 Okay, I think it's nine o'clock or if we're ready You know, does it look like we're you're ready to bring everybody in or we ready? We have quorum. I think might be missing just a couple, but we're good. All right. All right Well, then I will call the Santa Cruz Metropolitan Transit District Board of Directors meeting to To order for June 25th and now for roll call We can go back to the screen Alice. It's okay Screen with everybody Alice so that we can see the smiling faces Okay, and the roll call is Here thank you Dr. Callentary Johnson Dr. Conan, yeah, Dr. Lynn Yeah, Dr. McPherson Yeah, Dr. Myers. Yeah, Dr. Pagler. Yeah, Dr. Peterson. We know that's him Dr. Roswell Dr. Rotkin here Exefficio director Henderson And Exefficio director Northcott. I don't seem all too We have quorum. All right. Thank you. Good morning everyone and for announcements Today's meeting has been broadcast by community television Santa Cruz County. We thank you Are there any other announcements and Comments from public I believe are under this. Is that right Mike? Announcements first. Yeah, I just made announcements. So Board of Directors comments anyone Actually, I do. I just want to say that We're excited on the 4th of July. We're gonna be I'm having a Mayor's bike ride through the downtown Watsonville and through the the community and we're gonna be led by one of our electric buses So it's gonna be nice to showcase our like just our electric bus throughout the community So I want to thank Metro for making that happen and we look forward to making showing off our brand-new electric bus I tried to steal to me I tried to steal the Watsonville band for our in-person parade, but I would love to add to that. They're performing at the same time as our parade I guess in the Civic Center So yeah, they're gonna so we're gonna ride back into down into back downtown and then there's gonna be a concert from the band as well, so And if anyone wants to join us, please please feel free to do so we're gonna be leaving I believe around noon, so And see it's got it's probably does have an in-person parade and fly over at three and That's why I just steal the band from Watsonville, but oh well, they'll be performing in Watson anyone else I was just gonna add that This evening at five from five to seven will be celebrating the opening of the Portola Drive pop-up This is a demonstration project to show a road diet So for those of you familiar with the Pleasure Point 41st area We're taking it from four lanes to three lanes So one travel in each direction with the center turn lane and much wider protected bike lanes on both sides a new parking Arrangement where the cars are closer to the lane of travel and the bike lane is on the sidewalk side The pop-up will be there from today is it'll be finished until July 21st So it's about 30 days and if you can't make it tonight for the opening celebration I encourage you to come down and try it out at some point over over that time period and give us feedback Great, thank you Thank you chair done I this is has nothing to do with transportation, but it does can transport you the proper Valley Arts is having the bankers of Corazon Gallery going on we welcome you to come visit our gallery on 22 7th Street There will be a reception from that two o'clock on Sunday So we welcome everybody to think of the corazon parts of the cactus All right, thank you And and I just want to congratulate all the mayors on The event at the parks and I'm trying outside the frame. I think That was we had our first one in Scottsville. I know others are on Father's Day, but anyway What a beautiful idea. Thank you to all of you and Donna and Jimmy for being part of that and for that vision I think that might have been Donna's vision, but whatever it's it's really been beautiful and well received in Scott's Valley So thank you. Yeah, that's a good opportunity. Thank you Donna Yeah, and those and those are up in Santa. Those are up for I think six weeks. I believe Jimmy I know you're having your opening and we're doing our opening tomorrow. So thanks for reminding that Donna. Yeah. Yeah, it's a fun idea I was told three months, but I'm not Three months. It's been a it's kind of been bouncing around a little bit so it is I believe longer and and Mariah at Santa Cruz County Parks Friends really deserves a lot of credit and also our colleague in that Brooks They they really were the team that really were able to pull all this together, but they're really really fun idea People are already using them. They're on West Coast here in Santa Cruz. So people are already using them I'm seeing I'm seeing posts on social media with up here, too. So thank you Our event is tomorrow tomorrow is 10 a.m. As well. So people want to come to our open as well 30 on Bethany curve All right. Thank you both Next we have any other comments. I want to make sure they miss any hands Okay, don't see any Oral and written report our communications So two letters from Anna issue that she pointed out She both she and Jimmy Pined have done some great work getting us some Or at least try still trying to get us some funding from Washington, DC We're expanding some of our service both in pair cruising and fixed route service I saw the social I saw in the Santa Cruz Sentinel my story on That work. So thank you Staff and everyone who has worked with Anna. So, thank you. Yeah And any let's say any other comments from the public Don't see any hands and then we will go to A labor organization communications anyone from labor I've seen any hands. I don't see any hands. I was just giving it a moment All right Additional documentation support existing agenda items Anything I know I've got yes Jean anything I don't anything new other than what you sent to me No, ma'am we're good Hey, and then on the consent agenda, we know that we will be pulling 815 and other than that Any changes or and Otherwise a motion to approve the consent agenda. You might ask the public if they have any comments on that Yes, and any any a request from the public to pull any of the items on the consent agenda or any Discussion on the consent agenda And I don't see any All right, so then I see a director Gonzalez Thank you, sir. I'd like to make a comment on I am a 11 The approval of consideration for adopting the resolution to authorize the CEO to submit a grant application I think this is a really important piece for us as Metro It will help us move forward At one time, you know, what's no did have the bus station Maintenance facility on Sankar with on Sankar Road And I think this is a positive move for our community and for our county Especially with electric buses and you know, we're trying to reduce vehicle miles traveled overall And so I hope the the directors support this and we move forward and we really make it become real Thank you Thank you, director Paikler I was ready to make a motion if people were prepared Okay by director Paikler second by director Dutra, thank you. That's with exception of 815 right As mentioned and Roll call vote With 8-15 having been pulled the roll call is The motion by Pegler the second by director Dutra. The roll call is director Dutra. Yes Dr. Gonzalez Yes, that's a calendar Johnson. Yes, that's a Conan. Yes Dr. Lin I That's my person Dr. Myers I Dr. Pegler I Dr. Rothwell I Motion I unanimous final present. All right. Thank you Right next we have the On a regular agenda And let me just get to my copies of we have presentation employee longevity awards and I'm Thank You to Gina for Providing that information so we have first we have Pedro Gateras a bus operator for 15 years and Pedro has great positive attitude He's great with his customers and always willing to step up work Extra when needed and Pedro is a Wasville native and a 49er and Warriors fan So congratulations to Pedro Gateras on 15 years and the round of applause for him, please And our second is Oscar Herrera bus operator also 15 years He comes to work with a smile a great attitude He likes riding his Harley and restoring cars and he recently stepped up and drove for VTA on two occasions During their operator shortage due to that tragedy. Thank you Bus operator Oscar Herrera And again a applause for Oscar Soon we'll be able to do this in person Which would be nice and then next is Jose Nana's bus operator for 20 years and Proud father and husband takes pride in his role as a bus operator He loves spending time with his family as well supporting the San Jose sharks. He's a devoted fan So congratulations for him as well Thank you all three with three long-term Metro Employees, that's great and then next we have Can we ask if anybody has any public comments Yeah, and that's good and I was looking for hands and didn't see hands, but let's like to hear from any directors Anyone else? Okay, and no no hands have been raised for the public. So I Think We are all I know an appreciative Next we have retiree bios that we have three retirees and Let me move the motion they make a motion to approve the resolutions recognizing their retirement Is there a resolution? We usually read the bios first and then make the Thank you No, no, wait, wait back back up. There's no resolution for agenda nine Certificates So number 10 don't read the bios and then we'll do them. Okay. Thank you So our first retiree is Brian Lomb facilities maintenance worker, too He was a good employee was valuable asset to the team throughout his 13 years with facilities department His knowledge regarding Metro's bus program contributed to the success of the department. He will be missed But congratulations to Brian Lomb and do we need individual resolutions or one that covers, okay? And then the next is William McIntyre a bus operator was a pleasure to work with bill He took pride in his career as a bus operator He always came to work with dedication to serving his community even during the pandemic He understood the public need for bus service and he knew the importance of his position His infectious smile and laugh will be greatly missed He will be looking forward to spending time with his family and his long-time canine Companion as well as their fostered kitties and their other family pets. Oh, I can tell we get along great Okay, and then next is Greg will is purchasing manager Greg came to Metro September 10th 2007 with extensive experience in the automotive business He began his tenure with Metro as a lead parts clerk was promoted to parts and materials supervisor in 2014 promoted again to purchasing manager in December of 2019 and his knowledge and expertise Will also be greatly missed Metro Congratulations to all three of our retirees and now we're ready for a Resolution and an applause. Thank you. I will move the three resolutions in front of us Okay, so motion by director Watkins second by director Gonzales And the motion is to approve the resolutions for the three retirees mentioned Motion by dr. Watkins second by director Gonzales, and the recall is Yes Dr. Callentine Johnson. Yes, it's a Conan. Hi Dr. Lynn. I That's what you said Dr. Myers. Hi, Dr. Pengler. Hi Dr. Raffer off. I Dr. I Motion pass unanimously by those present All right. Thank you Okay, next we have actually I'm gonna this is where we deviate a little bit I think from no next we have the oral Mac semiannual report and do we have James Von Hindi is joining us. He's the Mac chair. So Jay, I saw you earlier. Yes I'm I am here. I was on mute. You didn't help to speak with me and on So, um, yes So I'm James Von Hindi. I am the chair for the Metro Advisory Committee this year and I want to acknowledge The role the Mac to provide advice and questions to the board I especially this is my first term at this. I especially want to thank previous Chair Veronica Elsie who was She's a hard act to follow. He was very dedicated and she continued to serve on the committee and we are grateful for her service We've had excellent attendance and participation from our Mac committee We all seem to be fiercely committed to Santa Cruz Metro and public transportation And we strongly appreciate how Santa Cruz Metro has strived to provide public transit service To the Santa Cruz County area during the trying COVID times Especially so we want to call out your attention to your dedication to continue to serve the community In communications to the advisory committee in the first half of 2021 in February we did receive email from Rick Hyman and the public about the bus stop ongoing bus stop sign improvement program More on that shortly And in April we received favorable comments from a public attendee David Van Brink on Metro slash pass Apple application, especially the ability to track remaining balance on the cards. He advocated that Metro support the TCAA Slash RN is business plan. I miss Elsie suggest will be more effective for him to send comments directly to the Santa Cruz Committee on that rather than us Miss Elsie also asked if the agreement between Metro and Greyhound will be part of the service planning updates I was assured by John Erko that it would be vice chairman and Martín has noted that You want to make sure that the trash can in at a stop The Main Street Pacific Boulevard was apparently being used for personal use called attention to that and Margot Ross our chief operator since officer that she would have facilities review the situation We don't have any follow-up on that. So I don't know yet. What to say about that Mr. Pizano one of our very active members express gratitude for the bus operators perseverance during the winter weather and Gratitude and appreciation the Mac as a whole wishes to express as well Finally, Mr. Pizano in a completely different direction express concern the Metro might not have adequate plans for charging its electric feet in view of recent fires winds and PG&E shutdowns CEO Clifford acknowledged this is a valid concern which Metro hopes to mitigate by and mitigate by investigating Investigating investigating the use of hundreds and so for part of the fleet and that is mattress classified as a small agency mattress on obligated to purchase zero emission buses until 2026 and then that 25% of us purchase must be zero emission In communications in the Mac I mentioned myself Writing an email to the board to request reviewing the possibility of adding Braille route numbers and stop IDs to new bus stop signage And John Ergo planning and development director is conducting background research and promised to report his findings to the Mac in August At both the February and April Mac meetings this year CEO Alex Clifford gave us Very updated detailed reports on COVID-19 And the continued requirements for face mask as per CDC Bus capacity restrictions and ongoing monitoring of the limits as more people are vaccinated and ridership increases The hope he said is that by fall Metro hopes be at full capacity when students return He reported that Metro has had no new cases since 315 as of our meeting He noted the time of our April meeting highway 17 capacity could not be increased because of the Santa Clara County had not yet eased restrictions I don't know if that continues to be true, but we'll find out in August Mr. Rosano also thanked the Metro for helping the public get vaccinated Vice chair Martinez asked how long that service would remain in place and then director Ergo and Chief operating officer Ross remarked it would be continuing as long as people needed a stance the Mac appreciates and applauds The Mac was pleased to meet our new chief financial officer Chuck Farmer Uh who also took the opportunity to present at our meeting the Summarize to summarize the fiscal year 22 and 23 preliminary operating and fiscal year 22 preliminary capital budget To the Mac. We wish to thank him for his clear and succinct And concise summary of that information in addition to meeting Chuck farmer for the first time Um, we also met our safety security and risk management director Curtis Moses and we extend him a warm welcome as well one of the recurring events in our Mac meetings is report from Isaac Hawley on the metric Mac metros information technology systems as they progress and he expressed the hopes that the Mobile app might be ready for this summer So that was what we know as I know all this are in our april meeting um John ergo also Reported on the new agreements between metro and greyhound along greyhound ticketed passions tried to 17 and that greyhound would refund metro the cost of that In our February meeting he reported that metro averaged an 85 drop in readership year over year obviously due to the co in 19 Epidemic but he was able to report In our last meeting that with the implementation of a temporary fair reduction program starting in march The metro had seen a 26% ridership increase New mac member mr cruz noted that he was aware of the group He was aware of a group that had not heard about the fair reduction program Director ergo described the ways in which the reduction had been advertised by website email blasts newspaper announcements But that All in all word of mouth is a very valuable resource And he encouraged the public to spread the word In a discussion of bus stops themselves Mr. Pizzano and who has our max eagle eye on bus routes Asked for a view of bus route asked for review of the bus routes near the capitol a library Noting that the nearest bus stop to that New library is several blocks away Mr. Pizzano had also asked about adding a stop at the enterprise technology center for the highway 17 express bus This is something that was looked into Director ergo noted the bus operations Operators themselves had expressed concern about missing the turn there. It's a tricky turn and getting stuck on highway 17 So it looks like that is not going to happen in As part of the bus route itself The bus stop sign improvement project received intention received considerable attention both our mac meetings this year Director ergo, let us know the project was approved by the board as proposed Email from rick heimer regarding the concerns about signage led to a healthy discussion of possible upgrades What other ways can we Let people know about their bus stops cell phone connectivity What destinations such as hospital senior centers and high activity stops were discussed The question regarding the possibility of additional braille to the bus stops route numbers and stop ID was raised again And a motion passed by the mac committee to bring that to your attention on the board In other service planning and updates Brought to max attention. There was an introduction and ongoing report about using para crews In combination with on-demand micro transit trips including the success of the program You report a wait time averaging 30 minutes also brought to our attention The march service chair Change involving bi-directional bus service on scott's valley drive Finally director ergo reported on the uptake of the mobile flash pass And mac members asked questions about issuance arising around the purchasing passes and activation time limits John ergo Recommended that if there are concerns about that the public contact a metro directly um daniella, and i'm sorry if i mispronounced your last name begola Our marketing communications and customer service director shared her new conduct code of conduct trifle brochure And the corresponding signage that will be posted in the transit centers Mac members thought that the brochures were well done and effective And we appreciate especially the graphics provided on the transit center signage Which we thought was friendly softening the message But still making the message clear and that it welcomed riders to the metro So we want to thank her especially for the great work on that matter Um In related matters about those signage that there was a question about the using the phrase Use of the phrase only serves animals and animals in carriers Um, this was considered broad Mr cruz asked, uh, I'm sorry was broad Uh director gagola said she'd update the language on the sign to read that that service dogs specifically would be mentioned uh, mr cruz asking bus operators were trained on the policy and chief operating officer ross confirmed they were Vice chairman asked what the number of signs that will be posted and as lc suggested sending a text blast out to the sign Uh, linking to the sign and policy Finally, I'll note the mac is scheduled to meet uh twice more this year on august 11th and august 20th I will say speaking for the mac myself as chair this year. I am pleasure to serve In our capacity to you on the board Thank you Any comments or questions from directors? Good report by the way. Thank you Uh, director, I might Hey, I just just want to thank all of you for your service You're our direct link to our riders And the diversity of your committee Is really important So I want to thank you for the work that you do it really keeps us in touch with what our writers need It helps us provide better service. Thanks Thank you Agreed any other comments? Okay Do we need a motion to approve the mac report or No, no, ma'am, but um, I do want to clarify I think I heard you say james that there are meetings two more meetings left in the year One is in august and one is in october and those dates are posted on the website Uh Yes, that is correct august 11th and october 20th and they are indeed posted Thank you. Thanks for the thanks you for the additional info. All right. Well, thanks so much And uh, then we'll we'll go next to the ceo report and oh wait if I will check to see if there Any comments from the public on the mac report and I don't see any hands as yet Give it a moment. I forgot to ask sooner Okay Well, so thorough no one had comments, but we we do appreciate your work as director. I can send all of you. Thank you And next we will move to the ceo oral reports and covet 19 update Thank you, madam chair directors Hopefully this will go well. I'm not in my office and the internet seems a little unstable Your car That one you can't blame on me So if any point, uh, it it gets messed up just start signaling or something so that I or interrupt me, please Okay, so let's uh, and this also might be a little bit clunky because I'm not in my office But bear with me. I will we'll get through switching between different Screens here. So first of all, I want to start off with the new hires and promotions We don't have any promotions this period, but we do have a new hire Effective june 1 serrano nicolas peri cruise dispatch scheduler So we welcome serrano our nicolas serrano aboard And I'm happy to report that we continue to have no new covet positives reported among our employees That's great news Also as the result of the governor's june 15th announcement, uh, in which we're reopening california We have now Changed our capacity to full capacity on all of our revenue equipment. So We have no longer any limits on our revenue equipment As you may be aware a late last week cal ocean met to talk about regulation 32 Again, um, this regulates a variety of things including face coverings indoors outdoors in the employer employee environment So as a result of that our team this week a memo to all employees That if they are fully vaccinated they and they provide the proof of that They no longer need to wear a face covering in their cubicle at work Nor do they have to wear the face covering When they're roaming the hallways or say for example headed to the break room or the restroom They don't have to wear their face covering any longer Employees that are not vaccinated must continue to wear their face coverings in their cubicle and when they roam the hallways or Transition over to the restrooms in the outdoor environment at the workplace Again, no face covering is needed But if unvaccinated employees are going to be within six feet of each other They too then at that point have to wear a face covering You may have also heard that the governor has now issued a new order you recall when covet hit he Issued an order holding the brown act in effectively in a in advance He has now let us know that that expires september 30th. So we'll have to return to ground act meetings You know no no later than what we won't be able to do Full-blown video conference meetings any longer after september 30th at this point unless you direct me otherwise We will plan to have in-person board meetings and committee meetings starting in october I would also like to report that we're spending quite a bit of time Uh gathering as much knowledge as we can about fuel cell technology for buses um our coo margo and eddy and freddy took a tour to ac transit last week to learn what they can learn about fuel cell electric buses Likewise monday of this week. I spent a great deal of time at sunline transit in thousand palms in southern california Touring their facility understanding how they operate fuel cell buses and engaged in a lot of q and a so We'll compare our notes and that will help guide us to Any future recommendations about fuel cell technology? i'm I need to report that there's still a lot of talk going on at least on the house side in washington dc about fast act and reauthorization As you saw earlier, there was a press release And a sentinel article about earmarks that are included in the current version of the the house fast act reauthorization 500 about five hundred and six thousand dollars included as an earmarked by congresswoman eschew And that would if if it approves in current form Would allow us to buy seven pair of cruise vans And then also included in fast act reauthorization again the house version congressman panetta has included two 40 foot fixed route c and g buses and one c and g articulated buses For a total ask of about 1.84 million dollars So we're enthusiastic about that and hopeful that that will prevail as the reauthorization moves its way through the process We're also happy to report at least in the current version again the house version There are really significant increases in both the 53 39 a and b programs One is a formula one is a discretionary a competitive program And we hope that those will Continue to move through the process with what we call the sort of significant plus up over the five-year period of time And then as you may have seen in the news There has been an agreement among a group of Democrat and republican i believe senators and possibly the president For infrastructure now there's process yet ahead. So let me just Toggle over to some notes real quick because Chris zilio our lobbyist from washington dc sent me some notes this morning So i'm just going to read from his notes Um, the president has blessed as he says a proposal from a group of 20 senators 10 republicans and 10 democrats for a 579 billion dollars in new infrastructure spending It proposes 49 billion for public transit as well as an additional 7.5 billion for transit electrification initiatives That would represent the largest federal investment in transit to date But it also well it's also well below what the president originally wanted His proposal was 110 billion for transit and 174 billion for electrification Here's what we don't know how the funding would be distributed competitive formula You know congress has yet to craft like legislation for that And whether the other 80 senators support the plan Not enough democrats, maybe Too much for not enough for democrats. Maybe too much for republicans The plan congress crafts legislation legislative language for the plan over the next few weeks The goal for the senate is to approve the bill by the end of july The bill would then sit there until a democrat only bill of additional stimulus spending Housing infrastructure workplace training education is considered in the senate both bills Are then presented to the president at the same time preferably before september 30th chris also notes some problems republicans are already objecting to the additional democrat only stimulus and Every democrat has every democrat has to agree to this Really no wiggle room in that so and they also haven't talked about the pay force. How are they going to pay for this? So a lot yet to be done, but i'll keep you informed on that As we move through the process Mr. Clifford, can I interrupt? Sure on the How they would disperse the funds of formula or competitive formula does a lot better for us the smaller districts in general should we Request that we follow that or what's your recommendation? If we get competitive the big ones usually get 90% of it or a lot of it anyway Foreign policy was much better to me in general. What's your thought or should we do anything under the circumstances of time? No, you're you're exactly right and and with your blessing will continue to advocate for heavy emphasis on formula I'm always a bit skittish about competitive or what they call discretionary Even though when you win one of those grants, they tend to be fairly sizable compared to what you're getting on the formula side Over a period of years. I tend to believe the smaller mid-sized agencies get more money in in incremental allotments under formula versus the discretionary program Earmarks is it is another one that makes me a little bit nervous because You know, there's a whole process there. It's not like whatever your congressperson submits you will get And and it it has an element of risk to it. So yes, I appreciate that comment We'll we'll advocate for formula heavily for formula Bruce was asking if there's anything we might do to help in that effort, you know through various agencies in the county Yeah, we can uh, we can work through our planning and grants department to craft a letter of support and And have our board members consider taking it through their individual you know board of supervisors city councils and And send those on to uh congresswoman eschew and congressman panetta Yeah, that that would be great. Uh, we just they're completed. We're going to finalize our county budget for 21 to um on tuesday afternoon but Our public works director matt machado recommended. Yeah, let's go the formula route. So We're going to be doing that in the county as that's being and go through c-sac and the whole thing. So We might we'll be doing It sounds like a similar that's similar approaches the way we should go Absolutely Okay, and then turning back to my notes here and So on the state side, of course we we have the governor's budget A lot of there's a lot of information in there about funding for electric infrastructure the the h-vip voucher program But a lot of the details still have to be sorted out in and follow-up legislation So I don't have a lot to report there and then I do want to close with really good news Our stellar grants and planning department has done another wonderful job in obtaining a grant this time It is a sustainable communities grant. It is a competitive grant The project title is Watsonville to Santa Cruz intercity transit speed and reliability study And the study will evaluate traffic and travel patterns Along the primary transit quarters connecting Watsonville and Santa Cruz to identify opportunities for bus stop and transit priority improvements aimed at improving the convenience accessibility and reliability of metro's core intercity bus routes Key deliverables will include the collection and analysis of travel time and on-time performance data A set of near-term and long-term recommendations for operational and infrastructure improvements And the final report consolidating findings and recommendations The study will be conducted in collaboration with the RTC Caltrans Santa Cruz county and the cities of Watsonville Santa Cruz capitol With outreach to local community and businesses business interests along the corridor The award is two hundred eighty nine thousand four hundred and twenty five dollars The local match is forty thousand four hundred and ninety nine dollars And we plan to release an RFP late this summer. Maybe early fall So congratulations to our planning department on it on a job well done Excellent, yes And madam chair that concludes my presentation. I'm happy to answer any questions Okay, I see director Rodkin first and then I have Shepard next Well, the study grant that we just got includes studying Huge umping possibilities other improvements and to add intersections and so forth along Soquel avenue I know the county's already planning that project, but I don't know that it's fully funded without this additional money I'm gonna ask John Ergo our planning director to chime in on that Yeah, I can jump in there that that that was exactly the point You know, we want to take a look at Any and all things we can do to speed up transit service on the Soquel corridor, which accounts for 25 of our ridership pre-covid So one just study of how we can speed up service. The other was, you know, there's a lot of investment coming to the corridor the Soquel Project and also, you know, everything that's happening and how we won and we wanted to see we wanted to make sure that that investment Really benefits transit and so this additional funding. I think will enable us to to really study those issues. So, yeah Q jumps are not part of that plan Currently that the county has and so this potentially would Make some recommendations about where in the corridor we might be able to squeeze something Thank you And director Calamari Johnson Thank you. Congratulations on the grants really exciting to hear I think I missed or or maybe you didn't mention it. Who was the funder of this grant and what's the timeline? It's our Cal Transplanting Grant I'll start in In the fall and we haven't told 2024. I think to complete the study Thank you Any other questions or comments from directors? Um Director Penkler Thanks for the report on capacity Returning to full capacity. I appreciate that on our routes. What's the status of the highway 17 express service? Margo, do you know the the status? Are we still with some restrictions on highway 17 or did we lift everything? We lifted everything the county of Santa Clara did. Um, I think a few months back Um, and uh, not only for us, but for VTA Very good. Thank you Director McPherson Yeah, and um, in addition to what Mike said, um, Steve Wiesner of our public works department let us know that we want a grant to provide improvements on the 500.6 miles from Park Avenue to La Fonda and it's 23 intersections protected bike lanes A lot of a lot of things involved in it and uh, you know, you could I could go down the list, but We're on it. We got a grant for it. So it's really good news. So we're gonna have some improvements coming along. So kill drive All right Much needed there as well. Thank you lots of good news All right, any other questions or comments? And I will then if not move to the public hearing final adoption of Santa Cruz metros fiscal year 22 23 budget and commenced let's see Well, it says to commence at nine. So We are good Far as or as soon thereafter as possible Right, I know I was going some of ours in the city. We get ready ahead. I'm going. Oh, it starts at nine You have that scheduled perfectly So we will move to that and that I believe is Chuck farmer cfo Good morning, everybody. I'm here. I'm gonna open up the public hearing for the final adoption of our f y 22 and 23 budget Um at nine 45 a.m So if we can pull up the slides, I'm gonna go through a Shorten version of our budget since we have talked about this. I guess this will be the fourth time at the board meeting And this will be our final time So, um, go ahead if we want to move to the next slide So this is our final operating budget for f y 22 and 23 Our revenues are down From 21 to 22 primarily. We know we are still Having issues with getting 100 capacity back due to covet. So of course, we have had that built into our numbers On our operating expenses. We are slightly higher. That's primarily due to personnel expenses going up in our non personnel expenses Overall, we are operating at a deficit of 6.3 million dollars Of which we are going to use some of our covet funding or covet Our covet recovery fund to cover the difference And that's where we stand in f y 22 Um, if we want to move to the next slide instead of going through all the slides Um, what I'm going to do is I'm going to bridge from our last board meeting where we talked about our budget to what we've done now We've sharpened our pencils and by doing that we've made a slight adjustment since the last board meeting of the budget our We have adjusted our ucsc to reflect the contract, which is about $189,000 more than what we had originally in there, which is a good thing However, on our expenses, we went back and we added in some marketing campaigns for about 220 000 Primarily focused about getting people on our buses now that we're coming out of covet We've added in a placeholder for and a one additional headcount for about 114 000 And then cow tip based off our experience that we've been seeing It looks like we are actually projected to be a little bit higher and we had good better credits So we've reduced that by about 68 000 Did you explain what cow tip is to the public? Yeah, christian, can you explain everybody what cow tip is To the better understand that I do sure Okay, thank you So probably Curtis can help me with this as well But this is basically our insurance the insurance for our vehicles our property And every year in june we provide the board with an estimate and at this point it's a final number about our insurance premiums Will be for the following year We quite often use some of our available credit and dividend to offset the increase So this is the insurance for our vehicles and property. Thank you Sure, excuse me. I'm sorry. This is june, but there's also a very good explanation of the counter program In agenda item 8.8 in today's board pack No, I I'd seen that but I'm not sure the public got to that level of detail So I thought we should explain what that is that item Thank you Okay Under facilities we've added in 200 000 for miscellaneous state of good repair In prior history, we have not put this in our budget But we experience we're experienced about 200 000 dollars worth of Fixes the state of good repair around all our different facilities So this year we're going to actually put it in And then ultimately our total changes in budget is about 283 000 dollars More expenses are worse Now that we've gotten to our final budget So our operating budget like I said is 6.3 million dollars Worse and then we're covering that with our covered recovery bucket We want to move to the next slide Our next slide is our capital budget. So Our total portfolio of capital Projects that are actually funded by some Mechanism is about 30.7 million dollars We are expected to spend 13 0.665 Million dollars in f y 22 the bulk of that Spending is coming in vehicle purchases of about almost 7.4 million dollars If we move to the next slide So since we've walked through the capital projects, here's what's changed since the last board meeting In our it projects. We've actually did some shifting and We also included so we did some shifting of the erp system as well as our secondary visualization for it projects Uh, so that's what you see reflected on our facilities We've shifted back our spending from f y 23 to 22 for the demolition of the two buildings over here As well as the sinkhole repair and the automated gates um For the next one down for bus purchases We've shifted our spending actually the opposite direction from f y 22 to 23 Or two c and g buses into electric buses We actually found as we're looking through our capital list that actually one of the zeps Are going to be purchased in f y 21 not in f y 22. So we've removed that From our f y 22 spending And then that's also the same case with our vapor compressor project. We actually finished it already So it's actually been um paid for in f y 22 or f y 21 And so we removed that so our ultimately our spending is now 13.665 million for f y 22 And 13.5 24 and f y 23 almost relatively flat here over here Can I ask if are those our local matches for those bus purchases? Or is that the total cost of the and then later we'll show revenue from the feds to cover it So you talk about the two c and g and two electric buses exactly Yeah, I think um, we've got to Hold on one second. I could tell you I'm coming up on me Yeah, Chuck just to jump in It's these these shows a million dollars apiece that would be the total cost of the buses. That's what the electric buses are costing So you see the three between f y 22 you see one zeb and then you see two other zero emission buses in 23 um Or 22 or 23 also those those would represent us using the 26 thing low-note grant And so those would be the cost the full cost of zero emission buses Thank you Yeah, that's correct any other questions And then lastly I just want to show this as an f y i What we've done is we've added one more bucket to all these different buckets It's on the bottom row second one from the left we added the UAL and OPEB. So this is your Um outstanding liabilities basically your pension and then your OPEB, which is your retiree health And we're committing two million dollars in This is a point in time. So this two million dollars will go into this bucket as of july 1st 2021 With that said i'm gonna open up for any comments from the board Hey, are there any other any questions good report? Thank you, Chuck Bush, all right now. I can see hand if there any hands any questions any comments we've I know seen the budget a few times, but uh Some things have changed through the last few times. So Okay, alex. I see your hand Yes, madam chair directors. I just wanted to make a Quick note for the generally for the public that um, you're not To assure them that you're not adopting a 55 million dollar budget With very little discussion and and very little presentation Um the public participating today may or may not be aware That you've been working on this budget since march of this year. You've seen Initial version of that budget that in order to comply with the RTC mandate that we provide an early version You've met in committee numerous times since then to look over the details in excruciating detail So you have been involved in this budget as it has moved along and been slightly modified from Presentation to presentation to arrive at the place that you are today. So I just wanted to assure the public A lot a lot of board participation has gone into this budget Before we adopt a 55 million dollar budget I'll also point out that this was I believe presented to the unions represented our employees With an opportunity to ask questions and clarify what we're doing and put input into the process as well Thank you Yeah, and actually the changes have been somewhat positive because we came into this being very very, you know conservative and concerned with the pandemic and it's been nice that there's been some good news along the way and There's yeah been many opportunities for us all to participate. Thank you Any other questions or comments from directors and If not, then I'll look to the public to see if there are any Comments or questions from the public And I don't see any hands And Alex your hand is still up. So I'll just make sure you don't mean it to be Nope, I just can't figure out how to lower it Just hit it again You don't usually have to All right, you got it. All right. So do we have a motion? I'll move that. We approve the budget as presented to us Oh wait and and um Dr. Colantari Johnson, did you have a question or are we trying to make a second? I was gonna second I'll let you your hand went up first. So um a second We'll tribute this second to you. There were several offers. Thank you. Thank you. And um madam chair Yes, if I could if I could just cut in and and say that the public hearing was closed at 9 57 I Appreciate that. Thank you All right Um, and I know we were going to lose someone soon after 10. So it's good that we had an opportunity to get get Um All of this presentation let me just take the vote and then we'll get everybody included That's right. Thank you. So we have a motion. We have a second and we'll Take a roll call vote the motion to approve the um Metro's fy 22 and fy 23 budget is presented motion by dr. Rotkin second by dr. Colantari Johnson And the roll call is dr. Dutra Yes, dr. Gonzales Yes Dr. Colantari Johnson. Yes Dr. Koenig Aye Dr. Lin Aye Dr. McPherson Aye Dr. Myers Aye Dr. Pegler Aye Dr. Rothwell Yes And dr. Rotkin Aye Motion passed unanimously by those present All right And Next we have announcement of the next meeting And that would be friday august 27th At 9 a.m. And the venue teleconference at this point And it's not because we will be waiting until october to return in person We were able to keep everyone on board and director Gonzalez can move to the next meeting and not have missed a moment So thank you all Have a great weekend. Happy 4th of july and If you aren't doing anything you can come to scott's valley and also see our metro bus in the parade. Thank you alex for Coordinating that and for everyone that's uh going to participate in our our 4th of july parade Thank you everyone Everybody have a happy 4th