BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

NOVEMBER 10, 1999

AUTHORITY MEMBERS PRESENT:

      Jenny Dinsmore
      Bob Roberts
      John Spears
      James Caravasos
      David Martinelli
      Frank Salucci

NOT PRESENT:

      Sandy Holepit

OTHER PERSONNEL PRESENT:

       David Bruffy
       Melissa Burch

CALL TO ORDER:

The Transit Board Meeting was called to order at 6:01 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES:

Frank Salucci made a motion for approval of the August 11, 1999 minutes.  James Caravasos seconded the motion.

For:  All Present and Voting Opposed:  None
 

John Spears made a request for clarification on one portion of the September 8, 1999 minutes.  Under Committee Reports, Dr. Spears requested that the last sentence read “Mr. Spears was not present for the vote due to the fact that he left the meeting early”.

Bob Roberts made a motion to approve the September 8, 1999 minutes and that those minutes reflect John Spears’ request.  James Caravasos seconded the motion.

For:  All Present and Voting Opposed:  None

James Caravasos motioned for approval of the October 13, 1999 minutes.  Frank Salucci seconded the motion.

For:  All Present and Voting Opposed:  None
 

The approval process for the monthly minutes was discussed.  There was a question raised by John Spears as to whether or not the Secretary of the Authority was required to sign off on the minutes prior to the Authority voting to approve the minutes.  President Dinsmore and Frank Salucci indicated that the Secretary was not required to approve the minutes prior to the Authority and that it is the Authority’s responsibility to approve the minutes at the beginning of each meeting.  Frank Salucci indicated that this was how the minutes were handled when he served as Secretary.  John Spears indicated that in his term as Secretary, the policy was changed due to the fact that the minutes did not accurately reflect the Authority’s policies and procedures.  Due to these problems, the Authority requested that as Secretary, Dr. Spears review the minutes for form, content and accuracy prior to the Authority’s vote on the minutes.  It was noted that these problems do not exist with current administration.

Frank Salucci made a motion that the designee of the General Manager will continue to prepare the minutes for the Authority and that the Authority as a whole, approve the minutes without the requirement that the Secretary of the Authority first review and sign off on the minutes.  Mr. Salucci further motioned that the tape of the minutes should be reserved at the administrative office until after they are approved so that any Authority member wishing to review the tape might do so..

Dr. Spears indicated for purposes of discussion that he did disagree with the opinion that the Secretary did not need to be responsible for pre-approval of the meeting minutes.

For:  Jenny Dinsmore  Opposed:  John Spears
          Frank Salucci
          Bob Roberts
          David Martinelli
          James Caravasos
 

CORRESPONDENCE:

Correspondence was included detailing last month’s Welfare to Work Report, the In-Kind Services Report for the conference room, the Monthly Phone Log, and Complaint Report.

Other general correspondence included customer comments/questions and Mr. Bruffy’s responses, correspondence to City Council, a copy of a recent public service announcement and a copy of the Morgantown Senior Center newsletter in which bus service and a bus maintenance job opportunity were mentioned.

The Authority requested that the Complaint Report be updated to reflect incidents from July 1999 to the present time.  In regards to the complaint system, Mr. Bruffy clarified for the Authority that complaints of misconduct are distinguished from complaints concerning route preference, schedule difficulties, etc.

FINANCIAL REPORT:

Mr. Bruffy indicated that revenue was down, as were the figures for revenue per rider.  He indicated that the reason could be do in part to the fact that payment has not yet been received for several special shuttles, including WVU Football Shuttles and the Wine and Jazz Shuttles.  Ridership figures as compared to this time last year indicate that ridership is up from last year.

OLD BUSINESS:

A. Line Item Revenue from Stone Embezzlement Case

Mr. Bruffy recommended to the Authority that the restitution payments being received from Mitchel Stone be posted to the Capital Escrow Account in order to better track the restitution history and to avoid any confusion that might be caused by including the payments in the Authority’s General Revenue Account.

James Caravasos motioned that the restitution payments received from Mitchel Stone be posted to the Capital Escrow Account.  David Martinelli seconded the motion.

For:  All Present and Voting Opposed:  None

B. Review of Radio Tapes

President Dinsmore reviewed last month’s meeting, in which Sandy Holepit rescinded a motion for a formal letter of reprimand to David Bruffy, pending the Authority’s review of tapes of WAJR’s AM Talkshow.  Ms. Dinsmore contacted the radio station and was told that the tapes of the show in question were not retained.  David Martinelli indicated that it was his opinion that the premise of Ms. Holepit’s motion was that the Authority could not fairly assess the question of reprimand without the opportunity to review the tapes in their entirety.  Further discussion was held regarding the content of the motion made by Ms. Holepit at last month’s meeting and the letter from the County Commission in which the radio program was mentioned.  James Caravasos indicated that he felt the issue had already been discussed and that since the Authority could not listen to the tapes they could not fully know what went on.  John Spears indicated that the language of the Commission’s letter did not include a request for a formal letter of reprimand.

Frank Salucci made a motion that a review of the radio tapes not be scheduled or pursued, as the tapes are not available for review.  James Caravasos seconded the motion.

For:  All Present and Voting Opposed:  None

John Spears requested that another related issue be raised concerning radio commentary, stating that an employee had also made comments on the radio the day after the last Authority meeting.  The employee in question, Mr. William Beckner, was present at the meeting and stated that he had indeed called the radio program the day after the meeting.  He stated that he had complimented the system and the General Manager.  Mr. Beckner stated that he was off duty at the time that he called the station and when questioned as to comments regarding Authority member Sandy Holepit, he stated that he did indeed state that he felt her actions at the October meeting were unfair.  Discussion was held regarding the need to develop an Authority policy regarding official responses to the press.  It was noted by all present that such a policy could in no way infringe upon the right of any individual to freedom of speech.

Bob Roberts motioned that the General Manager work to develop a policy regarding official responses to members of the press.  James Caravasos seconded the motion.

For:  All Present and Voting Opposed:  None

Jenny Dinsmore noted her appreciation to Mr. Beckner for his positive comments on WAJR regarding the Authority and the General Manager.

NEW BUSINESS EXCERPT:

Main Street Morgantown’s Terri Cutright requested a brief modification in the agenda for the presentation of an award to the Authority, as she was due back at the Main Street office.

Ms. Cutright was granted the request and presented a special award to the Authority for the interior of the Garrett Street Depot.  She stated that the building had also been highlighted in the Economic Council’s Annual Report.

RETURN TO OLD BUSINESS:

C. Red Line/Gold Line Route Proposals

Mr. Bruffy reviewed the proposals for changes to the Red Line and Gold Line routes.  There are three options available for these routes.  Option 1 would not change the routes.  Option 2 would allow for 26 trips per day from the Health Department with a higher percentage of those trips occurring without the need to transfer buses.  Option 3 would allow for a greater number of trips from the Health Department (34), but would require a transfer of buses on more of these trips in order to access the downtown area.  The advertisement/ballot for the proposals was included in the Dominion Post the day of the meeting and was schedule to run through Saturday.  Mr. Bruffy further noted that there were approximately 170-180 customers that had signed up for regular mailings and that ballots had been forwarded to these people as well.  Further, ballots and posters detailing the options have been delivered to Chestnut Hill Apartments, Unity Manor, Colonial Park Apartments, the Senior Centers, City Hall, and the Health Department.  Mr. Bruffy had spoken with the Morgantown Senior Center earlier in the day and noted that he was scheduled to speak with Unity Manor on November 18, 1999.

D. Employee Meeting Information

Mr. Bruffy reviewed the issues brought forth at the recent driver meeting, noting that the biggest concern for drivers seemed to be the breaks in the driving schedule.  One issue affecting the scheduling of breaks is the fact that most drivers have stated that they prefer to only work 3 ½ days, as opposed to 5 shorter days.  The possible Red Line and Gold Line changes should address some of the break issues and this issue will remain an important administrative consideration.

E. Blue and Gold Fare Increasing Rider Cost

One issue raised concerning the Blue and Gold Express has been that those riders transferring from a fixed route bus are given a wooden nickel in order to travel downtown.  Riders that access the Blue and Gold first must pay a quarter, making their entire fare $1.00 when and if they transfer to a fixed route bus after riding the Blue and Gold.  The reason for the $0.25 fare has been that the Blue and Gold is indeed an express vehicle, not a fixed route vehicle and the Authority felt that there was a need to assign at least some monetary value to the express ride.  Alternately, charging $0.75 for the Blue and Gold Express would not entice riders that would normally take the PRT as an alternate mode of transportation.

Bob Roberts made a motion that the Blue and Gold fare be increased to $0.50 in August 2000.  David Martinelli seconded the motion.

For:  All Present and Voting Opposed:  None

NEW BUSINESS:

A.  Presentation by Main Street Morgantown

This item was handled during Old Business.

B. Ridership Data Base

Mr. Bruffy indicated that there are currently approximately 180 names in the new ridership database.  This will assist the Authority in getting information to the riders concerning schedule changes, special promotions, etc.

C. Ridership Advisory Council

The issue of a ridership advisory council was raised at the recent joint meeting of the City, County and Transit Authority.  Mr. Bruffy suggested that the most logical option might be to work with an organization such as the Center for Independent Living that deals with clientele that consistently use transportation services.
Bob Roberts made a motion that should the need arise, the Authority determine whether or not a group should be formed to advise the Authority as to ridership needs surrounding any issue at hand.  Frank Salucci seconded the motion.

For:  All Present and Voting Opposed:  None

D. Public Discussion and Comment

Comments were received from Mr. Bruce Gilbert on the Blue and Gold fare and the Red Line and Gold Line options.

GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT:   (as printed)

Information

1) Efforts are underway to work with the Morgantown and Mountaineer Malls and Main Street Morgantown to provide additional bus service during the shopping season.  The initial proposal is to extend the Green Line hours from 6:00 p.m. through 8:00 p.m. beginning November 26 through December 23, Monday through Friday.  The cost of this promotion would be approximately 40 man-hours or $600 dollars.  There would be some additional advertising costs, but I will try to work with Main Street and the Malls to help sponsor this activity.

2) Conversations have been initiated with the WVU School of Engineering to develop a Monday through Friday route, three times per day, between the Engineering Building and the High Tech Consortium in Fairmont.  Conditions of this arrangement may include a six-month contract for $10,000 for a trial run.  Negotiations have also included the stipulation that Mountain Line can offer this trip to the general public should seats be available.  By offering this new route to the public, the trip is in essence a subsidized route.  I will keep you informed as this effort develops.

3) The position of Full Time Receptionist is being advertised subsequent to the resignation of our previous Receptionist.  This is a 40-hour per week position with full benefits.

COMMITTEE REPORTS:

David Martinelli reported that he is looking into the issues surrounding traffic lights in the Morgantown area.  Dr. Martinelli requested input from drivers on any of the traffic lights that may be creating problems.

ADJOURNMENT:

The Transit Authority Meeting adjourned at 7:45 p.m.

Submitted for Approval,
 
 

David A. Bruffy, General Manager