Board Meeting
Friday, January 9, 2004
11:00 am-1:00 pm
PBS&J Offices Conference Room
6504 Bridge Point Parkway
Austin, Texas

I. Chairman And Member Comments:

Vice-Chairman Sid Covington presided in the absence of the Chairman.

Mr. Covington thanked all Board members for their attendance at today’s meeting and welcomed all attendees. Mr. Covington also thanked Steve Lowry and the PBS&J team for hosting this meeting in their facility. Mr. Covington stated that he wished to announce that Mr. Mario Medina of TxDOT lost his father this week and as such was unable to attend today’s meeting. He expressed the sadness the Board feels for Mr. Medina’s loss and extended condolences and best wishes to him and his family. Mr. Covington emphasized that Mr. Medina has been a great supporter to this Board. Mr. Covington then opened the meeting to member comments.

II. Call To Order:

Vice Chairman Covington called the meeting to order at approximately 11:20 a.m. and announced that notice was duly posted and a meeting of the Austin-San Antonio Intermunicipal Commuter Rail District Board was held on January 9, 2004.

Participants:

• Tommy Adkisson
• Dave Marsh
• Mariano Camarillo
• Al Notzon
• Sid Covington
• Carroll Schubert
• Gerald Daugherty
• Daryl Slusher
• Fred Harless
• Jeff Wentworth

Gonzalo Barrientos, Sam Barshop, and Shelton Padgett were unable to attend. Other participants included Bill Bingham and Ross Milloy.

III. Approval of Minutes of December 5th Meeting:

Gerald Daugherty moved and Fred Harless seconded approval of the minutes; the motion passed unanimously.

IV. Status of Legislative Consultant Contract, Discussion and Possible Action:

Mr. Covington stated that the Board had approved previously a legislative consultant contract, but suggested it be brought back to the Board once negotiated for final approval. He then called on Mr. Bingham. Mr. Bingham stated that this agreement has the same duties as described in the RFP. He said this is a one-year contract for the year 2004 with a flat annual fee of $50,000 and a one-year extension for another $50,000 and that will be paid out in monthly installments. Mr. Bingham went on to say that the consulting agreement does allow for the consultant to incur expenses only after they have received Board approval for those expenses. He also stated that the Board has a 30-day right to terminate clause with this contract. Mr. Bingham stated it is ready for the Board’s approval. Dave Marsh moved and Fred Harless seconded approval of the contract. Mr. Milloy interjected with clarification that the contract reflects a $50,000 annual limit spread out in monthly installment payments. The motion was passed unanimously.

V. Report on Federal Interagency Meeting of January 6, 2004:

Mr. Covington called on Mr. Steve Lowry of PBS&J to offer the report of the January 6th meeting with the Federal Transit Authority. Mr. Lowry stated that he attended this meeting with Mr. Milloy and Tom Shelton. This meeting was with the Region 6 FTA staff. This was the 2nd meeting staff has had with the region. Mr. Milloy and staff met with this same group early last year and initiated the conversation that have ensued since then and will continue in the future. The purpose of this meeting was a coordination briefing to bring the FTA 6 staff up to date on what has transpired in the past year with the District. Staff felt it was a very successful meeting. There was an interest in the project initially, and by the time the meeting ended that interest had significantly increased. Mr. Lowry anticipated there would be more routine coordination efforts with Region 6 staff. John Sweek has been informally identified as point of contact. He has been made aware of the meetings and has every intention to attend and participate in our monthly board meetings.

Mr. Lowry outlined discussions on the environmental analysis versus the environmental impact statement. He explained the goal is environmental clearance so the District can proceed through FTA requirements. There is interagency coordination at the federal level between the EPA and the FTA and that interaction is through the process of this environmental clearance. Mr. Lowry stated that the next step will be a presentation of an argument - after roundtable discussions - of the benefits of going one way vs. the other and based on that conclusion, present a white paper to them asking them for their consent, with a timeline of 30-45 days. Mr. Covington asked if the whitepaper could be ready in that time and Lowry said he believed it could be done. Mr. Lowry repeated John Sweek as the lead point-of-contact, in response to Mr. Marsh’s query as to who the lead on the project is. Mr. Covington stated his impression was that it was a very positive meeting. Mr. Lowry said the FTA asked “what does the District perceive is the public support and the agency support locally?” and his response was ‘very positive.’

Mr. Lowry answered Mr. Covington’s question of if the District has any outstanding action items by stating that we do not. Commissioner Daugherty asked how does the District answer FTA when the question is asked about public support. Mr. Lowry stated that the answer had to be limited to technically at present, such as if there were any strong formal opposition that had presented itself and staff said we were not aware of any to date; how long has the project been generally known in the public and it has been in the newspapers for some time. What degree of support was from the elected officials and staff mentioned HB3588 and some of the provisions there. Mr. Milloy offered that they also mentioned the congressional support from Lamar Smith, Lloyd Doggett, Ciro Rodriguez and Charlie Gonzales as supporters of this project. Mr. Milloy stated that the District needs continuing MPO and TxDOT support and that there are a whole series of steps to go through to get additional programmatic federal money. Mr. Covington opened the floor for more questions. As there were none, he stated that the District needs to move forward and be responsive to the FTA staff.

VI. 2004 Goals & Objectives, Discussion, Possible Action:

Mr. Milloy gave an overview of the draft document of April, 2003 that listed the District goals and objectives. Many of those goals had been accomplished, as indicated by a checklist on the 2003 document, and he explained the Goals And Objectives 2004 document. This year, as a young organization, the District has lots to try to accomplish including policy goals and clarifying the Union Pacific situation. He stated that next is developing a conceptual consensus up and down the corridor. The District needs to determine needs going forward, such as engineering to move UP, to develop out the existing rail ROW, and selecting a technology if a decision is made to move forward. He said it is going to be a multi-year project and the District needs to develop a strategy and budget over the next six years. He added that the District thinks it is important to launch the economic development studies of the project this year, particularly given the new tools given by the legislature such as comprehensive development agreement authority and the ability to develop transportation infrastructure zones. Mr. Milloy added that as for Item #5, the internal document control and information system requires that the District add staff, now that we know our financing is relatively secure for the next couple of years. Staff wants to get the meeting information to Board members a week in advance, have an appropriately scaled document control and internal information system in place to become administratively more proficient. He added that staff would like to get this accomplished over the next few months and certainly by the end of the year.

Staff discussed with the FTA that the first action taken by this Board was to authorize the consultants to prepare a plan defining what our public outreach plan was going to be and how the District would systematically inform the public about our activities. He then asked if the Board wanted to make modifications to this list. Mr. Marsh asked if the unchecked items from 2003 would be carried over to 2004 goals and Mr. Milloy said that they would. Mr. Marsh and Mr. Harless agreed that these are significantly large goals. Mr. Milloy stated the District should reflect progress on some items, while completing others. Mr. Covington suggested bullet items instead of numbering, since all have equal priority. Commissioner Daugherty asked to be walked through what the District sees happening on the public involvement and education in this process. Mr. Milloy stated that the first document presented to the Board was the Public Information Plan, which has not yet been adopted by the Board. He went on to explain that it will go before Mr. Marsh’s Public Information Committee and then presented to the Board for adoption. Commissioner Daugherty thought it would be helpful for newcomers to these meetings to be given a brief summary of what the District is doing to that end. Commissioner Daugherty asked when the plan would be ready and Mr. Lowry stated the draft plan is complete and staff is now requesting comments from the Board and other staffers, and when all comments come in, they will go before the Committee. Mr. Marsh said the PI Committee took a break over the holidays and deferred action on the brochure, so no one has missed anything. The PI Committee is awaiting enough work to make it worth our while to get together and to make sure they have all the Board member comments. Mr. Covington asked if there are any other comments. There were none. Action on adoption of the goals was deferred.

VII. Freight Rail Relations Committee Report, Strategy Discussion, and Possible Action on Work Authorization #3:

Vice Chair Covington stated he would now speak as chair of the Freight Rail Relations Committee to present the report on the Committee’s meeting on January 5, 2004. He presented the summary of the meeting and described in broad outline the Committee’s strategy for beginning discussions formally with the Union Pacific. Also, as a result of both this meeting and Mr. Camarillo’s committee on Thursday, the District has developed Work Authorization #3. Mr. Covington shared a detailed presentation and went over the details of WA#3. Mr. Covington emphasized that this is a key element that is vital to the project. Mr. Covington stated that after his committee approved this WA, it was taken to the PMO Committee for review and discussions to ensure it was following the process. Mr. Milloy added that the consultants were asked to add one party to this, Mr. John Langmore, to work on the project with the Union Pacific, TxDOT, and coordinating with state, local and federal officials. He said Mr. Langmore had already been working on getting UP into the State Highway 130 Corridor and that his inclusion in the negotiation process would save time. Commissioner Daugherty commented that either he or Mr. Harless do not understand something regarding the funds of about $64,000 to be spent. Mr. Daugherty stated that his understanding was that there are no funds for travel for the five task force members. Mr. Covington confirmed that the task force members would have to pay their own way in travel expenses. Mr. Milloy outlined that the task force will be (1) one person from TxDOT commission, (2) one from the Governor’s office, (3) one representing state elected officials, (4) one person from the Rail District, and (5) one person representing the federal level.

Commissioner Daugherty expressed a desire to go, whether as representing the District or independently. Mr. Notzon commented that he hopes for the same level of detail in the negotiations to be devoted to the southern part of the District as the northern part. Mr. Notzon is concerned that if it is not a full part of the initial plan, the southern part may be neglected overall. Mr. Covington said this would be done in phases. Mr. Covington commented that once the northern part is secured, he believes that there will be less of a bottleneck from San Marcos south because it is double-tracked now and they do not have quite the problems as San Marcos. Mr. Covington asked for questions and comments. Mr. Marsh moved and Mr. Camarillo seconded approval of work authorization #3. The motion passed by 9 to 1 (Daugherty voting no.). Commissioner Daugherty explained why he did not vote for it in Committee. He feels strongly that the District should get some information from UP before spending $64,000. Commissioner Daugherty stated that he understands what the District is trying to do and realizes it is a small amount of money in the scheme of things. Mr. Covington stated that is a very valid point. Mr. Harless commented that if it were just a matter of calling them up or calling to see them, the District would have done that months ago and Mr. Harless likes that the District is taking this tactical approach and believes it will be successful this way.

VIII. Program Management Oversight Committee Report, Discussion and Possible Action:

Mr. Camarillo gave a report on the meeting on January 8, 2003 at AACOG of the Project Management Oversight Committee. He thanked Mr. Notzon for hosting the meeting. Mr. Camarillo stated that the primary piece of business involved WA#3, and since it has been approved, there is not a lot of detail that needs to be covered. It met with the Committee’s approval. He added that items covered that required only discussion were proposed Board and staff workshops mentioned in the last Board meeting. He stated that the staff, as well as PBS&J, has to gather more information and it will probably be brought up in subsequent Board meetings. Discussion proceeded on methods for execution of Work Authorizations, documentation flows between the Committees and the Board. Mr. Milloy had reported that the staff was going through the process of formalizing and documenting the procedures and that within a month, he expects to present the process to the PMO Committee. Mr. Covington asked if there were any questions or comments and there were none.

IX. Update On Public Information Brochure:

Mr. Marsh reported no new action as no meetings were held due to the holidays.

X. Status of Program Management Plan (Work Authorization # 4):

Mr. Lowry discussed Work Authorization #4. PBS&J has begun putting together the work plan and gave a Progress Report on the WA approved at the December meeting. This is an executive level roadmap showing where the District is going, define the work to be done, define the schedule and create the budgets and resources needed to accomplish the tasks. Mr. Lowry discussed the presentation of a draft Scope of Work intended to be staff level review for discussion between the Interim Director and the Program Management Team to determine a level of priority and importance of each of the tasks that have been identified. Mr. Milloy asked the Board to authorize the Project Management Team to prepare a WA for feasibility study updates and a draft RFP or outline of what will be included in that larger study. Mr. Covington asked, where would the District be in 6-8 months? Lowry said that those Work Authorizations would give the Board the update to the study, the elements that are critical to FTA, and the most critical element the ridership numbers. The District is looking to take a more in-depth and comprehensive approach in ridership than what was done in the 1999 study, he said. Mr. Lowry said there would be an alternatives analysis study that would probably be tied in with the environmental clearance package and would probably have an RFP/RFQ go out for both alternative analysis and environmental clearance whether it is an EA or an EIS. Mr. Covington asked if the District should take action to request that they prepare this for consideration at the next Board meeting. Mr. Lowry said as a perfunctory measure, the WA is already underway in terms of being executed and returned. Mr. Covington thanked Lowry for the presentations.

XI. Approval of 2004 Meeting Dates:

Mr. Covington addressed the 2004 meeting dates and asked about moving the Feb. 6th meeting to Feb. 13th to accommodate various scheduling considerations. Without objection, Mr. Covington moved next month’s meeting to February 13th. Commissioner Adkisson asked about the location of the meetings, requesting that the location be about ? mile from the freeway. An offer was made for the CAPCO location as a South Austin meeting place for future Austin meetings. Mr. Notzon requested that the time of the meeting be bumped to 12:00 pm due to scheduling conflict in his conference room. It was agreed to change the meeting date and location to February 13th at 12:00 noon. Mr. Marsh suggested that the District consider meeting in other jurisdictions that may be interested in the District’s deliberations, such as New Braunfels and Georgetown the Board unanimously approved the meeting calendar.

XII. Financial Report:

Mr. Milloy presented the financial report showing the disposition of funds received and expended and the current checking account balance. The District had received funds from Capital Metro and Travis County. Mr. Milloy has been in discussion with the other entities and expects to see the funds begin to come in as early as next week, he said. Mr. Covington opened the floor for comments or questions. There were none.

XIII. Public Comment:

There were no comments from the public.

XIV. Adjourn:

Vice Chair Covington advised that the next board meeting will be held on February 13, 2004 at 12:00 pm in San Antonio, Texas at the offices of AACOG.

There being no further items of business to discuss before the Board, Vice Chair Covington adjourned the meeting at 12:50 pm.