IMPERIAL COUNTY TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION

MINUTES FOR MAY 28, 2025

6:00 p.m.

__________________________________________________________________­­­­___________________           

VOTING MEMBERS PRESENT:

                                                                City of Brawley                                       Absent

                                                                City of Calipatria                                    Javier Amezcua

                                                                City of Calexico                                      Lisa Tylanda

                                                                City of El Centro                                    Sonia Carter

                                                                City of Imperial                                      Robert Amparano

                                                                City of Holtville                                       Mike Goodsell          

                                                                City of Westmorland                           Absent                                        

                                                                County of Imperial                                John Hawk  

                                                                County of Imperial                                Martha Cardenas-Singh

                                                                Imperial Irrigation District                 Absent

STAFF PRESENT:               David Aguirre, Cristi Lerma, Esperanza Avila, Gustavo Gomez

OTHERS PRESENT:            Eric Havens: ICTC Counsel; Melina Pereira, Caridad Sanchez, John Garcia: Caltrans; Rick Daniels: City of Calexico

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, May 28, 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 6:01 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

The consent calendar was reviewed and forwarded by the ICTC Management Committee.

A.                 ICTC Commission Minutes:                                                 April 23, 2025

B.                 Receive and file:

1.                  ICTC Management Committee Minutes:         April 09, 2025 

2.                  ICTC TAC Minutes:                                               March 27, 2025

3.                  ICTC SSTAC Minutes:                                           March 7, 2025

                C.            Application for Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Section 5311 Program Funds FFY 2025

1.                   Authorized the Chairman to sign the resolution authorizing the Executive Director to sign the FTA 5311 FFY 2025 grant application with all supporting documentation.

2.                   Directed staff to submit the application to Caltrans.

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

V.                  REPORTS

A.           ICTC Executive Director

Mr. Aguirre had the following updates:

-          A publication highlighting agency projects completed in FY 2022/23 and FY 2023/24 using Measure D funds was published in the Imperial Valley Press on Saturday, May 17, 2025, and again on Wednesday, May 21, 2025. The LTA Local Taxpayer Supervisory Committee (LTSC) has requested in previous years that this information be published annually to ensure transparency, public awareness, and accountability in the use of Measure D funds. Our goal is to continue this effort moving forward, ensuring that the public remains informed about the ongoing investment and impact of Measure D in our communities.

-          A CMAQ and STBG Call for Projects opened on March 31, 2025, and closed on May 16, 2025, at 5 p.m. Applications were due to SCAG via its online application portal. The Imperial County region submitted a total of 15 applications from the cities of Calexico, Calipatria, El Centro, Holtville, Imperial and the County of Imperial. The scoring and ranking of projects will commence and it is anticipated that a priority list of projects will be submitted to the commission in July 2025.

-          The Calexico Intermodal Transportation Center (ITC) 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. The Contractor continues with construction activities for the project.

-        The Calexico East POE project will have several phases with an estimated completion date in 2030. The Master Agreement between ICTC and Caltrans was approved at the April 2025 Commission Meeting. ICTC is proceeding with allocation of Right of Way Funding.

-          A preliminary site plan for the ICTC/IVT Operations and Maintenance Facility has been prepared and was shared with the commission. ICTC was recently informed that it had received a funding commitment for the completion of the design/environmental phases of the project. ICTC is working towards completing a phase 1 site assessment for the proposed site. ICTC has obtained NEPA clearance from the FTA for the acquisition of the project. ICTC is working to finalize FTA compliance in the coming weeks. During the meeting on March 26, 2025, the Commission approved the acquisition of the property pending FTA concurrence. Staff is currently working with the FTA to obtain concurrence.

-          ICTC’s consultant has finalized the project improvement plans for the State Route 86 (Northbound) Border Patrol Checkpoint and CBP will proceed with developing environmental documents and pursue funding for the construction of the facility. ICTC continues to engage in discussions with the CBP team on the next steps for the project.

-          The Bus Stop Improvement Project has completed the 65% percent improvement plans and they have been distributed to participating agencies. ICTC has received agency comments, and the comments have been forwarded to the consultant for incorporation into the project improvement plans. The improvement plans have been finalized to obtain 90% completion level. Final preparation of the project improvement plan is being completed.

-          Staff is currently working on the development of the Scope of Work for the Imperial County EV Charging Infrastructure Feasibility Study project. Staff will then proceed with the issuance of a Request for Proposals. Staff is anticipating releasing the RFP in the coming weeks.

-          All ICTC Executive Directors’ updates can be found on page 23 

B.                               Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)

                                Mr. Salgado had the following updates:

-          The General Assembly voted to approve the nominations for the SCAG 2025-26 Regional Council officers as recommended by the Regional Council: Hon. Cindy Allen (City of Long Beach) will serve as 2025-26 Regional Council president; Hon. Ray Marquez (City of Chino Hills) will serve as Regional Council first vice president; and Hon. Jenny Crosswhite (City of Santa Paula) will serve as Regional Council second vice president. Leadership also recognized Sup. Curt Hagman (County of San Bernardino), who finished his term as Regional Council president for 2024-25 and will continue as a board officer in the role of immediate past president.

-          All other updates can be found on the SCAG report on page 31 of the agenda.

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

                Ms. Pereira had the following updates:

-          Caltrans District 11 was awarded 2 of the 9 total statewide awards for state planning & research grants for the 2025 Border Master Plan and the Calexico Joint Operations System.

-          Caltrans is working with 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.

-          Caltrans Statewide Director Tony Tavares has left the department as of May 9. Chief Deputy Mike Keever is the acting Director. He previously served as the acting Director when Toks Omishakin was appointed to be the State Transportation Secretary.

-          Thank you to ICTC and all the people who participated in hosting our sister agency, the CA Transportation Commission, in Imperial County last month.

-          Electrical Vehicle Electrification Feasibility Study: Consultant is currently working on the existing conditions analysis. The Plan has an anticipated completion date of April 2026.

-          Calexico West Port of Entry (POE) Travel Corridor Improvements: The Project Study Report-Project Development Support to be completed in June 2025.

-          All other updates can be found on page 34

         D.       Commission Member Reports

-          Updates were provided by various commissioners.

VI.                ACTION CALENDAR

A.                  Unmet Transit Needs Public Hearing Process - Fiscal Year 2025-2026

1.            Adopted the FY 2025-26 “Findings” and the prioritized 2025 ICTC Unmet Transit Needs List as presented or amended.

2.            Authorized the Chairman to sign the attached resolution.

3.            Directed staff to forward the FY 2025-26 “Findings”, and all other public hearing documentation and resolution to the State Department of Transportation.

4.            Adopted the definition of “Unmet Transit Needs” and “Reasonable to Meet” as published and utilized by the Executive Committee of the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) in 1981, Imperial Valley Association of Governments (IVAG) in 1992 and ICTC in 2024.

A motion was made by Hawk and seconded by Carter to approve Action A as presented, roll call:

                               Motion Carried.

B.                   Third Amendment to the Agreement between the Imperial County Transportation Commission (ICTC) and Nomad Transit, LLC (Via) for the operation of the Calexico Microtransit Service funded by the Clean Mobility Options (CMO) Voucher Pilot Program and the Low Carbon Transit Operations Program (LCTOP)

1.                   Approved the Third Modification to the agreement between ICTC and Nomad Transit, LLC (VIA) for the Calexico On Demand service in the amount of $500,000 modifying the total contract value to $2,498,875. The modification is contingent upon receipt of said additional funding.

2.                   Authorized the Executive Director to sign Modification No. 3.

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

                               Motion Carried.

VII.              MEETING DATE AND PLACE

A.                  The next meeting will be on June 25, 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.

VIII.       ADJOURNMENT

                A.           Meeting Adjourned at 7:21 p.m.