Thursday, January 24, 2002
Silas Bronson Library
237 Grand Street
Waterbury, CT 06702
Present: Doreen Pulisciano. Cheshire; JoAnn
Cappelletti, Middlebury; Sally Schilke, Naugatuck; Alice Ostapko, Prospect;
Carolyn Giguere, Vice Chairman, Thomaston; Ann LaPorta, Waterbury; Yvonne
Denise Smith, M.D., Chairman, Waterbury; Richard Fusco, Treasurer, Watertown. COGCNV
Staff: Laurel Stegina, Senior Planner; Allen Shomisky. NET Staff: Barbara Kalosky.
1. Roll Call, Introductions, Public Participation
Chairman Yvonne Smith opened
the meeting at 1:35 p.m., called roll and introduced others. A quorum by municipalities and voting units
was present. There were no public
comments.
2. Administrative Items
a. Minutes of November 28, 2001-On a motion by Richard
Fusco, seconded by Ann LaPorta it was unanimously
VOTED: To approve the Minutes of the November 28, 2001, GWTD Meeting.
b. Financial Report-Fusco reported the balance at the
end of December was $486.53. That we
have received Waterbury’s Membership Dues for the Financial Budget FY 2001/2002
of $651.19. This will be shown in the
next report when it appears on the bank statement. Waterbury has not paid for Non-ADA Ridership Service Membership
Dues yet. On a motion by Carolyn
Giguere, seconded by JoAnn Cappelletti it was unanimously
VOTED: To accept the Financial Report for December 2001.
c. Ridership and Service Report-Smith reviewed the
report stating that there were 25 service days in December. The number of ADA and Non-ADA trips
decreased in December most likely due to the Christmas holiday, New Year’s Eve
and vacations. Denied trips remained
the same. Barbara Kalosky stated that
denials were not based on any particular municipality but on availability of a
vehicle for the Non-ADA trip. Smith
asked for a break down of denials by municipalities. Doreen Pulisciano asked for a list of ADA and Non-ADA passengers
at the end of the fiscal year.
Cancellation trips are not included in the amount of money for
Memberships Dues. Administrative Cost
for North East Transportation (NET) is separate from the Operation Cost.
d. Correspondence
Invitations to
Conferences.
Advertisements.
Received a letter
from Mr. Edward Hoyt of DMR responding to GWTD letter to Mr. Michael Sanders of
ConnDOT for funding from DMR Non-ADA Ridership. DMR will contribute funding.
Received a summons
for motor vehicle accident that happened February 2000.
Received Richard
Fusco’s reappointment letter to the GWTD Board from Watertown.
Received a letter
from Cheshire informing us of their intent to apply for a minibus federal
grant.
3. GWTD Report
q
Applied and received
an OfficeMax credit card for GWTD to buy supplies and equipment online or by
mail.
q
Connecticut Public
Transportation Commission (CPTC) has finished its Wheelchair Replacement
Policy.
q
Congress appropriated
$6.7 billion for Transportation. The
New Freedom Initiative (transportation grant money for the disabled to go to
work) was cut out.
q
Lawsuit for MVA from
February 2000 was settled out of court for a combine settlement of $20,000.
q
GWTD is in the
Connecticut Agencies Blue Book and has been updated. The Blue Book is on the Internet.
q
DMR will contribute
$40,000 to Non-ADA DMR Ridership Service for this fiscal year.
q
Waterbury paid
Membership Dues for Financial Budget FY 2001/2002 and is working on paying dues
for Non-ADA Ridership Service.
q
Need letter for
reappointment for Kim Hunt of Wolcott.
Meeting
q
12/14/001-COGCNV
Meeting-presented GWTD Membership Dues for Financial Budget for FY 2002/2003,
which was passed. They would like the
Membership Dues for Non-ADA Ridership Service by March.
q
01/03/2002-Public
Hearing in Naugatuck
q
01/16/2002-COGCNV
Meeting- Legislature Meeting- COGCNV supports increase funding for
Paratransit. Spoke on this issue.
q
01/15/2002-Connecticut
Association For Community Transportation (CACT)-I-84 Corridor Area Coalition
Meeting-discuss current transportation funding, TSB, TIA, and the need for
networking. 0GWTD was a member of CACT
until 01/2001. Doreen Pulisciano and
Chairman Yvonne Smith attended the meeting and encourage the Board to become
members to keep up to date with transportation changes and have our concerns
express in a larger forum. On a motion
by Doreen Pulisciano, seconded by Carolyn Giguere it was unanimously
VOTED: To appropriate $100.00 for membership dues for the Greater Waterbury Transit District to join the Connecticut Association For Community Transportation for 2002.
q
01/23/2002-Meeting
with the Mayor of Waterbury Aide
q
01/24/2002-Public
Informational Hearing on Certification and Re-certification for Paratransit
Service.
Reading
q
Smith reported on
Transit issues that were reported in the Transit Access Report. These included: Appeal Eligibility Panel and
the Court, Rollout Mobile Assessment for ADA Eligibility, Call Out Paratransit,
Service Animals, No show and FTA ruling to confirm that a return trip is not
needed, and the saving of $7,000 for every ADA Eligibility Re-certification
denied.
4. Non-ADA Ridership Service Report
Smith reported on the data and noted a decrease most likely due to the
holidays, vacation and illness.
5. Membership Dues for Non-ADA Ridership Service
COGCNV would like to know what the Membership Dues would be before
March. Non-ADA Ridership Service dues
are based on the first six months of the fiscal year times two and rounded up
to the nearest 500 increment with the minimum payment of $1,000.00. On a motion by Giguere, seconded by LaPorta
it was unanimously
VOTED: To approve the Membership Dues for Non-ADA Ridership Service for FY 2002/2003 as shown below and present it to COGCNV.
Membership Dues for Non-ADA Ridership Service
FY
2002/2003
MUNICIPALITIES |
DUES |
|
Cheshire |
$1000.00 |
|
Middlebury |
$1000.00 |
|
Naugatuck |
$3000.00 |
|
Prospect |
$1500.00 |
|
Thomaston |
$2000.00 |
|
Waterbury |
$6000.00 |
|
Watertown |
$6000.00 |
|
Wolcott |
$2000.00 |
TOTAL |
$22,500.00 |
If Naugatuck does not have a fixed route bus system, which requires ADA Paratransit Service, then the dues for Naugatuck will change to $3500.00. And the total will change to $23,000.00.
6. North East Transportation Report
Barbara Kalosky reported
that the Non-ADA Service budget is $306,000.00, which gives NET $25,500.00 per
month and NET actually spends $31,812.00 per month. NET is over budget by $6,000.00 per month. With the $40,000.00 from DMR NET still will
be over budget by $32,000.00.
Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) wants NET to stay
within budget. There will have to be
cuts in Non-ADA Service. If NET cuts
all demand trips (call ins) and do the subscription trips (standing orders),
they still will be over budget by $10,000.
About 100 trips a month would be cut out of Non-ADA Service. That will mean no call in trips. If the FY 2002/2003 Budget remains the same
then there will be cuts in Non-ADA Service.
Kalosky urged that we write our legislature to increase the budget now
before they go into session. Giguere
asked how many DMR Non-ADA trips are there per month and Kalosky stated she did
not know because DMR did not give her a list yet. Some DMR clients are going to program centers and some are going
to job sites. It was concluded after a
lengthy discussion that DMR should pay its fair share of the cost to transport
their clients. That letters should be
sent to the legislature to increase Non-ADA Service funding. The service cuts around the state for public
transportation was not uniformed. And the Greater Waterbury Area was being cut
too drastically. Also that Mr. Richard
Grey of ConnDOT remarks equating ADA Civil Rights to a poor person who cannot afford
a car was inappropriate.
A discussion on
certification and re-certification for Paratransit by the Kennedy Center
occurred. Smith asked about who would
make up the Appeal Committee and Kalosky stated that Joseph Spina and herself
would be the first step and if the person was still denied he or she could
appeal to ConnDOT. Smith asked why the
GWTD Board is not involved since that was the policy in this area before we
transferred administrative duties to ConnDOT.
COGCNV and GWTD Board never agree to transfer policy-making decisions in
the Greater Waterbury Transit District area.
Certification will be based on disability as per the ADA and the elderly
will no longer qualify unless disabled.
Certification will be done at NET office (free ride to and from), at
group centers and at homes if unable to travel. Kennedy Center has been told about the physical barriers in this
region that makes it difficult to use the fixed route bus system. Kalosky continued to discuss the plans that
NET and the Kennedy Center have made.
7. Old Business
None.
8. New Business
None,
9. Next Meeting
Thursday, February 28,
2002. At the Silas Bronson Library, 237
Grand Street, Waterbury, CT 06702, at 1:30p.m.
10. Adjournment
On a motion by Fusco,
seconded by Sally Schilke it was unanimously
VOTED: To adjourn meeting at 3:03 p.m.
Submitted by
Yvonne Denise Smith, M.D.
Chairman
For
Michael Goodiel
Secretary