MINUTES

 

Greater Waterbury Transit District

Thursday, September 25, 2003

11 A.M.

The Village at the East Farms

180 Scott Road

Waterbury, CT 06705

 

 

Present: Doreen Pulisciano, Cheshire; JoAnn Cappelletti, Middlebury; Sally Schilke, Naugatuck; Carolyn Giguere, Vice Chairman, Thomaston; Yvonne Denise Smith, M.D., Chairman, Waterbury; Richard Fusco, Secretary, Watertown; Kim Hunt, Treasurer, Wolcott.  COGCNV Staff:       Alan Hechey, Senior Planner. NET Staff: Marie Vaccarelli.

 

 

1.       Roll Call, Introductions, Public Participation

 

Chairman Yvonne Denise Smith opened the meeting at 11:14 a.m., called roll and introduced others.  Alan Hechey will be representing COGCNV.  Mr. Hechey introduced himself and gave the board his background history with transit.  Municipalities presented a quorum.  There were no public comments.

 

2.       Administrative Items

 

a.      Minutes of September 25, 2003: A correction for Item 9 should read Nicole Pezzullo not Nicole Talbot.  On a motion by Richard Fusco, seconded by Kim Hunt it was unanimously

 

VOTED:         To approve the Minutes of the September 25, 2003 Meeting with the correction for Item 9.

 

b.      Financial Report: Treasurer Kim Hunt reported on the year-end report for FY 2002/2003 with a balance of $906.37, 86% of the budget was used.  All municipalities paid their membership dues in full for FY 2002/2003.  On a motion by JoAnn Cappelletti, seconded by Sally Schilke it was unanimously

 

     VOTED:    To accept the Year-End Financial Report for FY 2002/2003.

 

Treasurer Hunt reported that Cheshire, Middlebury, Watertown and Waterbury still owe membership dues for FY 2003/2004.  Richard Fusco stated that Watertown passed their budget and the membership dues will be paid shortly.  The Financial Report will show the amount of the check on the month it was written not cashed, a cash accounting method.  The only exception is at the end of the fiscal year when bills come in after June for the previous fiscal year.  So far we spent 16% of the budget as of August 31, 2003.  No payments made to North East Transportation.  On a motion a by Carolyn Giguere, seconded by Doreen Pulisciano it was unanimously

 

VOTED:   To accept the Financial Report for July and August 2003.

 

c.      Ridership and Service Report: Chairman Smith reported for July and August 2003 the chart below.

 

 

July

August

Operating Days

26 22/4

26 21/5

# Of ADA Ridership

4306

4198

# Of CDOT Ridership

2130

1933

# Of Escorts

0

0

# of PCAs

610

370

ADA%

66.90

68.47

CDOT%

33.10

31.53

Denied Trips

11

3

Late Cancellations

4

2

No Shows

106

105

Missed Trips

0

0

 

In August there was one less weekday that may explain for the decrease in Ridership for ADA and CDOT (Non-ADA) trips.  For both months there has been zero escorts.  Alan Hechey had questions on the terms CDOT, the operator and the municipalities Elderly and Disabled Van Service. The board explained that North East Transportation is the operator and how each municipality operates their vans independently without coordination with other municipalities or North East Transportation.

 

d.      Correspondence:

 

3.       GWTD Report

 

*    The IRS Form 990 and Schedule A for FY 1999/2000 has been sent to the IRS along with the reasons GWTD did not file for the last three years.  Ms. Patricia Bauer contribute to the completion of the require paperwork and a thank you card was sent to her.

*    Tokens from GWTD transit need to be disposed. We have about 5,000 of the zone 2 and 3 to 4,000 of the zone 1. We paid $1,025.50.  The tokens are at the COGCNV office. Details of the tokens and their invoice are in your package.  The board decided to deposit the tokens in the trash and give some to interested people or museums.

*    JobLinks Task Force is collecting data on transportation options in Waterbury for the publication for the disabled.

*    Long-Range Transportation Plan (LRP) deadline for comments is October 31, 2003.

*    Proposed fare increase for ADA and Non-ADA one-way trip would be $2.20 starting on January 1, 2004 and $2.50 starting on January 1, 2005.  For Fixed bus route to $1.10 in 2004 and $1.25 in 2005.

*    The FY 2004 Budget from the State of Connecticut for the first six months for North East Transportation ADA Paratransit is $525,000 and for Non-ADA Paratransit is $205,000.

*    Re-Authorization of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA) has not occurred and will expire on September 30. There are plans to extend the present TEA for six month. Letters to Congress to pass the extension of TEA have been sent by Commissioner Byrnes.

*    Both the House and the Senate have passed their own version of the Transportation Appropriation Bill

*    The Medicare Transportation Proposal was rejected

*    The Connecticut Department of Transportation has seven Listening Sessions for the Long-Range Transportation Plan and is linked to GWTD website

*    COGCNV Senior Planner Laurel Stegina resigned. An email was sent thanking her for work with us. A letter from Ms. Stegina was sent to the board and a copy was handed out.

*    There are still vacancies on the board from Waterbury and Naugatuck.

*    CPTC will have Public Hearings in the fall in Danbury, Torrington and Bristol

*   The Task Force to deal with Paratransit issues has been cancel.

*    CACT will hold a meeting on October 30, 2003 at GHTD featuring author Rachael Simon. Information was mail out in your meeting package.

*    The Town of Watertown has pass there budget on September 16, 2003.  Awaiting membership dues payment.

*    The City of Waterbury still has not paid its Non-ADA Ridership Membership Dues. Treasurer Kim Hunt sent them a reminder.

*    The Chairman and Secretary shall review all mailing representing the Greater Waterbury Transit District

*    Have the 2003 copy of the State Register and Manual (The Blue Book).

*    Norton Antivirus 2003 Update should be due in October but with the new CPU it states it will expirer in March. It cost $37.90 last year

*    CuteFTP has an updated version compatible with Microsoft Windows XP for $14.95. The version we have now works and should update only if we purchase Windows XP.

*   Website had 4243 hits.

Meetings

*    September 17, 2003-Long Range Transportation Plan: Ms. Fromson, ConnDOT Transportation Supervising Planner, presented an overview of the Federal regulations and requirements for the Long Range Transportation Plan. She discussed the difference between the Master Transportation Plan and the Long Range Transportation Plan. Tonight was the public comment input component requirement for the Plan. Secretary Richard Fusco and Chairman Yvonne Denise Smith, M.D. attended. Chairman Smith made comments and submitted a letter of comments

 

4.       Bylaw Update

 

On a motion by Kim Hunt, seconded by Carolyn Giguere it was unanimously

 

VOTED:         To vote on each change in the Bylaws separately.

 

On a motion by Kim Hunt, seconded by JoAnn Cappelletti it was unanimously

 

VOTED:         To amend Article VIII-MEETING Section 8 Travel Expensive to read: A Director may be reimbursed for the cost associated with attending a Board of Directors meetings or a board approved transit related meetings.  This may include all related fees.

 

On a motion by Kim Hunt, seconded by Carolyn Giguere it was unanimously

 

VOTED:         To eliminate Article XV Section 4: Powers and Duties: The Transit Director shall be supervised by the Executive Director of the Council of Governments of the Central Naugatuck Valley.

 

5.       Non-ADA Ridership Report

 

Non-ADA Ridership for August decreased possible because of one less weekday, vacation or the weather conditions.  The number of Non-ADA trip so far is 4031. In response to Doreen Pulisciano question if the Department of Mental Retardation (DMR) is responsibility to pay for their client trips, Smith stated that DMR has a budget for transportation but how a client receives this money is on a case-by-case basis.  If DMR is not paying the fare of $2.00 per trip, which the client is paying, then he is probably not eligible for DMR to pay for his transportation.  In response to questions about Mr. Michael Sander’s letter for increase fares for Cheshire and Middlebury Non-ADA trips, Smith responded that GWTD does not have a contract with North East Transportation (NET).  If NET is unable to do the job then ConnDOT should get another operator.  Board members had issues as to the words “increase fare’ used in the letter.  Smith encouraged Cheshire and Middlebury board members to contact their residents who will be affected by the fare change and offered to mail their letters.   The Non-ADA riders from Cheshire will pay $3.50 and the Middlebury Non-ADA riders will pay $2.50 starting in October.

 

6.       North East Transportation Report

 

Maria Vaccarelli stated that NET was waiting for a date to do training classes with the Kennedy Center.  All the vehicles are in operational condition.

 

7.       Old Business

 

None.

 

8.       New Business

 

None.

 

9.       Next Meeting

 

October 23, 2003, at the Village at the East Farms, at 11 a.m.

 

10.  Adjournment

 

On a motion by Doreen Pulisciano, seconded by Kim Hunt it was unanimously

 

VOTED:         To adjourn the GWTD Board Meeting at 12:25 p.m.

 

Submitted by

Yvonne Denise Smith, M.D.

Chairman

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