Board Meeting
October 3, 2003
2:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Round Rock City Hall
221 E. Main
Round Rock, Texas

I. Chairman And Member Comments:

Chairman Wells opened the meeting by thanking the audience for attending.

II. Call to Order:

Notice was duly posted and a meeting of the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Commuter Rail District Board was held on October 3, 2003. Chairman Wells called the meeting to order at approximately 2:11 p.m.

Participants:

• Mariano Camarillo
• Sid Covington
• Gerald Daugherty
• Fred Harless
• Dave Marsh
• Al Notzon
• Carroll Schubert
• Darryl Slusher
• Tullos Wells

Tommy Adkisson, Senator Barrientos, Sam Barshop, Shelton Padgett, and Senator Wentworth were unable to attend. Other participants included Bill Bingham and Ross Milloy.

III. Approval of Minutes of September 5th Meeting:

Sid Covington and Al Notzon moved and seconded approval of minutes. Councilman Schubert requested that Item IV., second paragraph, line 3 be amended to reflect (”PBS&J”) instead of (”PJS&J”).

The minutes were approved, as amended.

IV. Legal Announcement; Contract Signed; Work Authorization Issues; Open Meetings Act Compliance:

Bill Bingham advised the Board that (1) Consultant Contract has been signed and (2) Work Authorization No. 1 has also been signed and issued.

Mr. Bingham also briefly discussed the Texas Open Meetings Act. While the Board is spread out over the corridor, the Attorney General has admonished Boards to be cautious with email correspondence. A dialogue, i.e., discussion and response, comes very close to what the Open Meetings Act refers to as deliberation. Mr. Bingham cautioned the Board that discussion and response by email correspondence is something the statute has not quite caught up with. Mr. Bingham advised that discussing public business product should be done during the monthly meetings as opposed to by email correspondence.

V. TxDOT’s Capital Area Strategic Vision for Rail Discussion

Mr. Milloy provided the Board with a copy of TxDOT’s preliminary draft of the Capital Area Strategic Vision for Rail Discussion for informational purposes only. Mr. Milloy advised that TxDOT is hosting a series of meetings with the Multimodal staff, including Mario Medina and Wilda Won. TxDOT’s intent is to try to talk through some of the issues surrounding the development of passenger rail in the capital area around Austin. This started at the initiative of Representative Krusee and has worked its way down through the TxDOT. Mr. Milloy advised that his understanding that this draft proposal was going to be submitted to the TxDOT Commissioners within the next month or two. It mentions the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Commuter Rail District Committee in two ways:

• 1. Designing, planning and implementation of additional regional passenger services on other alignments in the Capital area (along with CapMetro); and
• 2. Coordinating with Union Pacific in the relocation of freight rail services on all alignments (along with CapMetro and TxDOT).

VI. Briefing from Project Manager; Discussion of Reports and Recommendations; Possible Approval of PM Recommendations

Steve Lowry advised the members that PBS&J provided an electronic version of Initial Briefing Reports on Project Funding, Railroad Coordination, and Project Work Plan for the Board’s review. Mr. Lowry advised that PBS&J was prepared to make a brief presentation and/or answer any questions the Board may have regarding the initial briefing reports.

Mr. Lowry told the Board that it was PBS&J’s hope that the Board would be on the same page or at least similar pages with PBS&J after reading the initial briefing reports and reviewing PBS&J’s eleven (11) recommendations to begin implementation of the District’s commuter rail initiative.

Mr. Lowry stated that updating the 1999 study was critical in order to be credible in front of the legislators and US Congress. Mr. Lowry reminded the Board that they are not just competing against a calendar, but a sizeable number of other projects that believe they are as important or more important than this project.

A discussion ensued regarding same.

VII. Discussion: Union Pacific and Other Freight Railroad Status and Possible Direction to Staff on Future Action

Chairman Wells appointed a Union Pacific Relations Committee, and asked that Mr. Covington act as chair of this committee. Other members of this committee include Councilman Schubert , Gerald Daugherty and Chairman Wells. Chairman Wells advised that this committee’s agenda is to focus on the relationship with Union Pacific regarding the issues that will affect the Rail District.

VIII. Discussion and Possible Action on Public Information and Structured Public Involvement

Chairman Wells appointed a Public Information/Involvement Committee. Chairman Wells asked Dave Marsh to Chair the committee. Other members of the committee include Darryl Slusher and Councilman Schubert. Chairman Wells suggested that the Public Information/Involvement Committee work with the Project Manager in order to fulfill our duty to ensure that our constituencies know what we are doing and how we are doing it.

Chairman Wells then asked the Board to consider Work Authorization No. 2: Initiation of Public Outreach Initiatives, Contract for Engineering Services in the maximum amount payable of Ten Thousand Five Hundred and No/100 Dollars ($10,500.00). A motion for approval of Work Authorization No. 2 was made by Fred Harless and seconded by Mr. Covington.

After a brief discussion, the Board unanimously approved the motion for approval of Work Authorization No. 2.

IX. Discussion of Federal Legislation Status and Possible Action on Federal Consultant

Chairman Wells suggested the Board consider approving the initiation of the preparation of a Request for Qualifications (”RFQ”) in order to fill the Federal Consultant role. Chairman Wells advised that the Board would not be committing funds at this stage, but rather would be soliciting suggestions to see what the market is.

Mr. Milloy advised that the RFQ could be completed and published within 1 month. Mr. Milloy further advised that the RFQ would be posted for 3 weeks and 1 day.

The Board then discussed the logistics of the consultant’s term and responsibilities. Mr. Marsh requested a 2-day window to provide comments and/or respond to the proposed RFQ.

Mr. Marsh moved to authorize the Corridor Council to prepare and provide to the Board for review and execution an RFQ for filling the Federal Consultant role. Mr. Notzon seconded the motion.

After a brief discussion regarding same, the Board unanimously approved the motion.

X. Discussion and Possible Action on Project Management Oversight Committee and Setting Authority

Chairman Wells appointed a Project Management Oversight Committee. Chairman Wells asked Mr. Camarillo to chair the committee. Other members of this committee include Mr. Notzon and Chairman Wells. Chairman Wells advised that the agenda of the committee will be to work with PBS&J to ensure that PBS&J has the feedback they need moving forward in order to come up with a strategy for what works best for the Board.

XI. Public Comment:

There were no comments from the public.

XII. Adjourn:

Chairman Wells thanked the Members for their anticipated roles/participation in each of their respective committees. Chairman Wells also thanked the members of the audience for attending.

There being no further items of business brought before the Board, Chairman Wells adjourned the meeting at 2:49 p.m.