Caltrain > Projects > CEMOF > CEMOF Notes

CALTRAIN CENTRALIZED EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS FACILITY MONITORING COMMITTEE Jan. 25, 2006 Notes Members Present: Michael Blackman, Kay Gutknecht, Michael Riepe Members Absent: Cindy Chavez, Arthur Lloyd, Ken Yeager Staff Present: Steve Coleman, Rita Haskin, Tom Pollard, Joe Siino, Jonah Weinberg, Nancy Wood, Cathi Zammit Attendees: Megan Doyle (District 6), Bob Guillot, David Barry, Michael Smith, Ben Tripousis (City of San Jose) Chair Michael Riepe called the meeting to order at 6:10 p.m. Due to a lack of quorum, all items were provided for information only. ORAL PETITIONS David Barry spoke about a horn being blown last night at 1 a.m. at the Lenzen area. Joe Siino said no work was being done on the project. Joe will follow-up with UP on Monday to remind them to not blow the horns at night, unnecessarily. STAFF REPORT Rita Haskin has no information as to member terms. This is important because there are a limited number of terms allowed under the bylaws. Rita clarified that if a person leaves in the middle of their term, the person replacing them only stays for as long as the remaining term. Megan Doyle asked on behalf of Ken Yeager as to when this Committee will dissolve. Tripousis said the committee will continue to meet and discuss any issues that may arise after CEMOF is operating. The committee believes the bylaws need to be reopened and changed to reflect that Ken Yeager’s and Cindy Chavez’s appointed representatives can vote on their behalf. Chair Riepe said that Michael Blackman, Kay Gutknecht and himself will sit on a sub-committee to review the bylaws and recommend changes to the full committee. CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT Chair Riepe reported that at the last meeting he formed a sub-committee of Blackman, Gutknecht and himself to interview potential members for the Arena Area vacancy. Chair Riepe said they interviewed three people and their recommendation is Michael Smith. When the committee has a quorum, they will vote on the new member. Chair Riepe has also asked David Barry, who was a potential member, to continue to attend the committee meetings. COMMITTEE REPORT No action items to be reviewed from last meeting. OLD BUSINESS No action items to be reviewed from last meeting. Union Pacific Screeching The committee members haven’t noticed the noise recently. Project Manager Joe Siino said he has not heard of any complaints of noise but has reminded UP of the noise issue. The tie replacement has been completed and the rail will be installed this week. They have looked into a greaser and was told that it would not correct the screeching problem. Siino is working with the chief engineer to look at other options. Siino confirmed that there is no CEMOF work being done at night. Notification of the Neighborhoods Gutknecht said that the neighborhoods are not being notified of these meetings. Haskin reported that Caltrain will mail a postcard to the entire area with the upcoming meeting dates and also include a link that directs them to the city’s Website for the agenda. The residents will be directed to provide their contact information if they want to receive information in the future. Haskin also reported that a newsletter would be distributed in March. Doyle liked the idea of the postcard and newsletter. Chair Riepe suggested that we notify the homeowner’s associations with the meeting dates to put in their newsletters. Package C Update Bids were opened on Dec. 20 and only one was received. The bid was 42 percent higher cost than the engineer’s estimate. Caltrain is currently looking at re-scoping this portion of the project, which was to include a central control facility and loading dock. The CCF may be handled by using trailers. The downscoped project may be able to be done with a change order and could still begin in mid-March to early-April. The entire project should be completed in early 2007. Siino noted that construction bids are all coming in high do to a lot of work in the industry, increased material costs and the lack of labor. The administrative staff will work at Diridon. Siino said that crews will start erecting the building on Feb. 13. Siino reported that the on-site fuel facility is in preliminary engineering and should be built by mid-2007. Haskin reported that trackside fueling costs an additional 12 cents per gallon. A project timeline and progress update will be included on each quarterly meeting agenda. NEW BUSINESS Presentation on the Operations Plan Manager of Rail Equipment Steve Coleman, gave a presentation covering operation support function of CEMOF, operational flow path through CEMOF, service and inspection tracks, train washer facility, yard storage tracks, maintenance building functions and material building functions. Coleman reported that the service inspection peaks will be from 10 a.m. – noon and 5 p.m. – 10 p.m. Committee members voiced concern over potential noise from after-hours inspection, train washing and load testing. The washing facility has walls around it and the load testing site is on the backside of the facility behind a wall because it is the biggest noise maker. Coleman stated that the Caltrain mechanics are sensitive to neighborhood noise issues. Material deliveries will be made on Lenzen Street, generally by 4 p.m. Train horns will be sounded as necessary according to Federal Railroad Administration rules. Manager of Construction Planning Cathi Zammit, reviewed item A-18 on the Shared Objectives regarding horn tests, which may occur late at night. Coleman said he is working with Amtrak and consultants regarding the operational plan, but that it is too early to say when trains will start going into the new facility. Zammit noted that more storage tracks are being built south of Tamien. ANNOUNCEMENTS Gutknecht requested the committee meet more often since the project should be going live next year. She also feels the committee needs to go over the operational issues in more detail. Zammit reviewed the implementation of some of the operational Shared Objectives, which were agreed to years ago. Some things may change from time-to-time depending on the number of trains operating. Tripousis recommended the committee review the operational implementation and come back next month and discuss in detail. Next meeting date was set for Feb. 22 at 6 p.m. The agenda will include a discussion on the Shared Objectives, voting in a new committee member, discussion on proposed Bylaws changes and an update on the neighborhood notification procedure. Tripousis will follow-up with Cindy Chavez’s office and let them know she should attend. He also will speak with Megan Doyle about Yeager’s attendance. Adjourned The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.