IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR MARCH 26, 2025

6:00 p.m.

__________________________________________________________________­­­­___________________           

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                                City of Brawley                                       Gil Rebollar

                                                                City of Calipatria                                    Javier Amezcua

                                                                City of Calexico                                      Lorenzo Calderon

                                                                City of El Centro                                    Sonia Carter

                                                                City of Imperial                                      Robert Amparano

                                                                City of Holtville                                       Mike Goodsell          

                                                                City of Westmorland                           Ana Beltran                               

                                                                County of Imperial                                Absent         

                                                                County of Imperial                                Martha Cardenas-Singh

                                                                Imperial Irrigation District                 Karin Eugenio                                                                            

STAFF PRESENT:               David Aguirre, Cristi Lerma, Marlene Flores, Michelle Bastidas, Esperanza Avila

OTHERS PRESENT:            Eric Havens: Counsel; Ann Fox, Melina Pereira, John Garcia: Caltrans; Roger Martinez, Mary Tangloa: Vasquez & CO; John Grass: City of Brawley; Coley Delaney: Pun Group.

PUBLIC:                                None.

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 26, 2025, together with staff reports and related documents attached thereto and incorporated therein by reference.

I.                    CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL 

Chair Amparano called the Commission meeting to order at 6:41 p.m. Roll call was taken, and a quorum was present.

II.                  EMERGENCY ITEMS

                There were none.

III.                PUBLIC COMMENTS

There were none.

IV.               CONSENT CALENDAR

A.                 ICTC Commission Minutes:                                             February 26, 2025

B.                 Receive and file:

1.                  ICTC Management Committee Meeting:                  February 12, 2025

2.                  ICTC TAC Minutes:                                           January 23, 2025

3.                  ICTC SSTAC Minutes:                                       January 02, 2025

C.            Title VI amendment Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Title VI Program amendment for Federal grant funds

1.            Approved the amended Imperial County Transportation Commission Title VI Plan which incorporates FHWA Title VI regulations and submit the program to FHWA.

A motion was made by Rebollar and seconded by Cardenas-Singh to approve the consent calendar as presented, roll call:               

V.                  REPORTS

A.           ICTC Executive Director

Mr. Aguirre had the following updates:

-          ICTC, in coordination with the County of Imperial CEO's office, will be hosting a California Transportation Commission (CTC) Town Hall on April 24-25, 2025. The afternoon of the 24th will be dedicated to a Town Hall event and the morning of the 25th will be dedicated to a tour of various areas in Imperial County. 

-          The Unmet Transit Needs (UTN) public hearing will take place on April 7, 2025, at 3:00 pm at ICTC’s Office and the findings meeting is proposed to take place on April 28, 2025. 

-          The Calexico Intermodal Transit Center project is anticipated to take a year to complete. We had a successful groundbreaking ceremony on February 28, 2025, at 11 a.m. at the project site. Construction is scheduled to begin on Monday. 

-          The New Border Express demonstration route has been operating since February 10, 2025. The route currently operates Monday through Friday at select times between the 3rd and Paulin Bus Stop to the Calexico East POE. This is being demonstrated in anticipation of a larger scale route associated with the upcoming transit facility that is anticipated to begin when the new East POE facility is completed. There is also an additional IVC Express trip embedded in the new service which will help alleviate some of the congestion we see on some of our IVC Express trips.

-          ICTC is making IVT Ride service modifications that will include redeveloping the service logo, in addition to building the mobile software for anticipated use. The project is proposed to go live in July 2025. 

-          The Transit Comprehensive Operational Analysis (COA) is a comprehensive evaluation of ICTC’s existing transit services while also presenting evaluation findings and recommendations for further improvement of ICTC’s existing public transit system. ICTC intends to evaluate all ICTC operated services in addition to incorporating an assessment of the feasibility of intercity passenger rail. The analysis is anticipated to take a year to complete. The project has kicked off and outreach efforts are underway. The consultant has made presentations to the TAC and management committee. It is anticipated that the consultant will present to the Commission in April. 

-          ICTC was awarded $12.6 million by the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) through its Transit Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) to acquire, design and construct a transit facility at the Calexico East Port of Entry (POE). The goal of the Calexico East POE Intermodal Transportation Center is to create a transformative transportation hub that integrates various modes of transportation including public transit buses. The project will have several phases with an estimated completion date in 2030. ICTC is working with Caltrans Staff on the Master Agreement and will likely be an action at the Commission meeting in April. 

-          ICTC is currently pursuing the implementation of an electronic fare payment system for its fixed route transit services. The system would allow all its fixed route buses to take card payments in addition to its existing cash payment system. ICTC is working on securing the grant funds to implement this project. More information will be forthcoming in the next couple of months.

-          All ICTC Executive Directors’ updates can be found on page 69 

B.                               Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

                                Mr. Rebollar had the following updates:

-          The SCAG Scholarship program is now closed. Applications were due on March 21, 2025. Mr. Goodsell will be participating in the scholarship committee. 

-          The 2025 Regional Conference & General Assembly will be held on May 1-2, 2025, at JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa, Palm Desert, CA. The room block is full. 

-          The online application for the Surface Transportation Block Grant and Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program will be available from March 31 through May 16, 2025. Award recommendations will be presented to the SCAG Regional Council by December 2025.

-          Mr. Rebollar was re-elected to the SCAG RC District 1 seat by his peers. He thanked everyone for their support.

-          All other updates can be found on the SCAG report on page 78 of the agenda.

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

                Ms. Fox had the following updates:

-          The Imperial Valley Procurement and Resource Fair is scheduled for April 3, 2025. 

-          The California Mexico Border Relations Council Meeting will be held in El Centro on April 8, 2025. 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Will provide more information when available. The Secretary of the California EPA is the Chair of the council. 

-          Caltrans will be having a Memorial Event on April 29, 2025, at 10 a.m. at the El Centro Caltrans office. 

-          Caltrans is working with the US Department of Transportation, including the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, and Federal Rail Administration. As the new Administration appointees fill in, we will share information. Please join California’s Transportation Reauthorization Work Group to help us determine priorities in the next bill. Sign up for biweekly updates at federalliaison@dot.ca.gov to remain informed on this effort. 

-          To improve the accessibility to Calexico West Port of Entry (POE) and mobility on city streets (including SR-111 and SR-98), Caltrans will soon complete a study with short- and long-term strategies. The short-term strategy introduces operational improvements for the new Calexico West POE, focusing on channeling all southbound West POE traffic to Cesar Chavez Blvd. and restricting entrance from the City of Calexico local street, 2nd St, into the Calexico West POE. The long-term strategy proposes the realignment of 2nd St. with a 2nd St. Overcrossing bridge positioned above the existing grade at Cesar Chavez Blvd. The Project Study Report-Project Development Support (PSR-PDS) to be completed by April 2025.

-          Grant opportunities were provided. The USDOT website provides a dashboard with information: https://www.transportation.gov/grants.

o   The Bridge Investment Program (BIP) has $9.62 billion available for funding. August 2025 is the deadline for large bridge project grant applications for federal fiscal year (FFY) 2026. For more information, visit the website at https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/bip/

o   Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program has $27 million available for funding. The application portal closes on April 17, 2025. For more

-          All other updates can be found on page 81

         D.       Commission Member Reports

-          Updates were provided by various commissioners.

VI.                ACTION CALENDAR

A.                   ICTC Fiscal Audit for FY 2023-24

Ms. Bastidas introduced the item and the consultant, Mr. Martinez, who conducted a brief presentation regarding the ICTC Fiscal Audit for fiscal year 2023-24.

1.                   Received and filed the fiscal audit for the Imperial County Transportation Commission, for FY 2023-24.

2.                   Directed staff to transmit the fiscal audit to the State Controller’s Office and Federal Audit Clearinghouse.

A motion was made by Cardenas-Singh and seconded by Eugenio to approve Action A as presented, roll call:

                               Motion Carried.

B.                   2025 Call for Projects - Project Prioritization Framework- Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) and Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) – FFY 2026/27 to FFY 2027/28

Ms. Flores provided detailed background information regarding the process to begin this effort, including the project prioritization framework and call for projects schedule. More detail can be found on page 186 of the commission agenda and on the ICTC website at https://www.imperialctc.org/doing-business-with-ictc.

The ICTC Technical Advisory Committee met on February 27, 2025, and the Management Committee met on March 12, 2025, and both forwarded this item to the Commission for review and approval after public comments, if any:

1.                   Approved 2025 Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) and Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) Call for Projects Nominations Schedule.

2.                   Approved the Project Prioritization Framework for the 2025 Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) and Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) Call for Project Nominations.

3.                   Directed staff to convene an evaluation committee to score and rank the projects; and,

4.                   Directed staff to return with a list of recommended projects for approval by the Commission.

A motion was made by Goodsell and seconded by Rebollar to approve Action B as presented, roll call:

                               Motion Carried.

C.           Appointment(s) to ICTC delegated SCAG Policy Committees

It was recommended that the ICTC Commission take the following actions after public comment, if any:

1.                   Appointed one ICTC Commission Members or other nominated elected official to the SCAG Policy Committee of Community, Economy and Housing Development Committee (CEHD)

A motion was made by Rebollar and seconded by Amezcua to nominate Mr. John Grass for the SCAG Policy Committee of Community, Economy and Housing Development Committee (CEHD):

                               Motion Carried.

           D.                Imperial County Transportation Commission (ICTC)/Imperial Valley Transit (IVT) Administration, Operations and Maintenance Center – Property Acquisition APN 064-450-076 – 2204 LaBrucherie Road, El Centro, CA 92243

1.                   Approved the acquisition of real property identified as APN 064-450-076 – 2204 LaBrucherie Road, El Centro, CA 92243 in the amount of $2,250,000.00, in addition to any applicable closing costs. Said acquisition is contingent upon obtaining FTA concurrence.

2.                   Authorized the Executive Director to sign any applicable escrow documentation, Certificate of Acceptance and any other documents required to complete the acquisition on behalf of ICTC.

A motion was made by Rebollar and seconded by Amezcua to approve the Action D as presented, roll call:

                               Motion Carried.

VII.              INFORMATION CALENDER

A.                 E-Bikes, Scooters, and Street Racing Safety Discussion.

The Commission met to discuss E-Bikes, Scooters and Street Racing Safety concerns. The commission elected to form an ad hoc committee to further discuss the possibilities of creating unified solutions to combat the issues regionally.

VIII.            MEETING DATE AND PLACE

A.                  The next meeting will be on April 23, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. at the ICTC Offices, 1503 N. Imperial Ave., Suite 104, El Centro, CA 92243, and via Zoom Meeting for the public.

IX.          ADJOURNMENT

A.                 Meeting Adjourned at 8:36 p.m.