LOOKING AT THAT FOR THE ORANGE LINE IN THE BLUE LINE.
IT IS FOR NEW FIXED GUIDEWAY SYSTEMS OR EXTENSIONS THROUGH EXISTING SYSTEMS, BUT THE TOTAL PROJECT COST, IT HAS TO BE OVER $300 MILLION, OR YOU'RE ASKING FOR OVER $100 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING.
SO CHECK MARK ON BOTH OF THOSE FOR THE ORANGE AND BLUE LINE.
UM, THAT'S, THAT'S THE PROGRAM THAT WE'LL BE LOOKING AT, UM, TO, TO, UH, WORK WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON, ON DELIVERING THE ORANGE LINE AND THE BLUE LINE.
AND THEN ANOTHER SUBSET PROGRAM IS, IS SMALL STARTS.
UM, AND, AND BASICALLY THOSE ARE FOR PROJECTS THAT ARE, HAVE A TOTAL CAPITAL OF LESS THAN $300 MILLION OR, AND, OR, AND, AND, OR, UM, THEY ARE SEEKING LESS THAN $100 MILLION IN FEDERAL FUNDING.
UM, SO ON OUR PROGRAM, THOSE WOULD BE THE METRO RAPIDS.
UH, AND, UH, WE HAVE STARTED INTO THE SMALL STARTS PROGRAM ON TWO OF THE, UH, THREE OF THE METRO RAPID LINES, UM, TO DATE.
SO THE, THE TEXT MENTIONS THE PROCESS, AND THE PROCESS IS KIND OF BROKEN UP INTO, YOU KNOW, THREE MAJOR CHUNKS WITH A MILESTONE OF A FULL FUNDED GRANT AGREEMENT AT THE END.
UM, WHAT WE'VE BEEN DOING FOR THE LAST SEVERAL YEARS AND, AND RIGHT NOW IS WE ARE ENDING AND MOVING, UM, THROUGH THE PLANNING PROCESS.
AND THAT'S WHERE WE HAVE IDENTIFIED, UM, THE ROUTING, UM, THE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE PROGRAM.
WE'VE LOOKED AT SCHEDULES AND TRYING TO SECURE THE FUNDING AND, AND SECURING THE FUNDING, UM, TO MOVE TO THE NEXT PHASE CALLED PROJECT DEVELOPMENT.
SO, UM, HERE IN THE NEXT COUPLE MONTHS, WE WILL BE ENTERING THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
AND INSIDE THAT PROCESS, THAT IS WHERE WE ARE GOING TO COMPLETE NEPA.
WE ARE GOING TO MOVE THROUGH THE 30% DESIGN.
WE'RE GOING TO REFINE COST ESTIMATES, RIDERSHIP, FORECAST.
THIS IS WHERE WE START IN DEPTH CONVERSATIONS WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON HOW WE'RE GONNA DELIVER THE PROGRAM, UH, UH, PROJECTS AND START REALLY BUILDING THE FINANCIAL MODEL AND GETTING THE FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS LINED UP, UM, MOVING FORWARD.
AND THEN THERE'S A ANOTHER STEP, UM, WE WILL THEN ASK THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO ENTER INTO ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERING'S KIND OF A BUCKET WORD.
UM, THIS IS ALSO WHERE YOU CAN START LAND ACQUISITION IN EARNEST.
[01:40:01]
SOME LAND ACQUISITION BACK IN, BACK IN PROJECT DEVELOPMENT THROUGH SOME ADVANCED ACQUISITIONS, BUT YOU CAN START LAND ACQUISITION IN EARNEST.YOU HAVE YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL DOCUMENT NOW, UH, APPROVED, AND THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN START, UM, ACTUALLY DOING SOME CONSTRUCTION WORK UNDER WHAT ARE CALLED LMPS OR LETTERS OF NO PREJUDICE, UM, WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND DURING THIS TIME YOUR FINALIZING THINGS AND YOU'RE NEGOTIATING WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON WHAT THEIR, UM, CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROGRAM'S GOING TO BE.
AND THEN FINALLY, UM, THERE'S THE FULL FUNDING GRANT AGREEMENT, THAT'S THE CONTRACT WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ON THE, UM, ON THEIR CONTRIBUTION TO THE PROGRAM.
AND THAT IS WHAT WE'RE HELD TO, THE TIMELINES ASSOCIATED IN THERE, ALONG WITH THE TIMELINES WITH THE VOTERS, UM, THAT WE'VE, UH, WE'VE, WE HAVE ALREADY.
UM, BUT THIS IS REALLY OUR INVESTMENT VEHICLE FOR THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO, TO ENTER IN A CONTRACT, UM, ON THE PROGRAM.
SO, ALL THAT, IT, IT IS A PROCESS AND I, I THINK A LOT OF PEOPLE, UM, DON'T UNDER DON'T UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS, NOR SHOULD THEY.
UM, BUT IT, IT JUST WANNA SAY THAT IT, THIS IS NOT JUST A PROGRAM OF, UH, GO TALK TO SOME PEOPLE, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A GOOD PROGRAM.
THEY, THEY RUN YOU THROUGH A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS, UM, GETTING READY.
THEY LOOK AT, THEY LOOK AT YOU AS AN INVESTMENT AND, AND SO WHAT DO THEY WANT TO INVEST THEIR FEDERAL MONEY IN? SO THE FIRST PILLAR OF SUCCESS IS BEING ABLE TO NAVIGATE THAT, THAT PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS.
AND WE'VE PUT IN GREAT, UM, WORK TO DATE, UM, WORKING OUR WAY THROUGH THAT.
UM, WE HAVE KEY STAFF COMING ON BOARD ON BOTH THE AGENCY SIDE AND ALL THE CONSULTANT SIDES, UM, TO HELP TO DELIVER THE PROGRAM.
UM, THERE WILL BE EIGHT OR SO, UM, BOTH QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE PROJECT MERITS EVALUATION CRITERIA, UM, THAT WE MUST GET A MEDIUM RATING ON, UM, A COLLECTIVE MEDIUM RATING TO, TO MOVE THROUGH THE PROCESS.
AND WE'RE LOOKING GOOD ON THAT.
UM, SO, BUT WE STILL HAVE TO MOVE THROUGH THAT PROCESS, AND THAT INCLUDES THINGS SUCH AS TRANSIT, SUPPORTIVE LAND USE, UM, COST EFFECTIVENESS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.
AND THEN FINALLY, IS JUST MAKING SURE THAT YOU HAVE THE TEAM AND THE, THE DEMONSTRATING THE TECHNICAL CAPACITY AND THE MANAGEMENT CAPACITY AND CAPABILITY AND HAVE THAT ONGOING THROUGH ALL THESE DIFFERENT PHASE PHASES OF THE PROGRAM.
SO THE, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, AND THEN THROUGH THE PROCESS, WE WILL, WE'LL BRING ON ANOTHER CONSULTANT CALLED THE PROGRAM MANAGEMENT OVERSIGHT CONSULTANT, AND THEY WILL ACTUALLY INTERVIEW STAFF.
THEY WILL INTERVIEW CONSULTANTS, AND WE WILL HAVE MONTHLY MEETINGS WITH THEM, AND THEY WILL BE TRACKING THE FEDERAL INVESTMENT AND LOOKING OUT FOR THE FEDERAL INVESTMENT AND HELPING US AS THE GRANTEE MOVE THROUGH THE, MOVE THROUGH THE PROGRAM TOO.
SO THEY, UH, THEY, UM, EXPECT US TO HAVE, UM, THE TECHNICAL STAFF AND THE TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY, UM, TO PULL ALL THIS OFF.
SO WITH THAT, UH, THAT WAS A HIGH LEVEL, UM, IN INTRODUCTION INTO KIND OF THE GRANT PROGRAMS THAT WE ANTICIPATE, UM, BEING ABLE TO UTILIZE IN THIS PROGRAM.
I WILL SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, THIS PROGRAM IS A RATHER LENGTHY PROGRAM.
UM, AS HAS BEEN SAID BEFORE, I HIGHLY ANTICIPATE A LOT OF THIS WILL CHANGE THROUGH THE EVOLUTION OF, OF ADMINISTRATIONS AND ALSO CHANGE JUST AS THINGS, UM, UM, MOVE THROUGH, MOVE THROUGH TIME AS IT HAS TO DATE.
SO WITH THAT, I'D BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS.
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? RIGHT? YOU MADE IT SOUND SO EASY.
WE SHOULD BE DONE BY NOW, RIGHT? NO, SAY THAT THIS MEMBER STRATTON.
SO BACK ON, LOOKING AT THE, THE, THE TIMELINE THERE, THE, AND, AND THANK YOU THAT, THAT REALLY, THAT'S REALLY HELPFUL.
I KNOW THAT THIS IS EXTREMELY HIGH LEVEL, UH, BUT I HOPE THAT THAT'S, THAT I THINK THAT'S HELPFUL AND INFORMATIVE FOR US, BUT I HOPE IT'S ALSO VERY HELPFUL TO THE MEMBERS OF THE, THE COMMUNITY THAT ARE WATCHING THIS.
UM, JUST TO, TO KIND OF PUT A BOW ON THAT, IT, IT SEEMS LIKE THAT, UM, AS I READ THAT, THEN IT'S APPROXIMATELY TWO YEARS FROM PROJECT DEVELOPMENT INTO ENGINEERING PHASE.
AND THEN DID I UNDERSTAND THAT RIGHT? THEN FROM THERE, APPROXIMATELY ANOTHER TWO YEARS FROM THAT ENGINEERING PHASE APPROVAL INTO THE FULL FUNDING AGREEMENT, GIVE OR TAKE? YEAH, THAT'S GIVE OR TAKE, UM, BOARD MEMBER STRATTON.
BUT, UM, YOU CAN ALSO ADVANCE SOME CONSTRUCTION PACKAGES DURING THAT TIME ALSO, THROUGH WHAT ARE CALLED LETTERS OF NO PREJUDICE WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
IT DOESN'T COMMIT THEM TO, TO PAY FOR ANYTHING.
BUT IF YOU DO GET THE FULL FUNDING GRANT AGREEMENT, THOSE COSTS BECOME ELIGIBLE A AS PART OF YOUR GRANT AGREEMENT.
SO A, AFTER WE GET THE ROD OR THE ENVIRONMENTAL DECISION ON THE PROGRAM, WE CAN ACTUALLY START SOME CONSTRUCTION WORK
[01:45:01]
AND START, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AT VEHICLES AND MOVING ALL THAT THROUGH, THROUGH THE PROCESS.SO REALLY THE, THE, UH, TURN SHOVEL TYPE OF OF DATE IS REALLY THAT ENTRY INTO ENGINEERING.
AND, AND YOU CAN START THERE, OKAY.
AND, UM, UH, SHOVELING GROUND.
SO JUST TO, TO, UM, CLARIFY THEN WITH THIS, UH, WE DO THIS, I, I'VE HEARD MANY PEOPLE SAY, WELL, WELL, WHAT HAPPENS IF WE DON'T GET FEDERAL APPROVAL ON, ON WHAT WE'VE APPROVED? AND I WANT TO BE CLEAR, WE'RE NOT JUST DOING THIS FOR PROJECT CONNECT, WE'RE DOING THIS FOR, WE'VE GOT MULTIPLE PROJECTS THAT ARE RUNNING RIGHT NOW WITHIN THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM.
SO WHAT YOU'VE JUST OUTLINED HERE, DAVE, YOU'RE DOING FOR THE ORANGE LINE, YOU'RE DOING FOR THE BLUE LINE, UM, WE'VE GOT, UH, I I GUESS REALLY TH THIS, THIS SIG PRO, THE, THE CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT GRANT, THIS IS THE PROCESS FOR, IS IT RIGHT NOW JUST ORANGE AND BLUE? IS THE TUNNEL CONSIDERED A SEPARATE, UH, SOMETHING SEPARATE, OR IS IT BEING PACKAGED UP AS PART OF ORANGE AND BLUE LINE? THE, THE TUNNEL WILL BE PART OF ORANGE AND BLUE.
UH, WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO IS YOU HAVE TO GO FORWARD WITH, UH, SOMETHING THAT HAS WHAT THEY CALL INDEPENDENT UTILITY.
SO THE BLUE LINE WILL BASICALLY BE FROM THE AIRPORT INTO REPUBLIC SQUARE, UH, AND THEN YOU WILL HAVE THE ORANGE LINE THAT WOULD BE FROM STANE ALL THE WAY TO TECH RIDGE.
UH, BECAUSE THE WAY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT LOOKS AT IT IS YOU HAVE TO HAVE SOMETHING THAT CAN RUN, UH, WITHOUT HAVING, YOU KNOW, A GAP IN IT.
SO THOSE WILL BE LOOKED AT THAT WAY.
EACH ONE WILL BE A SEPARATE EIS, UH, AS WE GO FORWARD.
AND IT WILL INCLUDE THE TUNNEL IN EACH ONE.
THE, THE THING THAT I WANNA EMPHASIZE WITH WHAT BRIAN SAID IS THAT CIG IS THE LARGEST PROGRAM THAT IS THERE.
UH, AND WE DO HAVE THE SMALL STARTS THAT WE ARE NOW IN THAT PROCESS FOR, UH, WE'RE APPROVED FOR PROJECT DEVELOPMENT FOR BOTH THE EXTENSION ON SOUTH LAMAR TO MANCHACA AND OAK HILL.
UH, WE ARE ALSO IN THAT PROCESS FOR EXPO AND PLEASANT VALLEY.
UH, WE'RE WAITING TO SEE WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE ANNUAL REPORT COMES OUT SHORTLY, UH, EXPECTING THAT WE WILL HAVE, WE WILL HAVE TWO OF THOSE IN THAT REPORT.
WHETHER THERE'S ANY MONEY WITH IT IS A DIFFERENT QUESTION, BUT THE MAIN BUCKET, IF YOU WILL, THAT'S THERE IS THE CIG PROGRAM.
ALL OF THE OTHER ONES ARE ONES THAT, THAT METRO HAS BEEN PURSUING AGGRESSIVELY, UH, TO COME UP WITH FUNDS FROM SOME OF THOSE, WHETHER IT IS THE TOD STUDY THAT WAS JUST APPROVED, UH, OR OTHER WAYS THAT THINGS ARE DOING.
THE, THE INFRA PROGRAM, UH, THAT BRIAN TALKED ABOUT INITIALLY, THAT'S GONNA HAVE WORK ON THE RED LINE INCLUDED IN THERE.
SO EACH ONE OF THOSE IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO BE ABLE TO GET FUNDING FOR DIFFERENT PORTIONS OF WHAT WOULD BE, UH, THE PROJECT CONNECT OR FOR OTHER THINGS THAT NEED TO BE DONE.
SO JUST LIKE THERE ARE MULTIPLE PROJECTS WITHIN THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM, THERE ARE MULTIPLE FEDERAL AVENUES IN WHICH WE CAN OBTAIN THE FUNDING TO GET TO THE END GOAL.
THAT WILL GET US TO THAT 7.1 BILLION THAT WE HAD ALL TALKED ABOUT, THAT THE VOTERS WERE APPROVING ULTIMATELY FOR US TO BE ABLE TO BUILD OUT.
AND THE, THE ONE THAT BRIAN TALKED ABOUT FOR THE TIA PROGRAM, THAT'S BASICALLY A LOAN PROGRAM THAT ALLOWS YOU TO GO AHEAD AND PROGRESS FASTER.
UH, AND THEN AS YOU GET TO THE END OF IT, UH, IT HAS THE ABILITY TO DO A PAYMENT AT THAT POINT.
YOU CAN DEFER THE PAYMENTS OUT.
UH, IT, IT REALLY IS SOMETHING THAT ALLOWS YOU TO CONTINUE FORWARD, UH, WITH THE PROGRAM WITH THAT ASSISTANCE OF THE LOAN.
I JUST HAD A COUPLE, JUST A COUPLE POINTS, UH, TO ON TOP OF DAVE, JUST FOR CLARITY.
UH, DAVE MENTIONED STANE TO TECH RIDGE, AND I JUST WANT TO CLARIFY.
SO WE WERE GOING THROUGH THE, THE NEPA PROCESS TO GET THE ENTIRE ORANGE LINE THROUGH A RECORD OF DECISION, BUT THE PROJECT THAT WE ARE GOING TOWARDS CONSTRUCTION IS FASTING, THE NORTH LAMAR TRANSIT CENTER.
AND WE, WE, WE, WE RUN THROUGH THESE SO FAST, I JUST WANTED TO ADD THAT CLARITY, SO KNOW WHEN THE PUBLIC THOUGHT WE WERE ACTUALLY BUILDING TO TECH RE THAT'S NOT FUNDED IN THIS SECTION.
AND TO, TO DAVE'S POINT THAT THEY'RE RATED THROUGH INDEPENDENT UTILITY FOR THE, FOR THE 30% DESIGN AND RECORD OF DECISION, THAT DOES NOT MEAN THOUGH, THAT THEY MIGHT NOT BE JOINT PROJECTS PUTTING INTO A PROGRAM WITH FTA.
WE STILL HAVE TO HAVE THAT REALLY COMPLICATED STRATEGIC DISCUSSION WITH FTA AND THIS A NEW ADMINISTRATION.
THERE'S A PROGRAM THAT CONGRESS AUTHORIZED CALLED PROGRAM OF INTEGRATED PROJECTS THAT NO ONE HAS ACTUALLY
[01:50:01]
EVER DONE.AND THAT MIGHT BE A METHODOLOGY THAT THIS ADMINISTRATION MAY WANT TO DO WITH US.
THERE'S PROS AND CONS TO ALL OF THESE THINGS.
THEY, THEY DICTATE CLEARANCES, BUT THEY ALSO DICTATE CASH FLOW FROM THE FEDS.
SO WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO BUILD AN ENTIRE PROGRAM STRATEGY AROUND THAT AS WE BUILD OUR PROGRAM MANAGEMENT PLAN AROUND THAT WHOLE PIECE, OUR RISK REGISTER AND, AND, AND THEN AN OVERALL PROJECT, UH, PLAN.
SO AGAIN, THIS IS ALL CRAWL, WALK, RUN STEPS.
THOSE ARE THE THINGS WE'LL START IN EARNEST WITH THE BOARD PROBABLY IN THE, YOU KNOW, MID TO LATE SUMMER, STARTING THROUGH THOSE KINDS OF TOPICS AND THINKING HOW PUTS AND TAKES WORK AND, YOU KNOW, 'CAUSE WE DON'T REALLY KNOW YET UNTIL THIS ADMINISTRATION MAKES SOME DECISIONS, WE DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN WITH A POTENTIAL INFRASTRUCTURE BILL.
WE DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN WITH.
SO THE CURRENT PROJECTS ARE FUNDED.
PROGRAMS ARE FUNDED THROUGH WHAT'S CALLED FAST ACT.
SO ARE THEY GONNA REAUTHORIZE THAT WITH A NEW PROGRAM THAT'S A SURFACE TRANSPORTATION BILL? IDEALLY, IF NOT, IT'S A CONTINUING RESOLUTION.
ANOTHER CR WHICH PUSHES THE SAME APPROPRIATIONS DOLLARS FOR ANOTHER YEAR.
THAT'S HAPPENED OVER AND OVER.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF UNKNOWNS IN THE FEDERAL SIDE THAT WE HAVE TO KIND OF WORK HAND IN GLOVE WITH THEM.
WE HAVE A FANTASTIC RELATIONSHIP WITH THE, UH, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT.
THEY'VE BEEN GREAT PARTNERS WORKING WITH US.
SO THIS WILL EVOLVE A LITTLE BIT OVER TIME, BUT I THINK BOARD MEMBERSHIP, YOU HIT A POINT THAT WE HAVE TO, AS ALL A GROUP, I RECOMMEND WE ALL CONTINUE TO EMPHASIZE TO THE COMMUNITY.
AND WORD CHOICE IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT.
WE HAVE TO STOP USING THE WORD PROJECT.
PROJECT CONNECT IS A PROGRAM, IT'S A PROGRAM OF A WHOLE BUNCH OF PROJECTS.
ANTI-DISPLACEMENT BEING A PROJECT METRO RAPID EXPO LINE BEING A PROJECT BLUE LINE BEING A PROJECT.
WE HAVE ELECTRIFICATION OF FACILITIES BEING A PROJECT.
WHEN YOU HAVE A NEW BUS GARAGE, A NEW RAIL YARD, THEY'RE ALL A BUNCH OF PROJECTS AND THEY ALL HAVE, SOME OF THEM WILL HAVE FEDERAL PROGRAMS THAT WE WANT TO GO FOR GRANT FUNDING AND OTHERS WILL HAVE ZERO FEDERAL MONEY.
AND WE NEVER IMAGINED ANY MONEY FOR IT.
'CAUSE THERE'S NO PROGRAM AND WE NEVER BUILT THE MODEL FOR THAT.
SO A GOOD EXAMPLE IS DOUBLE TRACKING ON THE RED LINE.
WE HAVE THE MONEY IN THE CAPITAL PLAN, WE'RE JUST GONNA GO DO IT.
SO THERE IS NO FEDERAL PROGRAM ON THAT.
AND THAT'S OKAY BECAUSE THE REAL ONES THAT WE'RE AFTER ARE THE TWO CIG ONES PLUS THE SMALL STARTS AND ANYTHING ELSE WE CAN KIND OF PUT TOGETHER.
SO IT'S COMPLICATED, BUT THE MORE WE ALL THINK ABOUT IT, IT'S A PROGRAM AND EACH ONE HAS AN INDEPENDENT PROJECT PLAN.
ALL HAVE PROJECT TEAM COULD BE INDEPENDENT CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS AND INDEPENDENT FUNDING AND FINANCING ALL WITHIN THE OVERALL PROGRAM WOULD BE IS IS WHERE WE WANT TO GET EVERYONE TOO.
AND THEN THE LAST THING I WANT TO ADD, SORT OF GO A LITTLE ALONG HERE, BUT THIS IMPORTANT, IS THIS BOARD A MAJOR ROLE FOR THIS BOARD AND THEN ULTIMATELY CAP METRO AND CITY COUNCIL? AS WE DEVELOP THAT FEDERAL STRATEGY, WE'LL BE, WE, THE STAFF WILL REALLY BE COMING TO YOU ALL AS BIG ADVOCATES FOR OUR DELEGATION AND FOR OUR MAJOR STAKEHOLDERS AND PARTNERS COMMUNITY TO, TO ADVOCATE TO OUR DELEGATION AS TO BE CHAMPIONS FOR US IN DC.
SO THESE THINGS ARE COMPETITIVE, THEY'RE TECHNICAL PROGRAMS, BUT I THINK WE ALL KNOW HOW THE WORLD WORKS.
THE MORE SUPPORT WE HAVE IN DC THE BETTER IT IS FOR US ALL THROUGH HOW THESE PROGRAMS ADVANCE.
SO THAT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT I, I HOPEFUL WILL THIS BOARD OVER THE, YOU KNOW, LITERALLY THIS SUMMER AT SOME POINT, MAYBE THROUGH
DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY MORE COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS FROM MR. BUCHANAN? MR. ELKINS, JUST, JUST A QUICK COMMENT.
UH, THANK YOU BRIAN, FOR A VERY COMPREHENSIVE OVERVIEW OF THESE PROGRAMS FROM THE GOVERNMENT CAN BE RATHER COMPLICATED.
I THINK YOU GAVE A GOOD OVERVIEW.
UH, LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU AND, UH, ALL I CAN SAY IS THANK GOD WE'RE LAUNCHING THIS PROGRAM NOW INSTEAD OF FOUR YEARS AGO.
OR SOME OF THESE BUDDIES MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE.
SO LET'S TRY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF IT.
SO
UH, WITH THE CIG IT WOULD BE PART OF THAT SAME BUCKET OF A GRANT, RIGHT? WE DON'T PAY THAT BACK, CORRECT? THAT IS, THAT IS CORRECT.
WELL, ONE THING FOR CLARITY, UH, SO THE FTA JUST REVERSED A DIRECTION FROM THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION WHERE IF YOU HAD A TIA LOAN, THE PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATION ACTUALLY SAID THAT DID NOT GET TO COUNT AS LOCAL MATCH EVEN THOUGH THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT WAS ACTUALLY PAYING BACK THE LOAN.
AND THE FT A PROBABLY ABOUT A GIVE OR TAKE A MONTH AGO REVERSED THAT AND SAID, OF COURSE IT'S A LOCAL MATCH BECAUSE IT'S LOCAL MONEY BEING SPENT ON THAT.
SO THIS IS TO BRIAN'S POINT, UH, BRIAN'S BEING A LITTLE, LITTLE MORE CO AND PROFESSIONAL ABOUT IT.
BUT YOU HAVE TO, EACH ADMINISTRATION WILL HAVE ITS OWN INTERPRETATION, UH, AND, UH, UH, TWEAK ON PROGRAMS. AND WE ARE GONNA GO AS AGGRESSIVE
[01:55:01]
AS WE CAN, UH, REGARDLESS OF ADMINISTRATION TO WORK IN OUR PROGRAM ON THE FEDERAL LEVEL.THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS GREAT OVERVIEW.
I, AND, UM, I'M GLAD TO HEAR THAT SOME OF THESE PROGRAMS WITH THE SMALL STARTS HAVE ALREADY BEEN FUNDED.
SO THIS IS, THIS IS FANTASTIC.
AND, YOU KNOW, YOU DID MENTION SOMETHING MR. BUCHANAN ABOUT THE, THE TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE LINE USE.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS THAT'S REALLY EXCITING ABOUT HOW CLOSELY WE'RE WORKING WITH THE CITY OF AUSTIN IS THAT WE HAVE AN ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITY TO AUGMENT AND GIVE THE MOST PEOPLE THE MOST ACCESS TO TRANSIT.
SO THIS IS OUR CALL TO ACTION TO SAY, THIS IS OUR TIME TO REALLY ADDRESS LAND USE IN A WAY THAT HELPS US WIN THIS GRASS, HELPS US ADDRESS MOBILITY, HELPS US ADDRESS, UH, YOU KNOW, THE ELEPHANT IN THE, IN THE CITY.
LET'S NOT CALL IT THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM, BUT THE ELEPHANT IN THE CITY AND LAND USE CAN'T BE OVERRATED.
AND WE, I HOPE WE REALLY TAKE THIS REALLY, REALLY SERIOUSLY SO THAT WE DON'T, AGAIN, WE AUGMENT THESE FUNDS AND MAKE IT EVEN BETTER TO GIVE US A HIGHER OPPORTUNITY TO, TO ADDRESS THE NEEDS.
I OFTEN TELL PEOPLE IT'S LIKE THE BEST TRANSIT YOU DON'T HAVE IS THE ONE YOU DON'T HAVE TO USE.
IF YOU CAN GET TO WALK AND WORK AND ACCESS, YOU KNOW, BASIC SERVICES BY YOUR FEET BECAUSE OF LAND USE, THEN WE'VE DONE OUR JOB WELL.
AND IT LIBERATES TRANSIT, IT LIBERATES OUR CITIES TO, TO SERVE THOSE MOST IN NEED.
[IV. Executive Director Report]
GIVE THE MOST ACCESS TO THE MOST PEOPLE.SO WITH, WITH THAT, THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF THIS WONDERFUL WORK.
AND WITH THAT, UH, MR. CLARK, UM, YOUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS.
UH, A COUPLE QUICK THINGS FOR THE BOARD AS WE PROMISED EACH MONTH WE'LL GO THROUGH A COUPLE UPDATES.
UH, FIRST ONE WOULD BE A STAFFING UPDATE AND, UH, WANT TO BRING KIND OF THE, THE HIGH LEVEL, UH, VIEWING OF THIS OR ORGANIZATIONAL CHART WE'RE, WE'RE BUILDING OUT.
AND I, I JUST, YOU KNOW, THE STAFF, UH, REALLY APPRECIATE, UH, THE, THE CAP METRO TEAM ON THE, ON THE HR AND PEOPLE AND CULTURE TEAM HAS BEEN KIND OF THE SUPPORT MECHANISM.
UH, AND, AND THEN OBVIOUSLY THE STAFF THAT WE HAVE ON, ON A TP SO FAR HAS BEEN WHILE DOING THEIR DAY JOB.
AND AS BOARD MEMBER
BUT THEY'RE, THEY'RE ALL DOING AN INCREDIBLE JOB, WORKING HARD.
SO SOME OF THE ONES WE'VE ALREADY REVIEWED, BUT NEW ONES TO REVIEW, UM, THAT WE BROUGHT ON, AND ACTUALLY THREE PEOPLE START NEXT WEEK WOULD BE, UH, DAVE COUCH HAS, UH, HIRED A DEPUTY PROGRAM OFFICER, JOHN ROHN.
SINCE OUR LAST BOARD MEETING, UH, DAVE IS ABLE TO SECURE A SENIOR DIRECTOR TO OVERSEE CONSTRUC DESIGN AND IN CONSTRUCTION OF THE ORANGE LINE, LEAH ROBBINS GOT HER FROM THE TRIM SYSTEM IN PORTLAND, OREGON WITH A CONSIDERABLE MATTER EXPERIENCE.
SENIOR DIRECTOR ON THE BLUE LINE, ALVIN LIVINGSTONE, WHO HAS, UH, WAS ONE OF THE KEY PEOPLE, UH, BUILDING OUT THE PHOENIX SYSTEM, LIGHT RAIL SYSTEM.
HE'S COMING ON BOARD, UH, SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR VEHICLES AND SYSTEMS, DAVE ACHE, UH, OUT OF NEW YORK, AND HAS WORKED AT LA AND, UH, ADA AND DALLAS AND SOME OTHER SYSTEMS, UH, BROUGHT HI, UH, HIM INTO, UH, PLAY ON THIS, UH, UH, PROGRAM.
AND PETER MULLIN, WHO'S THE CHIEF ARCHITECT AND, UH, AN URBAN DESIGNER, AND PETER STARTS TOMORROW AS WELL.
SO THOSE ARE SOME OF THE NEW HIRES WE'VE, UH, BEEN ABLE TO GET ON BOARD.
UH, THERE'S A LOT OF POSITIONS CURRENTLY UP AT, UH, AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, INCLUDING, UH, I THINK ALL, EVERY ONE OF THE GRAY BOXES, I BELIEVE IS UP IN, IN INTER INTERVIEW.
UH, SOME OTHER IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT ON THE STAFFING WOULD BE JACKIE NURNBERG AND CASEY BURAK ARE IN THE PROCESS OF HIRING, UH, REALLY GROWING OUR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT INVOLVEMENT TEAM.
AND SPECIFICALLY, SO WE CAN HAVE ONE LEAD ON THE ORANGE LINE, ONE LEAD ON THE BLUE LINE, ONE PERSON THAT WE'LL LOOK AFTER KIND OF OUR BUSINESSES RELATIONSHIP, WHICH IS GONNA BE CRITICALLY IMPORTANT, ESPECIALLY ON THE SMALL BUSINESS FRONT.
ONE FOR METRO RAPID, AND THE GREEN LINE AS WELL.
SO, UH, YOU KNOW, WE'RE MOVING ON ALL, ALL AVENUES.
VERY, VERY TECHNICAL ENGINEERING, FINANCE, AND REAL ESTATE AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND, AND LEGAL, UH, KIND OF EVERYTHING AT ONCE.
SO, UH, THE HOPEFULLY MORE UPDATES EACH MONTH AS WE GO THROUGH THAT.
THE NEXT SLIDE IS A QUICK UPDATE ON ONE THING THAT WE TALKED ABOUT LAST MONTH WAS GIVING THE BOARD A BETTER SENSE AND HONESTLY AS WE GOT A BETTER SENSE OF THE KIND OF A PROCUREMENT LOOK AHEAD.
[02:00:01]
SO THE, THE SLIDE'S RELATIVELY STRAIGHTFORWARD IN THE SENSE OF, YOU KNOW, IN THE SHORT TERM VIA THE CO-OP THAT YOU ALL APPROVED LAST MONTH, UH, WE'LL BE DOING LEGAL SERVICES AND REAL ESTATE SERVICES TO KIND OF GET US THROUGH THE REST OF THE YEAR, RIGHT? SO CASEY HAS SOME RESOURCES AVAILABLE, UH, SO WE COULD DO, WHETHER IT'S AGREEMENTS LIKE WE DID LAST MONTH, AND GREG HAS SOME SERVICES.A GOOD EXAMPLE IS WE WERE TRYING TO GET THROUGH AND, UH, ORGANIZE SOME LEASE SPACE FOR A TP.
SO THOSE ARE KIND OF THE NEAR TERM, AND THE TEAM'S WORKING ON THOSE IN THE NEXT COUPLE WEEKS.
AND THEN THEY'LL COME OUT IN THE MONTHLY REPORT OF WHATEVER CONTRACT WAS WAS ISSUED, UH, WITHIN THE THRESHOLDS THAT YOU ALL APPROVED LAST, UH, LAST MONTH.
THE NEXT BUCKET ARE SOLICITATIONS THAT WOULD REALLY HAPPEN FROM, YOU KNOW, OVER THE NEXT THREE TO 12 MONTHS.
SO, UH, GREG, I SEE YOUR FACE.
DO YOU WANNA TAKE A COUPLE SECONDS AND, YOU KNOW, ROLL THROUGH THAT A LITTLE BIT? UH, YOU KNOW, PROCUREMENT WILL FALL UNDER YOU AND YOU MIGHT GIVE IT A BETTER, A BETTER, UH, FLAVOR TO, TO HOW THAT YOU SEE THAT ROLLING OUT.
YEAH, AGAIN, I THINK THAT AS RANDY LAID OUT, WE JUST WANNA KIND OF LAY OUT WHAT WE, WHAT THE FUTURE LOOKS LIKE AS OF NOW AS WE BEGIN A BUILDING, OUR STAFF AND OTHER, UH, AND TRYING TO PROGRAM OUT THE, THE NEEDS WE NEED TO GET TO THOSE BIG TOP, THOSE BIG TARGET AREAS THAT BRIAN LAID OUT JUST, YOU KNOW, A FEW MINUTES AGO, UM, THAT KIND OF DOVETAIL THAT PROCESS.
SO, KIND OF THREE BIG BUCKETS.
LEGAL, UM, UH, GENERAL COUNSEL, REAL ESTATE, UH, FOR BOTH RIGHT OF WAY A FEE SIMPLE, A LOT OF FTA, UH, WORK.
WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ADHERING TO THE, THE GUIDELINES, UH, OF FTA.
AND THEN ULTIMATELY WHEN WE GET INTO CONTRACTING RISK AND READINESS FINANCE SIDE, UM, KEY COMPONENT, WE'RE GONNA SPEND TIME ON ONE OF OUR, UM, INSIGHT SESSIONS ABOUT HOW THE MODEL WORKS AND BONDS AND DEBT.
UH, SO A MUNICIPAL MUNICIPAL ADVISOR, WHICH IS THE TECHNICAL TERM FOR A BOND ADVISOR, UH, TRANSACTION OR RISK ADVISORY SERVICES, AGAIN, KIND OF MIMICKING AND, UH, AND PARTNERING WITH THE LEGAL SIDE ON HOW WE DO CONTRACTS AND, AND FTA READINESS, UH, AND RISK ALONG CONTRACTS AND FINANCIAL, UM, MODELING AROUND THAT, WHICH IS REALLY KEY.
AND THEN BANKING, WE NEED TO, WE NEED TO GET OUR OWN BANK ACCOUNT HERE PRETTY SOON.
UH, SO WE'LL BE LOOKING AT THAT.
AND THEN, UH, DAVE'S LOOKING AT THE PROGRAM SIDE IN ADDITION TO THE WORK HE HAS ALREADY, UH, UNDER CONTRACT, LOOKING AT THE CAMPUS PLAN, YOU, YOU'VE HEARD US TALK ABOUT THE, THE BIG NEED FOR A MAINTENANCE FACILITY ON CAMPUS LOOKING AT SYSTEMS, THE SYSTEM ELEMENTS OF THE, OF, UM, OF, OF, OF, OF THE PROGRAM.
AND THEN CONTROLS REGI, SCHEDULE AND RISK.
SO YOU SEE THAT AS A COMMON THEME ALONG THESE.
SO THESE ARE THE ONES THAT WE'VE KIND OF STARTED PULLING TOGETHER.
UM, I THINK OUR NEXT STEP OVER THE NEXT MONTH OR SO, TWO MONTHS IS STARTING TO LAY OUT MORE OF A SCHEDULE ABOUT WHEN WE CAN GET THESE OUT.
CERTAINLY WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS WE NEED TO WRITE GOOD SCOPES.
WE NEED TO HAVE GOOD TEMPLATES TO GO OUT IN THE STREETS.
THIS WILL BE OUR FIRST TIME, UH, GOING OUT TO THE, TO THE, TO THE COMMUNITY AND TO THE MARKET TO, TO GET THESE SERVICES IN.
SO JUST MAKING SURE WE HAVE ALL OUR, ALL, ALL OF OUR TS AND CS DONE ON, ON RF, QS AND RFPS THAT GO OUT.
UM, AND AGAIN, WHY THE SHORT TERM HELP THAT CASEY WILL BE ABLE TO BRING IN, UH, WILL BE VALUABLE.
SO AGAIN, JUST WANNA GIVE YOU A QUICK LOOK AHEAD WHERE WE ARE AS WE CONTINUE TO KIND OF CHART, START LAYING OUT THE, UM, YOU KNOW, WE WENT FROM THE LONG TERM INTO WHAT THIS MIGHT, THIS UPCOMING YEAR COULD LOOK LIKE FOR US.
UM, AND THEN THE LAST SLIDE, UH, WOULD BE THIS UPCOMING BOARD INFO SESSIONS, LIKE TODAY'S WAS ON, YOU KNOW, AN OVERVIEW OF THE FEDERAL GRANT PROCESS.
UH, NEXT MONTH WE WANT TO BRING TO YOU KIND OF AN OVERVIEW OF THE DBE AND SBE PROGRAM.
SO WE'LL PROBABLY DO A LOT OF THAT PERSPECTIVE A, WHAT THE FEDERAL KIND OF RULES OF THE ROAD ARE AROUND THAT.
'CAUSE AGAIN, WE'RE A FEDERALIZED PROGRAM AND WHEN YOU PLAY IN OUR WORLD, WE ALWAYS SAY THERE'S $1 INVOLVED.
YOU HAVE TO FOLLOW ALL THE FEDERAL RULES.
THAT'S JUST KIND OF HOW IT WORKS.
SO WE WANNA EXPLAIN, UH, THE FEDERAL RULES AROUND DBE AND SBE AND THEN EXPLAIN HOW THE METHODOLOGY OF PERCENTAGES COME TOGETHER.
AND WE'LL PROBABLY USE CAP METRO AS THE BASE, BECAUSE A TP DOESN'T EXIST AS AN ENTITY FROM A FEDERAL POINT OF VIEW.
SO IT'S GONNA RELY ON A LOT OF CAP METRO METHODOLOGY ON PROGRAM AND THEN, UH, AVAILABILITY OF, OF THOSE TYPES OF VENDORS TO DELIVER THAT PRO THAT PART OF THE PROGRAM.
SO WE'LL DO AN UPDATE ON THAT, UH, AND HAVE A DISCUSSION.
THEN WE WANT TO BRING VEHICLES AND INFRASTRUCTURE IN MAY AGAIN, TRY TO GET TO THAT NEXT DIVE DOWN ON THE INTERFACE.
AND THE, THE CRITICALITY OF HOW LONG IT TAKES TO GET A VEHICLE.
YOU KNOW, WE'VE HAD PEOPLE, AND RIGHTFULLY SO, 'CAUSE WE HAVEN'T GONE THROUGH IT BEFORE, KIND OF ASSUME WE JUST GO TO A FACTORY AND WE BOUGHT, WE, OKAY, WE'LL TAKE 15 OF THOSE, THOSE RAIL VEHICLES.
A RAIL VEHICLE WHILE SIMILAR, UH, FROM PROPERTY TO PROPERTY IS BASICALLY A CUSTOMIZED VEHICLE.
'CAUSE IT HAS TO WORK INSIDE THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WE BUILD HERE.
UH, SO, YOU KNOW, IT TAKES YEARS TO GET, UH, RAIL VEHICLES.
UH, AND THEN WHEN WE'RE AT PEAK, PEAK CONSTRUCTION OR PEAK DELIVERY, WE MIGHT GET TWO A MONTH.
THAT'S, THAT'S THE KIND OF THE RAIL VEHICLE, UH, WORLD.
BUT WE HAVE TO REALLY TALK ABOUT INFRASTRUCTURE AND VEHICLES,
[02:05:01]
HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER.AND THEN WE, IF YOU RECALL, WE HAD THAT KIND OF PARKING LOT OF LI UH, A LIST OF A BUNCH OF TOPICS.
AND A GOOD EXAMPLE IS ONE WE WERE THINKING ABOUT MAYBE IN JUNE, BUT OBVIOUSLY, UH, OPEN TO WHAT THE BOARD THINKS IS IMPORTANT, UH, FOR, FOR YOU ALL KIND OF UNDERSTANDING WOULD BE REAL ESTATE AND RIGHT OF WAY.
THAT'S GONNA BE A CRITICAL TOPIC THAT WE'VE KIND OF WALKED THROUGH THAT AND, AND, YOU KNOW, THE TYPE OF REAL ESTATE WE WILL NEED VERSUS RIGHT OF WAY AND THE RISK RELATED TO THAT.
AND, YOU KNOW, THERE'S SOUND TRANSIT HAS HAD SIGNIFICANT COST OVERRUNS ON THEIR RIGHT OF WAY ACQUISITION, AND HOW DO WE KIND OF MITIGATE RISK? AND THAT COULD BE A BUYING THINGS EARLY AS BRIAN BUCHANAN MENTIONED OR WORKING WITH PARTNERS ON, ON, ON, ON THOSE TYPES OF STRATEGIES.
SO, UM, I ALSO KIND OF REALLY WANT THE BOARD TO GIVE US AN UNDERSTANDING, UH, YOU KNOW, AN UNDERSTANDING.
YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IT NOW, BUT IF, CERTAINLY NOW, BUT, UH, OVER TIME, OTHER TOPICS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO DIVE DEEPER IN, UH, IN THIS INFORMATION IN INSIGHT SESSION, WE'RE HAPPY TO PUT THAT TOGETHER.
SO WE'RE JUST KIND OF TRYING TO METHODICALLY GO THROUGH BUILDING BLOCKS BECAUSE AS MANY PEOPLE SAID TODAY, THIS IS A MULTI-YEAR PROGRAM AND IT IS AN AMAZING AMOUNT OF STUFF WE'RE ALL GONNA HAVE TO KIND OF GROW AND LEARN TOGETHER THROUGH THE PROCESS.
SO WITH THAT CHAIR, UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS I HAD MENTIONED TO STAFF ABOUT HOW RIVETING OUR MEETINGS ARE GONNA BE, YOU KNOW,
I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE TO LOOK THROUGH THE LENS OF THESE DEEP DIVES ON THE THINGS THAT WE'RE LEARNING, HOW WE CAN USE THEM TO, FOR PEOPLE TO TUNE IN AND LEARN THE BEHIND THE SCENES.
LIKE I'M REALLY FASCINATED ABOUT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE TUNNEL, LIKE HOW WE'RE GONNA GET THROUGH THAT TUNNEL AND, AND, AND WHAT THE EXCAVATION AND WHAT IT'S GONNA DO.
BECAUSE I, I WOULD LOVE FOR THIS TO BE AN OPPORTUNITY TO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENGINEERS, THE NEXT GENERATION OF ARCHITECTS, THE NEXT GENERATION OF TRANSIT, UH, MECHANICS THAT ARE GONNA MAINTAIN OUR SYSTEMS. SO AS WE USE, UH, AS WE GO THROUGH THESE DEEP DIVES, I, I WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE US ALL TO TUNE IN AND HELP OUR AUDIENCES AND OUR WHO ARE GONNA BE OUR NEXT WRITERS, RIGHT? THE YOUNG, THE YOUNG KIDS IN OUR, IN OUR CITY TO, TO LOG IN AND BE ABLE TO SAY, HEY, THIS IS REALLY INTERESTING STUFF.
SO, UM, I KNOW WE'RE ALL TRANSIT GEEKS IN SOME WAY,
SO WITH THAT, UH, IF ANYBODY ALSO HAS ANY IDEAS ON, UH, YES, BOARD MEMBER COLETTE, I TAKE COLETTE
UM, I JUST WANNA, UM, WHILE AS WE THANK YOU RANDY, FOR THE REPORT, AND I'M GLAD WE'RE MAKING PROGRESS IN THE HIRING.
SO I JUST WANNA, AS WE KEEP ON TALKING ABOUT THROUGH A LENS OF EQUITY, I WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE BUILDING EQUITY INTO THE STAFF ITSELF.
SO I DON'T KNOW IF THAT'S SOMETHING THAT CASEY HAS HER EYE ON OR WHO IS, YOU KNOW, UM, ASSURING THAT WE'RE DOING THAT IN OUR, IN OUR HIRING AS WE BUILD OUT THE STAFF ITSELF.
I KNOW YOU AND I HAVE HAD A FEW CONVERSATIONS ON THIS FRONT AND, UM, WORKING CLOSELY WITH JACKIE ON THAT AND ALSO WITH THE, UM, FOLKS, THE HR FOLKS OVER AT CAPITAL METRO ARE ADEPT AT IT, BUT ALSO WELL AWARE THAT IT'S A MAJOR FOCUS OF THIS PROJECT AND, UM, SOMETHING WE THINK ABOUT.
THAT'S THE LENS WE LOOK AT ALL OF OUR HIRING EFFORTS THROUGH.
SO, SO HOW ARE WE LOOKING SO FAR? SO I, I, I CAN JUST JUMP IN AND TELL YOU, DR. BURNETT, THAT IS SOMETHING THAT ULTIMATELY IS MY RESPONSIBILITY AND I TAKE THAT VERY SERIOUSLY.
AND I, YOU KNOW, YOU AND I HAVE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR A COUPLE YEARS AND I THINK, I THINK YOU KNOW THAT I TAKE THAT VERY SERIOUSLY.
UH, WE HAVE A RECRUITER THAT WORKS FOR US NATIONAL RECRUITER THAT DOES, HE ACTUALLY, UH, WAS INVOLVED IN THE BOARD SEARCH FOR ME.
SO HE DOES A LOT OF CEOS AND EXECUTIVES AND, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN TECHNICAL LEADER POSITIONS IN OUR INDUSTRY.
AND HE CALLED ME THE OTHER DAY 'CAUSE DAVE, DAVE AND HAS BEEN MOSTLY WORKING WITH HIM ON BUILDING THE TECHNICAL STUFF AND GREG A LITTLE BIT, CASEY A LITTLE BIT.
AND HE SAID, YOU HAVE THE MOST DIVERSE TRANSIT EXPANSION PROGRAM, SENIOR TEAM OF ANYONE IN THE COUNTRY FOR THE MANY POSITIONS YOU GOT, YOU GOT THE MOST DIVERSE TEAM SO FAR.
SO, UM, SO HE'S WORKING A, YOU KNOW, VERY ACTIVE ON THAT.
AND THAT IS A LENS THAT WE ARE WORKING HARD ON.
UM, SO, UH, WE, YOU KNOW, THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER POSITIONS TO FILL AND WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO, TO DO THAT.
IF YOU OR OTHER MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OR THE COMMUNITY HAVE IDEAS FOR US TO PENETRATE OTHER PARTS OF THE COMMUNITY THAT MAY TRADITIONALLY NOT LOOK AT OUR, OUR OFFERINGS OR OPPORTUNITIES, WE CERTAINLY WELCOME THAT.
UM, ESPECIALLY FOR, YOU KNOW, CERTAIN JOBS ARE INCREDIBLY TECHNICAL, RIGHT? SOME OF THE ONES THAT WE'RE HIRING FOR DAVE'S LEADERSHIP TEAM, UM, QUITE FRANKLY,
[02:10:01]
WE NEED PEOPLE THAT HAVE BUILT BIG RAIL COMPLEX SYSTEM STUFF.SO TO FIND DIVERSE LEADERSHIP IN THAT HAS BEEN A CHALLENGE AND WE, AND WE'VE BEEN SUCCESSFUL AT THAT.
BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, AS JACKIE HIRES COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STAFF, WE GET INTO FINANCIAL SERVICES STAFF, LEGAL STAFF THAT ALLOWS EVEN MORE OF THE GREATER AUSTIN AREA.
SO THE MORE VEINS IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COMMUNITY, WE CAN, WE CAN TOUCH POINT IS CERTAINLY GONNA BE VALUABLE.
SO WE WELCOME ANY SUPPORT AND HELP ON THAT.
TELL YOUR RECRUITER NOT TO RELAX, THOUGH.
I, I HEAR WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, BUT TELL HIM NOT TO RELAX ON THAT FRONT.
I DON'T, I
AND I THINK WHAT, YOU KNOW, WHAT WE LOOK FORWARD TO DOING AS WELL IS AS THE MORE SENIOR STAFF JOIN THE TEAM AS WELL, YOU'LL BE SEEING OTHER FACES AT THESE MEETINGS TOO, WHICH I THINK IS IMPORTANT.
SO, UH, YOU'LL SEE A LARGER COLLECTIVE OF, OF, UH, OF STAFF INVOLVED.
JUST HAD A COUPLE COMMENTS ON THE PROCUREMENT SLIDE THAT GREG WENT OVER.
AND, AND THIS IS WHAT PIGGYBACKING ON, UH, WHAT DR. BURNETT SAID.
I THINK OBVIOUSLY WE NEED EQUITY IN ALL PARTS OF THE PROGRAM, NOT JUST IN STAFF, BUT ALSO WITH ADVISORS.
SO, UM, YOU KNOW, I WOULD LOOK TO SEE A MEANINGFUL S-B-E-D-B-E PERCENTAGE WHERE IT MAKES SENSE FOR ADVISORS.
SO, UM, THAT NEEDS TO BE A, A PERCENTAGE THAT'S TAILORED TO THE ADVISOR TO THE SCOPE OF WORK, BUT, BUT WE SHOULD TRY TO PUSH THAT AND HAVE PROPONENTS THAT ARE BIDDING ON, UH, ADVISORY SERVICES NAME THE TYPE OF FIRMS THAT THEY WOULD PROPOSE TO USE IN THEIR SERVICES.
SO THAT'S JUST ONE COMMENT, AND I KNOW WE'RE GONNA BE HAVING A BRIEFING AT SOME POINT ON D-B-S-B-E.
UM, THE OTHER THING, AND I KNOW I'VE TALKED WITH YOU AND GREG ABOUT THIS, IS I, I LIKE THE COMPONENT WHERE IT MAKES SENSE OF INCENTIVE BASE COMPENSATION, SOME COMPONENT, NOT, NOT JUST BASE FEES, SOME COMPONENT OF INCENTIVE BASED COMP FOR ADVISORS BASED ON MILESTONES THAT WE AGREE, SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE ADVISORS JUST MAKING UP WORK.
WE'VE GOT ADVISORS THAT ARE ALIGNED TO THE GOALS OF THE PROGRAM.
UM, AND THAT COULD BE DONE THROUGH MARKET SOUNDING WITH ADVISORS.
AND THE OTHER THING IS, WHEN WE'VE SET UP THEIR CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING THESE ADVISORS, YOU KNOW, WE TYPICALLY HAVE RESUMES, PROJECTS, THOSE TYPES OF THINGS, THOSE ARE IMPORTANT.
BUT I THINK ONE OF THE KEY THINGS HERE IS WE WANNA REWARD INNOVATION.
WE WANT PEOPLE THAT HAVE GOT REALLY BRILLIANT IDEAS FOR THIS PARTICULAR PROGRAM, NOT FOR SOME PROGRAM IN ANOTHER STATE.
SO I WOULD ENCOURAGE STAFF WHEN THEY DO THESE RFPS TO TRY TO, IN THE RFP PROCESS, SEE WHAT IDEAS PEOPLE HAVE AND REWARD THEM FOR THAT IN THE RFP.
UM, AND YOU ALSO MENTIONED DETAIL SCOPE, AND THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
AND THE LAST THING I KNOW I MENTIONED IN THE LAST BOARD MEETING AND, AND THAT'S HAVING A PROCUREMENT POLICY IN PLACE AT SOME POINT SO THAT WE KNOW HOW PROCUREMENTS ARE GONNA WORK, WHAT THE CRITERIA WILL BE, WHAT WE CAN SOLE SOURCE, WHAT WE CAN, AND, AND I KNOW THAT'LL BE FORTHCOMING.
UM, ANY FURTHER COMMENTS, QUESTIONS? YES.
BOARD MEMBER STRATTON, UH, JUST GENERALLY SPEAKING, UM, WOULD IT BE A GOOD IDEA OR WHO, WHO SHOULD WE DIRECT ANY, UH, SUGGESTIONS OR IDEAS FOR ADDITIONAL BRIEFING TOPICS, UH, TOO, WOULD THAT BE, SHOULD WE SEND THAT TO, UH, TO, TO CASEY TO YOU DIRECTLY, RANDY, WHO WOULD BE THE BEST POINT OF CONTACT AS WE AS BOARD MEMBERS ARE THINKING OF THESE THINGS TO, TO SEND THAT VIA EMAIL TO IDEAS? DID YOU, DID YOU GET, SEND THAT TO CASEY AND SAM, THAT WOULD BE APPRECIATED.
FEEL FREE TO CC ME AND SEND IT TO ME OBVIOUSLY TOO, BUT, UH, THEY'RE FASTER THAN ME.
YEAH, YOU'RE, YOU'RE, YOU'RE A LITTLE BUSY WITH EVERYTHING.
I, I'M JUST, AND WHOLE OTHER TRANSIT AGENCY TOO.
AND, AND, UH, BOARD MEMBERS STRATTON, IF YOU DON'T MIND COPYING ME.
SO WE CAN ALWAYS KEEP TRACK OF, OF THE TOPICS FOR THE NEXT MEETINGS.
UM, I LIKE TO, UM, ALSO BE INFORMED.
SO, UH, WITH THAT, I KNOW IT'S BEEN A REALLY LONG DAY FOR SOME OF YOU THAT STARTED REALLY, REALLY EARLY ON MEETINGS.
UM, ANYBODY HAS ANY OTHER CLOSING REMARKS? I WOULD JUST SAY ONE FINAL THING IS TOMORROW IS TRANSIT, UH, TRANSIT, EMPLOYEE APPRECIATION DAY.
AND SO CAP METRO WILL BE PUTTING OUT A FAIR AMOUNT OF STUFF, UH, LATER TODAY INTO TOMORROW, JUST THANKING
[02:15:01]
THE GREAT WOMEN AND MEN TO WORK AT CAP METRO, ESPECIALLY WHAT THEY'VE DONE THIS YEAR.WE'LL BE AT ALL OF OUR SHOPS DOING TACOS AND BROWNIES AND EVERYTHING, THAT KIND OF STUFF.
SO ON SOCIAL MEDIA, FEEL FREE, UH, TO SHARE THE LOVE OF A TRANSIT APPRECIATION WORKER DAY TOMORROW.
UH, IF, IF IT, UH, IF YOU'RE ABLE, THANK YOU, THANK YOU.
AND YES, LET'S SHARE THE LOVE, UM, AND THE GRATITUDE.
I KNOW THAT IT'S THE BEHIND THE SCENES THAT, YOU KNOW, THE, THE PANDEMIC, THE VORTEX OF SNOW THAT WE DID NOT EXPECT ALLOWS US AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW WHERE THESE TRANSIT SERVICES BECOME THE LIFELINE OF OUR COMMUNITIES IN SO MANY WAYS.
AND I HAVE TO SAY, THE VIDEO THAT YOU SHOWED AT THE END OF THE BOARD MEETING, UH, RANDY, IT MADE ME CRY.
THAT WAS AN INCREDIBLE VIDEO THAT I DO HOPE EVERYONE GETS THE CHANCE TO SEE IT AND SHARE IT AND TELL THE STORY OF WHAT WE'RE, WHAT IS BEING HAPPENING IN OUR COMMUNITIES BECAUSE IT'S GONNA TAKE ALL OF US FOR THE LONG HAUL TO GET THIS RIGHT AND GET IT DONE.
UM, SO WITH THAT, I'D LIKE TO HAVE THE MEETING ADJOURNED.
IT'S 4 22 AND I APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S TIME.