MINUTES

 

 

Greater Waterbury Transit District

Thursday, April 8, 2004

The Village at East Farms

The Lodge

180 Scott Road

Waterbury, CT 06705

 

 

Present: Doreen Pulisciano, Vice Chairman, Cheshire; Sally Schilke, Naugatuck; Yvonne Denise Smith-Isaac, M.D., Chairman, Waterbury; Richard Fusco, Secretary, Watertown; Douglas Coley, Wolcott. NET Staff: Maria Vaccarrelli. Guest: Gary DellaRocco.

 

 

 

1.       Roll Call, Introductions, Public Participations

 

Chairman Yvonne Smith-Isaac called the meeting to order at 10:51 a.m., called roll, and introduced Gary DellaRocco. Mr. DellaRocco told the board about his background and that he was considering being a board member representing Naugatuck. There was a quoruom by municipalities. There were no public comments.

 

2.       Administrative Items

a.       Minutes of March 11, 2004: On a motion by Doreen Pulisciano, seconded by Douglas Coley it was unanimously

 

VOTED:         To approve the Minutes of the March 11, 2004 meeting.

 

b.       Financial Report: Treasurer Carolyn Giguere was absent, Chairman Yvonne Smith-Isaac reported for March 2004 the board expenses were $90.91 and NET was paid $2417.00. The total is $2507.91. Year to Date expenditures is $2678.17, 80.36% of the budget was spent and remaining budget has $866.88.  We are within our budget. The bank statement for March 2004 has not arrived. The monies received from the Elderly and Disabled Grant will be reported next month. On a motion by Richard Fusco, seconded by Sally Schilke it was unanimously

 

VOTED:         To accept the Financial Report for March 2004.

 

c.       Ridership and Service Report: For the month of March 2004 the number of service days iaare similar to October 2003 than to February 2004. So I campare March to October. See chart below.

 

 

 

October

February

March

Operating Days

27 23/4

24 20/4

27 23/4

# of ADA Ridership

5068

4194

5094

# of CDOT Ridership

2262

1962

2281

# of Escorts

6

4

0

# of PCAs

138

84

90

ADA%

69.14

68.13

69.07

CDOT%

30.86

31.87

30.93

Denied Trips

16

9

29

Late Cancellations

6

5

12

No Shows

84

76

82

Missed Trips

1

0

0

 

Compared to October

  • Days of service is 27, 23 weekdays increased
  • ADA Trips increase
  • CDOT Trips increase
  • Percentage the same 70/30 for ADA/CDOT
  • Denied Trips increased
  • Late Cancellation increased
  • No Shows the same
  • Missed Trios the same

 

 Explanation of ADA and Non-ADA Paratransit was given.

 

d.       Correspondence

§         Richard Fusco asked if we received the letter from the IRS to remove the penalties, Chairman Smith-Isaac stated no.

 

3.       GWTD Report

 

  • Federal-The House passed a bill for the Transportation Equity Act (TEA) (H.R. 3550) in the amount of $275 billion to be spent over six years with $51.5 billion for transit.  The Senate already passed a bill (S.1072) for TEA in the amount of $318 billion to be spent over six years with $56.5 billion for transit. Now the House and Senate will have a conference committee to come to an agreeable bill. The president threats to veto any bill over $265 billion. TEA will expire on April 30, 2004.
  • State-The Bus Operations proposed budget FY 2005 is $78,907,056. The Governor wants the fare increase on July 2004 and a budget increase of $1.250 million.   The Appropriation Committee approved a $2.45 million increase with the fare increase to start in January 2005.  The total increase would be1.75 million.  Handicap Access Program (HAP) proposed budget for FY 2005 is $10,261,310. The Appropriation Committee approved an increase of $2.1 million. Dial-A-Ride remains at $2.5 million 9(remember 60-70% of this money goes to the Handicap Access Program). The Appropriation Committee approved an increase in Town Road Grants to $7.5 million.
  • Letters to support funding for the Handicao Access Program and the Dial-A-Ride were mailed to Transportation Committee and emailed to the Appropriation Committee and local legislators
  • Invoices for fiscal year 2004/2005 membership dues were mailed out.
  • HP OfficeJet 7110, 4 in 1 machine, cable, warranty and ink cartages purchased for $357.98.
  • Posted position on GWTD Board for Waterbury on website.
  • Still have vacancies on the board from Naugatuck and Waterbury.
  • Website had 5056 hits.
  • Purchase the Norton’s Antivirus 2004.
  • Was sent the Survey Questionnaire from the Kennedy Center for agencies and individuals on the use of Public Transportation.
  • Sent thank you letter to Sheena Maynard for serving on the board.
  • ConnDOT will hold a Public Information Meeting for the 2005 Statewide Transportation Improvement Plan on Wednesday, April 21, 2004 at 12 p.m. and 7 p.m., at ConnDOT.
  • COGCNV will have a Public Meeting on April 22, 2004 on the Bus Route Study Final Draft at Silas Bronson Library at 3:30 p.m.

Meeting

  • Bus Route Study Meeting-April 7, 2004

 

4.       Nominating Committee

 

On a motion by Richard Fusco, seconded by Douglas Coley it was unanimously

 

VOTED:         To Table the Nominating Committee to the next meeting.

 

5.       Non-ADA Ridership Service Report

 

North East Transportation was unable to give us the Non-ADA Ridership Report. Their computers are not all working.  We do know from the FTA Report we had 2281 Non-ADA trips.

 

 

6.       North East Transportation Report

 

Maria Vaccarrelli reported that NET is working on the computers. New paratransit buses will be here in May. The new fixed routes buses are lower to the ground and do not have lifts. They have ramps in the front for wheelchair access. There is a step in the rear. The bus is wider

 

 

7.       Old Business

 

None.

 

8.       New Business

None.

 

9.       Next Meeting

 

May 13, 2004, at the Village at East Farms,10:30 a.m.

 

10.  Adjournment

 

On a motion by Douglas Coley, seconded by Sally Schilke it was unanimously

 

VOTED:         To adjourn the GWTD Board of Directors meeting at 11:50 a.m.

 

Submitted by

Yvonne Denise Smith-Isaac, M.D.

Chairman

BACK