IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

OFFICIAL MINUTES FOR MARCH 23, 2022

6:00 p.m.

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VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                            City of Brawley                                    George Nava via zoom

                                                            City of Calipatria                                  Absent

                                                            City of Calexico                                    Rosie Arreola-Fernandez

                                                            City of El Centro                                   Chery Viegas-Walker

                                                            City of Imperial                                    Robert Amparano

                                                            City of Holtville                                    Mike Goodsell via zoom                  

                                                            City of Westmorland                           Absent

                                                            County of Imperial                              Luis Plancarte

                                                            County of Imperial                              Absent

                                                            Imperial Irrigation District                Javier Gonzalez

NON-VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:         Caltrans District 11              Gustavo Dallarda via zoom

STAFF PRESENT:              David Aguirre, Cristi Lerma, Virginia Mendoza

OTHERS PRESENT:           All via zoom – David Salgado: SCAG; Layla Sarwari: Counsel, Coley Delaney , The Pun Group

The following action minutes are listed as they were acted upon by the Imperial County Transportation Commission and as listed on the agenda for the meeting held Wednesday, March 23, 2022, together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 

Chair Arreola-Fernandez called the Commission meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. Roll call was taken, and a quorum was present.

II.               ACTION CALENDAR

A.               Adopt resolution authorizing remote teleconference meetings in accordance with Assembly Bill 361

1.            Approved the resolution of the Imperial County Transportation Commission authorizing remote meetings in accordance with the provisions of the State Assembly Bill (AB) 361.

2.            Authorized the Chairperson to sign the resolution.

A motion was made by Viegas-Walker and seconded by Amparano, roll call:                                                           

                              Motion Carried.

III.              CLOSED SESSION

A.           Motion to convene to Closed Session

               (Viegas-Walker/Amparano)

               It is being noted that Supervisor Plancarte excused himself from closed session and was               reclused for item 3B.

B.           CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATOR, Government Code (§ 54956.8)

               Property: 450 W. Aten Road, Imperial, CA, Assessor’s Parcel Number #064-230-015.

               Agency negotiator: David Aguirre, ICTC. Negotiating parties: Ben Salorio, County of            Imperial. Instructions to negotiator will concern price, terms of payment.

C.           CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL – ANTICIPATED LITIGATION

               Initiation of litigation (1 matter) (Government Code § 54956.9(d)(4))

D.           Announcement of Closed Session Action(s)

               Ms. Sarwari had the following announcements.

-        The Commission met in closed session regarding, CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATOR, Government Code (§54956.8), Property: 450 W. Aten Road, Imperial, CA,        Assessor’s Parcel Number #064-        230-015. Agency negotiator: David Aguirre, ICTC. Negotiating parties: Ben Salorio, County of Imperial. No reportable action was taken.

-        The Commission met in closed session regarding, CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL  – ANTICIPATED LITIGATION, Initiation of litigation (1 matter) (Government Code § 54956.9(d)(4)), no reportable action was taken.

IV.              EMERGENCY ITEMS

               There were none.

V.               PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were no public comments received.

VI.             CONSENT CALENDAR

A.               ICTC Commission Minutes:                                        February 23, 2022

B.           Receive and File:

1.                ICTC Management Committee Minutes:                January 12, 2022

2.                ICTC TAC Minutes:                                         February 3, 2022

3.                ICTC SSTAC Minutes:                                     February 2, 2022

C.               Consultant Services Agreement Approval for the Recruitment of the ICTC Executive            Director position

               Following review with ICTC Counsel and the sub-committee, staff forwarded this item to the Commission for their review and approval after public comment, if any:

1.      Approved the Consulting Services Agreement between CPS HR Consulting and the Imperial County Transportation for a flat fee rate of $25,000.

2.      Authorized the Chairperson to sign the Agreement.

A motion was made by Amparano and seconded by Nava-Froelich to approve the consent calendar as presented, roll call:        

               Motion Carried.

VII.            REPORTS

A.               ICTC Executive Director

-        All updates are on the Executive Director report on page 41 of the agenda.  

B.               Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

-        A presentation regarding the SCAG Regional Data Platform (RDP) was presented by Kome Ajise, SCAG Executive Director.

-        Key Takeaways:

o   The RDP is live and contains many useful tools and resources to support local jurisdictions with their planning activities (hub.scag.ca.gov).

o   The RDP will facilitate two-way data exchange with local jurisdictions to support the LDX process (scag.ca.gov/local-data-exchange).

o   The LIST is available for personalized one-on-one technical assistance (list@scag.ca.gov).

-        All updates are on the SCAG report on page 53 of the agenda.

C.                California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)- District 11   

-        Updates were provided by Mr. Dallarda regarding Caltrans organizational structure. Announcements included cleanup dates for Imperial County. All updates are on the Caltrans report on page 56 of the agenda.

D.               Commission Member Reports

-        Ms. Viegas-Walker thanked Mr. Ajise for the presentation. She also stated that the deadline for the SCAG scholarship is fast approaching. Winners will be announced at the SCAG Regional Conference.

-        Ms. Viegas-Walker stated that the Imperial Ave. / I-8 Interchange project phase 2 will be discussed at the City Council meeting in April. There are some concerns with the landscaping and what the total buildout will be. Everett Townsend is the contact at Caltrans.

-        Mr. Gonzalez asked Caltrans for the status on the Hwy 98 project. Caltrans responded that the next phase begins in May.

-        Mr. Gonzalez announced an Earth Day celebration in Calexico from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Adrian Cordova Park.

-        Both Ms. Viegas-Walker and Mr. Goodsell would like for the airport land use plan to be revised. Mr. Goodsell asked SCAG for support.

VIII.          ACTION CALENDER

A.               Transportation Development Act (TDA) and Program Fiscal Audits for FY 2020-21

Mr. Delaney presented the ICTC fiscal audits for the Commission. Audit Results included the following:

•        Unmodified Opinion for all Opinion Units

•        Financial statements are fairly presented in all material respects

•        Significant accounting policies have been consistently applied

•        Estimates are reasonable

•        Disclosures are properly reflected in the financial statements

•        Unmodified Opinion on Single Audit and TDA Compliance

•        Major Program CFDA #20.507 Federal Transit Cluster - $4,042,464

•        Made up 78.62% of total federal expenditures

1.      Received and file the Transportation Development Act and other program fiscal audits for the Imperial County Transportation Commission, for FY 2020-21.

2.      Directed staff to transmit the fiscal audits to the State Controller’s Office.

A motion was made by Viegas-Walker and seconded by Amparano, roll call:                                                           

Motion Carried.

B.               Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP) Application for FY 2021-22 Funds

1.      Authorized the ICTC Chairperson to sign the attached resolution.

2.      Authorization for the Execution of the LCTOP Project application: Free Fare Program for eligible ICTC administered transit services.

A motion was made by Viegas-Walker and seconded by Plancarte, roll call:                                                           

Motion Carried.

IX.              INFORMATION CALENDAR

               A.           Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies (SAFE) Program Update

-        Ms. Flores presented an overview of the SAFE program.

-        The Imperial County (SAFE) was established by the Imperial County Board of Supervisors on March 27, 1990. SAFE began collecting fees through vehicle registrations in 1992. The SAFE program and its activities are governed by Streets and Highways Code Sections 2550-2559. The Imperial County SAFE program provides motorist aid through 166 call boxes located along State Route 86 (SR-86) and Interstate 8 (I-8) at no expense to the user.

-        On July 1, 2020, the Imperial County Transportation Commission (ICTC) took responsibility as the administrator of the SAFE Program. The SAFE Program for the Imperial County is responsible for the installation, operation, and administration of the 166 call boxes.

-        The California DMV collects $1 from annual vehicle registrations to fund this program. The funds can only be used on the callbox program.

-        There are a total of 166 emergency call boxes. Emergency call boxes are located along State Route 86 (46) and Interstate 8 (12).

-        SAFE recently completed upgrading the Call Boxes from 3G Network to a 4G Network. The Call Box system previously operated on AT&T 3G Network. The 3G system became obsolete as of February 2022.

-        Illustrations were provided showing statistics regarding use and location.

-        The presentation can be obtained at the ICTC offices.

X.               NEXT MEETING DATE AND PLACE

A.               The next meeting will be tentatively on April 27, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. at the ICTC Offices, 1503 N. Imperial Ave., Suite 104, El Centro, CA 92243 and via Zoom Meeting.

XI.              ADJOURNMENT

A.               Meeting Adjourned at 7:42 p.m.