PENINSULA CORRIDOR JOINT POWERS BOARD
Minutes
Thursday, December 8, 2005 at 10:00 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
: José Cisneros, Don Gage, Jim Hartnett Arthur Lloyd,
John McLemore, Michael Nevin, Stuart Sunshine, Ken Yeager
MEMBERS ABSENT
: Sophie Maxwell
MTC LIAISON PRESENT
: Sue Lempert
STAFF PRESENT
: George Cameron, Cheryl Cavitt, Rita Haskin, Gigi Harrington,
Chuck Harvey, Jennifer Hardie, Ian McAvoy, Martha Martinez,
David Miller, Michael Scanlon, Mark Simon
Chair Nevin called the meeting to order at
10:05 a.m. and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Francis Wong, Mountain View, said the glass case surrounding the
bulletin Board at Mountain View station is broken.
Jeff Carter, Burlingame, said the service provided the day after
Thanksgiving should have begun operation earlier in the morning. He
also said the information in the displays at Millbrae station need
to be updated.
CONSENT CALENDAR
The Board
unanimously approved the following items under the Consent Calendar:
Chair Nevin
appointed Directors Gage, Lloyd, and Sunshine to the Nominating
Committee for 2006 Officers. A report will be given at the January
2006 meeting.
Vice-Chairperson’s Report
Sue Lempert said there would be a Regional Rail
Workshop on December 8 at 6 p.m. at this location, 1250 San Carlos
Avenue. She encouraged everyone to attend.
REPORT OF THE CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMITTEE (CAC)
Brian Wilfley, chair
of the JPB CAC, reported on the November 16 meeting:
·
The CAC has two new members, Bruce Jenkins and
Suvashis Bhattacharya.
·
Election of Officers for 2006 will be made at the
December meeting.
·
Michelle Bouchard, Manager of Rail Planning &
Analysis, gave a presentation on the performance of Caltrain
reinvented.
REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Michael Scanlon, Executive Director, reported:
·
Performance Statistics for October 2005
a)
Average Weekday Ridership was up 11.4 percent, from 29,489
riders to 32,848.
b)
Total Ridership was up 10.7 percent from 785,069 riders to
869,324.
c)
Total Revenue was up 32.9 percent from $1.84 million to $2.44
million.
d)
On-time Performance was down 4.4 percent from 95.8 percent to
91.6 percent.
e)
Shuttle Ridership was up 7.1 percent from 4,393 riders to
4,707.
·
A previously approved 5.6 percent, 25-cent on the
base, fare increase will be implemented January 1.
·
Fuel costs are averaging $2.20 per gallon year to
date. However, fuel has been below $2 for the past several weeks.
·
New validators have been installed at the original
Baby Bullet stations. The old validators are being refurbished and
will be installed at high traffic stations.
·
More than 4,000 riders took Caltrain services to the
Stanford vs. University of California, Berkeley football game on
November 19.
·
Extra service will be provided on New Years Eve.
Service will operate free of charge after
11 p.m.
·
More than 5,000 toys were collected December 3 and 4
from the Trains for Tots holiday train event.
·
On November 17, a train struck an abandoned lumber
truck that was illegally stopped on the tracks. No one was hurt;
however, trains were delayed considerably due to debris.
·
Hillsdale station will be closed December 17 and 18
for construction purposes. Service will operate at Bay Meadows
station during the closure. After the construction is completed, Bay
Meadows station will permanently close and the reconstructed
Hillsdale station will be used. Staff is currently preparing an
outreach campaign to inform the community and ambassadors will be at
the station directing passengers to Hillsdale station.
·
The monthly Safety and Security Report was
distributed.
Ian McAvoy, Chief Development Officer, said the
Board received a request from the Silicon Valley High Speed Rail
Coalition to consider endorsing the coalition’s Guiding Principles
and joining the coalition. The CAC met on September 21 and
unanimously passed a motion to support High-Speed Rail development
along the Caltrain right of way, but recommend that the JPB take no
action on the Guiding Principles pending the outcome of the Regional
Rail Study.
This recommendation was presented by the CAC
Chair to the JPB at the October 6 Board meeting. Director Gage
requested, and the Board agreed, that the item be placed on this
agenda for further discussion.
Margaret Okuzumi, BayRail Alliance, urged the
Board not to take an action at this time but to wait until the
Regional Rail Study is completed. Congresswomen Eshoo, Senator
Simitian, Assembly Member Ruskin and Assembly Member Lieberman have
not endorsed the Guiding Principles of the Silicon Valley Leadership
Group.
Mickie Winkler, Menlo Park City Council, said
the Menlo Park city council made comments to the high speed rail EIR
in August 2004 and requested that a high speed rail system be
considered that stops at a portal city such as San Jose and then
uses Caltrain service up the peninsula. She said it would be
premature for the Board to take an action at this time. She
encouraged Caltrain staff to research what would be required for
high speed rail while still allowing Caltrain to continue optimizing
service on the peninsula.
Scott Haywood, San Jose Valley Transportation
Authority (VTA), urged the Board to join the coalition, as VTA has
done. He said the southern alignment of high speed rail will aide
Caltrain in achieving several long term goals, including
electrification, grade separations, increased speed and increased
frequency.
Richard Mlynarik, San Francisco, urged the
Board not to take action at this time but to wait until the Regional
Rail Study is completed, especially since Caltrain is a co-sponsor
of the Regional Rail Study.
Bena Chang, Silicon Valley Leadership Group,
urged the Board to join the coalition and reaffirm the Board’s
support of the Pacheco Pass alignment. The Pacheco Pass would allow
Caltrain to realize its long-term vision to electrify and grade
separate and will provide faster and more frequent service.
Jeff Carter, Burlingame, said in keeping with
the decision of the CAC, he asked that the Board not take any action
at this time but wait until the Regional Rail Study is completed.
Michael Kiesling, San Francisco, said the JPB
CAC discussed this issue at two separate meetings and urged the
Board not to take any further action since the Board is already on
record supporting the Pacheco Pass. He said the Board should review
the results from the Regional Rail Study when it is completed.
Norman Rolffe, San Francisco Tomorrow, said the
Board should wait until the Regional Rail Study is complete and the
public workshops have been held.
Dan McNamara, California Rail Foundation, said
to optimize high speed rail, service needs to be provided through
the tri-valley area to San Jose.
Jim Bigelow, Redwood City and San Mateo County
Chambers of Commerce, said MTC unanimously supported the Pacheco
Pass alignment and are a member of the coalition. He encouraged the
Board to reaffirm its support for the Pacheco Pass and join the
coalition.
Director McLemore noted that the Board has
already voted to support the Pacheco Pass.
Louis Deziel, Menlo Park, said fundamentally,
it is in Caltrain’s best interest to join the coalition and to
examine how to maximize service to the peninsula.
Director Gage said the JPB Board has supported
the Pacheco Pass and high speed rail since 1996. He made a motion
(Yeager seconded) to endorse the Guiding Principles.
Director Hartnett said one of the concerns he
has is how high speed rail will affect the entire Peninsula. He said
he would like to see a principle added that states the system must
be designed, constructed and operated in a manner that is consistent
with the goals of Caltrain and is respectful of the communities
through which it passes.
Director Lloyd said there are many components
of high speed rail that need to be explored including, Federal
Railroad Administration (FRA) regulations because high speed rail
needs to operate with Caltrain and freight train equipment. He said
both routes have merit but he would like to see high speed rail
serve San Francisco directly.
Ms. Lempert said the freight equipment is an
issue for high speed rail and MTC is working with lobbyists in
Washington, D.C. to see if there are any exemptions with the federal
regulations. She also said this is a political issue and there has
been tremendous pressure to study high speed rail.
Director Nevin said there would be a great
potential for this side of the Bay Area with high speed rail, a
commitment for electrification, grade separations and the downtown
extension.
The motion (Gage/Yeager) to reaffirm the
Board’s support of the Pacheco Pass alignment and to join the
coalition with the addition of the principle outlined by Director
Hartnett was unanimously approved by roll call.
Cheryl Cavitt, Director of Contracts and
Procurement, said Staff Coordinating Council (SCC) recommends that
the Board award a contract for the construction of the San Francisco
Bicycle Station at the San Francisco Caltrain station at Fourth and
King Streets to the lowest responsible, responsive bidder, CPM
Constructors of San Francisco, for a total cost of $439,000 and to
authorize the Executive Director to execute a contract in full
conformity with the terms and conditions of the solicitation
documents.
The motion (McLemore/Sunshine) to award the
contract to CPM Constructors for $439,000 was unanimously approved
by roll call.
Ms. Cavitt said Staff Coordinating
Council recommends that the Board increase
the Drilltech Tunnel Rehabilitation contract
authority by $350,000; ratify the
change order of November 4, 2005 to the Drilltech contract in the
estimated amount of $846,000 for additional grouting work in Tunnel
No. 3; and authorize the Executive Director to execute the ratified
change order.
The motion (Hartnett/Gage) to
approve the ratification of a change order to DrillTech Drilling and
Shoring was unanimously approved by roll call.
Ms. Cavitt said Staff Coordinating
Council (SCC) recommends the Board award a contract to Lenat &
Partners, Inc. (Lenat) of San Francisco, CA, and Pulsar Advertising
(Pulsar) of Beverly Hills, CA for providing on-call creative
advertising and graphics services for a three-year base term for a
total aggregate estimated cost of $300,000 and up to two one-year
options at aggregate estimated cost of $100,000 for each year;
authorize the Executive Director to execute separate contracts with
Lenat and Pulsar in full conformity with the terms and conditions
set forth in the solicitation documents; and authorize the Executive
Director to exercise up to two one-year option terms with Lenat
and/or Pulsar, if in the best interest of the JPB.
The motion (Lloyd/Gage) to award the
contracts to Lenat & Partners, Inc. and Pulsar Advertising was
unanimously approved by roll call.
Mr. Scanlon asked that this item be continued
until the January Board meeting.
CORRESPONDENCE
Previously distributed.
Director McLemore introduced Jim Lawson who is
the new Government Relations Manager for VTA.
ADJOURNED
The meeting adjourned at 11:26 a.m. |
