[00:00:05]
TODAY, WE'RE BACK TO OUR VIRTUAL MEETING INSTEAD OF IN PERSON.
UNFORTUNATELY, I HOPE EVERYONE'S FAMILIES ARE SAFE AND THAT EVERYONE'S TAKING THE PROPER PRECAUTIONS.
THIS IS OUR WAY OF TRYING TO STAY AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE.
SO, WITH THIS, I'D LIKE TO CALL THIS MEETING TO ORDER.
THE TIME IS 2 0 8, AND, UM, I'D LIKE TO REMIND EVERYONE THAT THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP OFFERS, UH, SERVICES FOR AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE.
SO IF ANYONE EVER NEEDS ANY TRANSLATION OR INTERPRETATION SERVICES TO PLEASE REACH OUT TO CHLOE MAXWELL AND SHE WOULD HELP ASSIST IN ANY OF THOSE SERVICES THAT YOU NEED, UH, FOR PUBLIC COMMENT.
UM, BEFORE WE MOVE THAT, BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO PUBLIC COMMENT, I'D LIKE TO CLARIFY THE PROCESS FOR MAKING PUBLIC COMMENT AT THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP MEETINGS, AND CONSISTENT WITH THE TEXAS OPEN MEETINGS ACT, WHICH PROVIDES THAT PUBLIC COMMENT ON A PARTICULAR AGENDA ITEM MAY BE MADE BEFORE OR DURING THE BOARD'S CONSIDERATION OF THAT ITEM.
AND THE BOARD PROCEDURES POLICY WE ADOPTED ON MAY 19TH, ALL PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ANY AGENDA ITEM MAY ONLY BE MADE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MEETING, AND EACH SPEAKER WILL HAVE A TOTAL OF THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK TO ALL ITEMS ON WHICH THE SPEAKER HAS SIGNED UP TO SPEAK.
[I. Public Comment]
LIKE, UH, TO WELCOME AS THE FIRST SPEAKER FOR PUBLIC COMMENT IS MS. PANTEL.MS. PANTEL, ARE YOU ON THE LINE? HELLO, MS. PANTEL.
YOU WILL HAVE THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK ON ALL OF YOUR ITEMS, UM, AND WELCOME.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? UM, YES, WE CAN.
IS THIS MS. PANTEL? HELLO, CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, I CAN.
CAN EVERYONE HEAR HER? CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES.
YEAH, I DON'T THINK SHE'S HEARING US.
UM, CAN EVERYONE GIVE HER A THUMBS UP? YEAH.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? YES, WE CAN.
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? I DON'T THINK YOU CAN HEAR ME.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? YES, WE CAN HEAR YOU.
AND EVERYONE IS GIVING YOU A THUMBS UP THAT, CAN YOU HEAR ME GO? YES.
CAN YOU HEAR ME? CHLOE? MAYBE WHAT WE COULD, MAYBE WHAT WE COULD DO IS, UH, HANG UP ON THE COMMENT OR CALL HER BACK AND DIAL HER BACK IN, BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY IT'S COMING THROUGH MUCH DELAYED.
IT'S COMING THROUGH, MUCH DELAYED.
IT'S NOT COMING THROUGH WHEN I SPEAK, YOU HEAR ME? I'LL TRY IT.
I DON'T, I DON'T THINK IT'S WORKING PROPERLY.
UH, BUT I'LL, I'LL TRY TO SPEAK.
AND YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO HEAR US BACK.
SO IF YOU WANNA JUST MAKE THE PROJECT PROPOSAL AS IT IS
[00:05:01]
NOW INCLUDES A LOT MORE TUNNELS THAN WAS ORIGINALLY PROPOSED IN, IN THE, IN THE PROJECT THAT WENT TO THE VOTERS.AND IN THE, UH, CITIZEN OUTREACH, THEY SAY THAT THE, THE COST WILL GO UP, BUT THEY DON'T SAY HOW MUCH THE COST WILL GO UP OR HOW MUCH THE, HOW MUCH THE TIME WILL BE DELAYED AS A RESULT OF ALL THESE EXTRA TUNNELS.
I THINK IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU TELL THE PUBLIC AS SOON AS POSSIBLE HOW MUCH THE COST WILL GO UP AND WHERE THAT MONEY WILL COME FROM.
WILL IT COME FROM OTHER PARTS OF THE PROJECT THAT WILL HAVE TO BE CUT BACK? WILL YOU GO BACK TO THE VOTERS FOR ANOTHER BOND? IS IT PART OF THE CONTINGENCY? DO YOU THINK YOU'LL GET THAT MONEY FROM THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT? WHERE WILL THAT MONEY COME FROM? IT'S VERY IMPORTANT BECAUSE THIS KIND OF THING HAPPENS AROUND THE COUNTRY, AND I FOLLOW PROJECTS AROUND THE COUNTRY.
IT'S NOT AT ALL UNHEARD OF, BUT IT CAN RESULT IN, UM, OPPOSITION TO THE PROJECT IF PEOPLE FEEL THAT YOU'RE NOT BEING HONEST AND UPFRONT WITH THEM ABOUT, ABOUT THE COST AND ALSO ABOUT THE DELAYS.
I WOULD ALSO REALLY LIKE TO HEAR MORE DISCUSSION ABOUT THE NEED FOR THE TUNNEL UNDER THE RIVER.
THE, THE ADVANTAGE OF HAVING A BRIDGE IS THAT IT PROVIDES ACCESS IN ADDITION TO THE PEDESTRIANS, THE BICYCLISTS, AND THE BUSES.
AND I'D REALLY LIKE TO HEAR A DISCUSSION PRO AND CON OF A BRIDGE VERSUS A TUNNEL.
THE WAY THE PRESENTATION IS BEING MADE TO THE PUBLIC IS THAT IT HAS TO BE A TUNNEL, AND THAT'S COMPLETE.
I UNDERSTAND THE REASONS FOR THE TUNNEL, BUT I, I REALLY THINK THAT COULD USE MORE DISCUSSION.
UM, FINALLY, I JUST WANTED TO ACKNOWLEDGE ALL OF THE EFFORTS OF DAVE DOBBS.
DAVE WORKED BETWEEN 30 AND 40 YEARS OF HIS LIFE TOWARD HAVING A LIGHT RAIL PROJECT, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE HAVE NOW WITH PROJECT CONNECT.
AND I THINK THAT THE PROJECT THAT WE HAVE NOW IN FRONT OF US IS IN PART DUE TO HIS EFFORTS OVER SO MANY YEARS.
THANK YOU SO MUCH MS. PATEL, FOR YOUR PATIENCE, ESPECIALLY AS WE'RE DEALING WITH VIRTUAL COMMUNICATION.
UM, WE APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS AND, UH, WE WILL, UH, DOES ANYBODY ON THE BOARD HAVE ANY FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS FOR MS. PATEL? SHOULD WE MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SPEAKER? THEN, UM, OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS MS. JOSEPH.
MS. JOSEPH, CAN YOU HEAR US? THANK YOU.
JOSEPH, I JUST WANTED TO MAKE MY COMMENTS PREFACED BY A QUESTION THAT COUNCIL MEMBER AND TOIA ASKED IN THE OPERATIONS MEETING BEFORE YOURS CONVENE.
HE WANTS TO KNOW WHO'S FUNDING WHAT, AND I TOO WOULD LIKE TO KNOW THE SAME.
MY COMMENTS ARE SPECIFICALLY RELATED TO THE STAFFING.
IN FY 2018, JACKIE NUREMBERG WAS THE MANAGER OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT FOR 3.3 YEARS, EARNING $90,000 FY 2021 UNDER A TP.
SHE'S THE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, 6.1 YEARS, $250,000.
THAT SEEMS OUTRAGEOUS TO ME IN FY 2018.
JANNIS BANKS $49,000 COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT SPECIALIST, ONE 1.1 YEARS, NO TRANSIT EXPERIENCE, $49,000.
HIS SALARY HAS DOUBLED UNDER AT T AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP, PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT MANAGER.
I DON'T THINK THIS IS WHAT THE VOTERS APPROVED, AND I CERTAINLY WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHERE THE FUNDING IS COMING FROM TO INCENTIVIZE THESE PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT OUTREACH COORDINATORS AT SUCH A HIGH COST.
MARCH 17TH, 2021, DIRECTOR RANDY CLARK, SAID THAT A TP DOESN'T EXIST AS AN ENTITY FROM A FEDERAL POINT OF VIEW WHEN YOU TALKED ABOUT DBE.
SO IT IS CONFUSING TO THE PUBLIC TO UNDERSTAND WHERE THE FUNDING IS COMING FROM.
IT WAS CONFUSING WHEN MR. CONLIN GAVE THE BUDGET UPDATE TO CAPITAL METRO'S OPERATIONS COMMITTEE.
AND I DO UNDERSTAND HE MENTIONED THAT OCTOBER, YOU'RE GONNA HAVE A LONG RANGE PRESENTATION.
CAPITAL METRO'S BUDGET DIRECTOR, UM, SAID THAT I GUESS YOU'LL DISCUSS THE JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT, THEN MAYBE IF YOU COULD FLUSH IT OUT FOR THE PUBLIC, I WOULD APPRECIATE IT.
[00:10:01]
BUT I STILL THINK THAT $250,000 IS EXCESSIVE BECAUSE THE CEO, WHEN RANDY CLARK WAS HIRED BY CAPITAL METRO EARNED $285,000 AND YOU HAVE AN OUTREACH SPECIALIST EARNING JUST UNDER $30,000 LESS.MY LAST COMMENT WILL BE, UM, FRAUD.
ACCORDING TO THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, FRAUD IS TRYING TO GET SOMETHING OF VALUE THROUGH WOEFUL MISREPRESENTATION.
AND SO I JUST WANT YOU TO KEEP THAT IN MIND.
AND I'LL LASTLY TELL YOU THAT RIDERSHIP AND COVERAGE ARE DIFFERENT.
WHEN CAPITAL METRO'S BOARD WAS BRIEFED JULY 25TH, 2016, JARED WALKER, THE PHD, WHO REDESIGNED, UH, HOUSTON'S SYSTEM, THIS IS MY LAST COMMENT, SAID THAT RIDERSHIP IS WHEN YOU'RE THINKING LIKE A BUSINESS AND YOU CHOOSE THE TARGET AUDIENCE THAT YOU WANT.
AND COVERAGE IS WHEN YOU ACTUALLY PROVIDE LIFELINE ACCESS FOR EVERYONE.
AND CAPITAL METRO HAS CHOSEN RIDERSHIP, NOT COVERAGE.
I THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO MAKE MY COMMENTS.
AND I WOULD ASK YOU TO CONSIDER, UH, REVISING YOUR POLICY, JUST LIKE CAPITAL METRO TO ALLOW MORE TIME FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AND ACTION ITEMS THEY'RE DISCUSSING AT, AT PRESENT.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I'LL GLADLY ANSWER THEM AT THIS TIME.
UM, I APPRECIATE YOUR COMMENTS, MS. JOSEPH.
UH, DOES ANYONE FROM THE BOARD HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MS. JOSEPH? NO.
UH, WE'RE, WE'VE TAKEN NOTE, MS. JOSEPH, OF YOUR, OF YOUR CONCERNS AND WE'RE KEEPING TRACK OF HOW BEST TO ANSWER YOUR CONCERNS.
UM, IT WOULD EITHER BE DONE THROUGH FOLLOW UP MEETINGS.
UH, WE WILL SEND YOU A, UM, DIRECT COMMUNICATION TO YOU AS WELL.
SO THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AS WE WORK OUT HOW TO KEEP TRACK OF YOUR CONCERNS.
UM, OUR NEXT SPEAKER IS MS. RUTLEY.
MS. RUTLEY, YOU WOULD HAVE THREE MINUTES.
DO WE HAVE MS. RUTLEY? CAN YOU HEAR US? MS. RUTLEY? I DON'T THINK SHE'S THERE.
UM, IF MS. RUTLEY COMES JOIN US LATER, CAN WE MAKE AN EXCEPTION TO MAKE SURE THAT SHE HAS A CHANCE TO SPEAK? OKAY.
SO MOVING ON, UM, TO OUR DISCUSSION ITEMS,
[Il. Executive Director's Report]
OUR FIRST ITEM TODAY IS THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT FROM THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, MR. RANDY CLARK.THANK YOU BOARD MEMBERS FOR BEING HERE.
AND I SEE THAT WE'RE JUST GONNA QUEUE UP A SLIDE, IT LOOKS LIKE, AND A COUPLE OF SLIDES TO GO THROUGH.
SO, UH, FIRST THING I WANT TO HIGHLIGHT FOR THE BOARD, AND YOU DID GET A NOTE FROM US, AND WE ACTUALLY DID A LITTLE, UM, ENGAGEMENT WITH THE COMMUNITY ON THIS.
SOCIAL MEDIA WISE WAS A VERY, VERY CRUCIAL STEP FOR US IN THIS PROGRAM RELATED TO THE ORANGE AND THE BLUE LINES, WHICH ARE THE LARGEST COMPONENTS OF THE PROGRAM WE RECEIVED FROM THE FDA ACCEPTANCE INTO PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PHASE OF THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM.
UH, I CAN'T UNDERSTATE HOW BIG OF A STEP THIS IS FOR THIS PROGRAM.
SO KIND OF IN ONE WAY, WE GO FROM BEING, TALKING WITH FTA ABOUT SOMETHING THEY'RE WATCHING US SAYING WE'RE GONNA DO TO NOW BEING IN THE FEDERAL PROCESS.
SO FOR THE FACT THAT NOW WE ARE FULLY RECOGNIZED BY THE FTA AS MOVING TWO, TWO VERY BIG, UH, MOSTLY IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE WHERE WE CALL THESE MEGA PROJECTS THROUGH THE PROCESS.
SO, UH, TACTICALLY THAT ACTUALLY MEANS TWO VERY IMPORTANT THINGS.
ONE, THE AUTHORITY TO PROCEED WITH OUR ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESSES THAT WE'RE WORKING VERY HARD ON OUR NEPA PROCESS, ET CETERA.
AND OUR ENGINEERING IS DESIGNED NOW THAT WE'RE AT 15 TO MOVE TOWARDS 30.
BUT REALLY CRITICAL IS IT GIVES US THE AUTHORITY TO INCUR PROJECT COSTS ON A LOCAL POINT OF VIEW THAT WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE FT A REIMBURSEMENT.
SO THIS KIND OF LOCAL FEDERAL MATCH COMPONENT, IT ALSO GIVES US THE AUTHORITY TO MOVE FORWARD WITH REAL ESTATE.
AND NOW IT ALLOWS US, AND IN A, I THINK AN UPCOMING MEETING, WE'LL TALK ABOUT, UH, WHAT'S CALLED THE RAMP, THE REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT PLAN.
AND SO WE'RE NOT GONNA BE OBVIOUSLY GOING TO BUY REAL ESTATE TOMORROW, BUT IT ALLOWS THE US TO START CRITICALLY GOING THROUGH WHICH PIECES ARE PRIORITY VERSUS NOT, HOW TO WORK
[00:15:01]
WITH POTENTIAL HOME, UM, YOU KNOW, LAND LANDOWNERS, UH, START, APPRAISE, UH, APPRAISAL PROCESS, ALL OF THOSE THINGS THAT WE KNOW WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO.SO I WANT TO, YOU KNOW, JUST THANK THE FTA.
THEY'VE BEEN A FANTASTIC PARTNER.
UM, AGAIN, I DON'T RECALL ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY.
I'VE CERTAINLY, I CAN'T SAY THIS A HUNDRED PERCENT THAT ANYONE GOT TWO NOTICES ON THE SAME DAY FOR TWO MEGA PROJECTS FOR FDA PROJECT DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL.
UH, AND I GIVE A LOT OF KUDOS TO THE STAFF.
UH, DAVE COUCH AND HIS TEAM SPECIFICALLY HAVE BEEN WORKING, UH, TO GET TO THIS STEP FOR ULTIMATELY A COUPLE OF YEARS.
UH, SO THIS REALLY DOES MOVE US FORWARD.
IT MOVES US FORWARD ON 30% DESIGN.
AND AGAIN, THE GOAL IS TO GET OUR 30% DESIGN BY NEXT SUMMER.
THAT MOVES US, ALLOWS US TO ALSO GET INTO THE FT.
FDA HAS A PROCESS WHERE, UH, BY THE END OF THE SUMMER, IT'S USUALLY THE END OF AUGUST PERIOD, THEY CAN ESTABLISH RATINGS FOR PROJECTS.
AND IT'S A MULTI-YEAR RATING PROCESS TO AGAIN, GO THROUGH, UH, WHAT'LL LEAD TO A FULL FUNDING GRANT AGREEMENT, IDEALLY IN THE 2020 IN, UH, 2024 CAT.
UH, IT ALSO ALLOWS US TO CONTINUE THIS PROCESS.
'CAUSE ONE OF OUR, OUR KEY GOALS IS TO GET AN FTA NEPA RECORD OF DECISION.
WE'LL REFER TO IT AS A ROD, UH, A FAIR AMOUNT GOING FORWARD, UH, BY WINTER 2022.
SO IDEALLY, THE DECEMBER, 2022 MIGHT BE JANUARY, 2023, BUT AROUND THAT TIMEFRAME, SOLIDIFYING THE RECORD OF DECISION FOR BOTH OF THESE, UH, BIG, LARGE PROJECTS.
SO, AGAIN, I JUST WANT TO HIGHLIGHT THIS.
THIS IS A, IT'S A BIG STEP FOR US AS A, AS A, AS A GROUP.
I THOUGHT IT'D BE IMPORTANT TO TAKE A, A, A MOMENT AND TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON IN DC WELL, I'LL TAKE THAT BACK.
NOT EVERYTHING THAT'S GOING ON IN DC.
EVERYTHING IN DC RELATED TO THE, UH, UH, INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT ACT.
THERE'S A LOT OF OTHER THINGS GOING IN DC THAT WE WON'T GET INTO HERE AT A TP.
UM, BUT AS MANY PEOPLE KNOW, THERE HAS BEEN YEARS, YEARS OF DISCUSSION, UH, BASICALLY 10 YEARS OF DISCUSSION ABOUT, UH, A BIG INFRASTRUCTURE BILL.
AND, UH, A LOT OF MOMENTUM IS BUILT.
UH, RECENTLY THERE HAS BEEN WHAT MOST PEOPLE CALL THE BIFF, THE BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE FRAMEWORK.
AND THAT MOVED FORWARD WHERE THE SENATE PASSED ON AUGUST 10TH, UH, VERY HEAVY BIPARTISAN 60, UH, NINE TO 30 TO MOVE FORWARD ON, UH, A BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM.
THE HOUSE IS EXPECTED TO TAKE THAT BILL UP IN SEPTEMBER.
THERE'S VERY COMPLICATED, UH, REA UH, SEQUENCING MAY BE RELATED THAT 'CAUSE THE, THEY'RE ALSO TALKING ABOUT RECONCILIATION, WHICH IS A ONE TIME BUDGET MOVE THAT IS NOT POLICY DRIVEN, BUT IT'S FINANCIAL DRIVEN.
AND THERE'S SOME ASPECTS WHERE SOME PEOPLE MAY WANNA PUT ADDITIONAL TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS INTO RECONCILIATION AND HOW THEY MAY ALIGN WITH POLICY THAT IS DONE THROUGH THIS BILL.
UH, THERE'S ALSO THE DEBT, UH, CEILING THAT HAS TO GET RESOLVED AND THE OVERALL BUDGET.
SO LOTS OF MOVING PARTS IN DC.
UM, SO WHILE I THINK A LOT OF US ARE VERY, UH, OPTIMISTIC THAT WHAT GOT PASSED WILL THEN GO TO THE NEXT FINAL STEP, WHICH IS THE HOUSE APPROVAL, AND THEN TO THE PRESIDENT ASSESS FOR SIGNATURE.
IT IS NOT, UH, A NECESSARILY A LINEAR PATH, AND IT'S NOT EXACTLY A PATH THAT MAYBE GETS RESOLVED TOMORROW.
HOUSE IS, UH, BEEN CALLED BACK TO MEET, I THINK ON THE 23RD OR 24TH.
THEY'RE TALKING ABOUT EVERYTHING FROM VOTING RIGHTS TO INFRASTRUCTURE TO RECONCILIATION, LOTS OF THINGS.
A GENERAL CONSENSUS THAT I'M HEARING IS THEY'RE HOPING BY SOMETIME IN MID-SEPTEMBER TO GET SOMETHING DONE.
BUT WE'LL ALL BE WATCHING AND SEE EXACTLY HOW THE LAST ACT OF THIS PLAY KIND OF GOES OUT.
I THOUGHT I'D HIGHLIGHT A COUPLE PARTS OF THIS, UH, BILL, THOUGH, THAT ARE DIRECTLY RELATED TO US HERE DOING TRANSIT IN AUSTIN, BECAUSE, UH, THERE'S SIGNIFICANT ELEMENTS IN THIS, IN THIS BILL THAT ARE HELPFUL FOR THIS PROGRAM.
SO FORMULA FUNDING IS WHAT CAP METRO NORMALLY RECEIVES BECAUSE OF US RUNNING A TRANSIT SYSTEM.
AND THOSE ARE THINGS LIKE STATE OF GOOD REPAIR, BOSTON BUS FACILITIES, AND WHAT'S USUALLY CALLED CAPITAL COST OF, UH, MAINTENANCE.
SO, YOU KNOW, LOOKING AFTER SOME OF OUR ASSETS, UH, AND IT'S KIND OF DONE IN AN URBANIZED FORMULA, AND AS WE GROW, THAT IS GOOD.
BUT GENERALLY SPEAKING, IT'S, IT'S PROPORTIONAL TO YOUR URBANIZED AREA OF WHERE YOU SERVE.
SO WHAT THEY DID IN THAT, AND THE BIG ONE IS THEY DID A 30% INCREASE IN THE FIRST YEAR IN FY 21 ON THOSE FORMULA FUNDS.
AND THEN THEY DID A 2% ANNUALIZED INFLATIONARY ADJUSTMENT, 2% INCREASE AS WELL.
UH, THAT IS A BIG DEAL, UH, FOR FORMULA FUNDING AND VERY LARGE, UH, CONTRIBUTION TO TRANSIT, NOT JUST HERE IN AUSTIN, BUT ACROSS THE INDUSTRY.
SO THAT WILL, UH, CERTAINLY BE GOOD BASELINE, UH, UH, FINANCIAL, UH, STABILITY FOR THE ORGANIZATION GOING FORWARD TO RUN A LARGER SYSTEM.
[00:20:01]
BIG POSITIVES IN THAT.SECOND, UH, THERE IS THE CAPITAL INVESTMENT GRANT PROGRAM, AND THAT'S THE PROGRAMS THAT WE'RE GONNA SPECIFICALLY WE'RE USING FOR EXPO IN PLEASANT VALLEY.
AND WE'LL BE ADVANCING THE ORANGE AND BLUE LINE, AS I JUST MENTIONED, THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT PHASE.
SO WHAT THEY DID IN THAT PROGRAM, AND THIS IS INCREDIBLY NUANCED AND COMPLICATED, AND I'M HAPPY TO KIND OF, NOT THAT I'M THE EXPERT IN IT, BUT I KNOW ENOUGH TO BE DANGEROUS.
UH, HAPPY TO TALK OFFLINE LATER IF SOMEONE WANTS DEEP, DEEP, DEEP INTO IT.
UM, AND I HAVE ONE OF OUR EXPERTS GET REALLY DEEP INTO IT, BUT THEY HAVE X AMOUNT OF MONEY IN APPROPRIATIONS ANNUALLY FOR THIS PROGRAM.
WHAT THEY DID IN THIS BILL IS THEY DID $8 BILLION OF ADVANCE APPROPRIATIONS, WHICH MEANS IT IS TRUE GUARANTEED MONEY.
SO IT IS NOT AT THE WHIM OF THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE.
SO IN THE FEDERAL SIDE, IT'S VERY COMPLEX BECAUSE YOU'LL HAVE A BUDGET AND THEN ANNUALLY YOU HAVE APPROPRIATIONS.
SO THERE'S LOTS OF THINGS THAT ARE IN THE BUDGET THAT THE APPROPRIATORS THEN GO, WELL, WE'RE NOT ACTUALLY GONNA FUND THAT.
SO IT'S KIND OF A ALWAYS THIS TEXAS TWO STAFF INSIDE THE FEDERAL PROCESS.
THEY, WHAT THEY DID IN THIS BILL, AND THIS IS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT, THEY ADVANCED APPROPRIATED 8 BILLION.
SO THAT IS GUARANTEED FUNDING IN THE PROGRAM, CUTS OUT THE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE APPROVAL PROCESS AND, AND SOLIDIFIES THAT FUNDING.
SECOND IN THE BILL ITSELF, THEY DID AN ANNUAL AUTHORIZATION OF 3.15 BILLION ON TOP OF THE ADVANCED APPROPRIATION.
SO WHAT THAT DOES INSIDE THE BILL, IT'S KIND OF LIKE YOUR, UH, BUDGET CAP THERE IS ALLOWED TO GO UP TO 3.15 BILLION ANNUALLY ON TOP OF THAT.
BUT THE APPROPRIATORS IN THE APPROPRIATION COMMITTEE HAVE TO PUSH THAT FORWARD AND ULTIMATELY IN THE BUDGET.
SO IT IS VERY GOOD THAT WE HAVE A BIG INCREASE IN THE, IN THE LOCKED IN AMOUNT.
SECONDARILY, IF CONGRESS ON AN ANNUALIZED BASIS AFTER THE, UH, AFTER THE ADVANCED PROBATION WANTS TO ADD MORE, THEY HAVE ROOM IN THE BUDGET VEHICLE TO DO THAT, WHICH IS REALLY GOOD.
UM, SO THE NEXT PART I WANTED TO MENTION IS COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAMS. THOSE PROGRAMS, WE ACTUALLY ASSUMED NO FUNDING FOR ANY COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM AS WE BUILT OUR, UH, INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MODEL.
'CAUSE WE COULDN'T THINK TO SAY WE'RE GUARANTEED COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAMS. WE KNEW THE CIG PROGRAMS WHILE COMPLICATED, WHILE COMPETITIVE.
WE WOULD EVENTUALLY GET THROUGH THAT PROGRAM AND, UH, YOU KNOW, AT THE END, WE'LL HAVE TO DO A FULL FUNDING GRANT AGREEMENT NEGOTIATION WITH THE FTA.
SO, YOU KNOW, WE'LL HAVE TO SEE WHERE THAT PERCENTAGE, UH, ENDS UP.
WE'LL ALSO HAVE TO SEE WHERE THE ANNUAL, UM, APPROPRIATIONS LEVEL ENDS UP FOR EACH PROGRAM.
UM, BUT WE KNOW THAT PROGRAM IS LEAST STABLE ON THE COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM.
IT'S MORE HOLISTIC AROUND TRANSIT.
WHAT COULD BE VERY VALUABLE FOR OUR PROGRAM AS WELL.
SO ONE OF THE BIG INITIATIVES IN THE BILL IS TO MOVE THE LOW AND NO EMISSIONS BUS PROGRAM FORWARD.
AND THEY ACTUALLY DID FIVE, FIVE AND A QUARTER BILLION.
AGAIN, ADVANCED APPROPRIATIONS IE GUARANTEED MONEY FOR LOW AND NO EMISSION BUS PROGRAM.
THAT IS AN INCREDIBLY LEAP FORWARD, UH, FOR, FOR THAT CONSIDERING MOST ALL AGENCIES IN THE COUNTRY ARE GOING ZERO EMISSION.
WE ARE ALSO DOING THAT AT CAB METRO AND THE AT AND THE PROJECT CONNECT VEHICLES WILL ALL BE THAT.
SO THAT IS REALLY GOOD AS WELL.
IT ALSO FUNDS THINGS LIKE CHARGING, NOT JUST THE BUSES THEMSELVES.
SO WE'LL APPLY TO PLAY VERY ACTIVE, UH, WITH THOSE GRANT FUNDING, UH, PROGRAMS. WE, WE'VE WON LOW AND NOMO NO EMISSION PROGRAMS, THREE YEARS STRAIGHT AT CAPITAL METRO.
SO WE'RE HOPING WE'RE, WE'RE SET UP VERY WELL FOR THAT PROGRAM.
BUS AND BUS FACILITIES IS, AGAIN, REPLACEMENT BUSES, WHICH IS NOT REALLY RELEVANT TO THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM PER SE, BUT BUS FACILITIES ARE PART OF OUR PROGRAM IS WE NEED A NEW DEMAND RESPONSE FACILITY AND WE NEED A NEW BUS MAINTENANCE FACILITY.
AND THE BIG INCREASE IN THAT FACILITY PROGRAM WILL ALLOW US TO GO BE COMPETITIVE FOR THOSE KIND OF MATCHING FUNDS TO HELP US WITH THOSE FACILITIES, WHICH AGAIN, IS PRETTY SIGNIFICANT.
UM, UH, COSTS, UH, THAT WE'LL NEED IN THE PROGRAM.
STATE OF GOOD REPAIR, THEY'VE UPPED THAT AS WELL.
THAT'S REALLY NOT OVERLY RELEVANT TO A TP AND THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM.
BUT I WANT TO LIST IN THERE, RAISE GRANTS ARE WHAT USED TO BE CALLED TIGER THEN THEY WERE CALLED BUILD NOW THEY'RE CALLED RAISE 1.5 BILLION ANNUALLY.
SO THAT, THAT IS A LOT OF MONEY.
IT'S USUALLY VERY OVERSUBSCRIBED, MEANING, YOU KNOW, IT COULD BE A FOUR TO ONE RATIO OF PEOPLE THAT APPLY TO GET, BUT THIS NUMBER IS THE HIGHEST NUMBER EVER.
THAT, THAT PROGRAM TOO HAS AN ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF DISCRETION IN THE SECRETARY'S OFFICE.
AND, AND IN THIS BILL, IT ALLOWS THE ADMINISTRATION, WHATEVER ADMINISTRATION'S THERE, 'CAUSE IT'S A FIVE YEAR BILL TO REALLY SET A LOT OF THE CRITERIA OF HOW THOSE GRANTS WILL BE JUDGED.
ONE THING THIS ADMINISTRATION HAS MADE IT VERY CLEAR IS THAT CLIMATE AND EQUITY, UH, AND KIND OF CONNECTING COMMUNITY WILL BE THE MOST IMPORTANT VALUES THAT THEY'LL BE LOOKING FOR IN THE GRANT.
NOW, THERE'S STILL YOUR, YOUR NORMAL BENEFIT COST
[00:25:01]
ANALYSIS AND A LOT OF OTHER THINGS.WE ARE HOPEFUL THAT WE'LL BE VERY AGGRESSIVE IN GOING AFTER RAISE GRANTS.
AND THAT COULD BE PARTS OF THE ORANGE AND BLUE LINE AS AN EXAMPLE.
IT COULD BE FACILITIES, IT COULD BE TUNNELING, IT COULD BE, WE HAVE SOME COMPLICATIONS AROUND CRESTVIEW, AS EVERYONE KNOWS WITH FREIGHT TRAINS ON THE, ON THE STREET VERSUS ELEVATION, ALL THOSE KIND OF THINGS.
IT JUST GIVES US AN OPPORTUNITY TO DO A LOT OF, UH, PARTS OF THE PROGRAM AS ANOTHER SOURCE.
LASTLY, THERE'S THE RAIL AND HIGHWAY PROGRAMS. I WANNA HIGHLIGHT THAT THE BILL IF PASSED ALLOWS STATES DOTS TO ACTUALLY USE A LOT MORE OF THEIR STATE HIGHWAY MONEY FOR TRANSIT.
THAT HAS BEEN ALREADY KIND OF A PRACTICE IN SOME STATES.
LIKE I CAME FROM MASSACHUSETTS, SO DOES GINA.
UH, THAT WAS USED PRETTY, THERE WAS A LOT MORE FLEXIBILITY, I WOULD SAY IN MASSACHUSETTS THAN I'VE SEEN IN OTHER PLACES.
THIS NOW ENSHRINES IN THAT LEGISLATION, IT PASSED, DOTS ARE ENCOURAGED OR HAVE THE ABILITY TO FLEX MORE OF THAT MONEY, SPECIFICALLY FOR BUS RAPID TRANSIT AND OTHER ELEMENTS, INCLUDING EVEN FACILITIES.
SO WE'LL SEE HOW THAT COULD WORK.
IT ALSO DOES A PROGRAM CALLED CHRISSY.
IT'S VERY FOCUSED ON RAIL SAFETY, SPECIFICALLY ON FREIGHTING COMMUTER RAIL.
AND THEN, UH, WE ARE ONE OF THE, THERE'S TWO OF US, US AND ONE IN ALASKA AT CAP METRO.
THEY'RE ALSO A PASSENGER AND A FREIGHT RAIL.
AND SO WE THINK WE'LL BE ABLE TO GO AFTER GRANTS RELATED TO THAT.
AND THAT COULD BE CONNECTED TO REDLINE OR FUTURE GREENLINE AS AN EXAMPLE.
AND THEN THERE'S THE INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM INFRA, AND THEY HAVE 700 MILLION ON THAT PROGRAM, AND THAT IS TARGETED SPECIFICALLY FOR FREIGHT AND PASSENGER RAIL.
AGAIN, WE THINK WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO PLAY IN THAT PROGRAM AS WELL.
SO SORT TAKE A WHILE ON THAT SLIDE.
BUT THIS IS A REALLY SIGNIFICANT DEAL COMING OUT OF DC AND I WANT TO JUST HIGHLIGHT THAT WE BELIEVE THAT THERE WILL BE VARIOUS, UH, WAYS TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROGRAM.
AND, AND THE THING THAT WE HAVE REALLY WELL SET OUT HERE FOR US IN AUSTIN THAT A LOT OF OTHER CITIES AND AGENCIES WILL NOT HAVE, IS TO, TO PLAY FOR ALL THESE GRANTS, YOU REALLY NEED TO HAVE TWO THINGS.
YOU NEED A LOCAL FUNDING COMMITMENT FOR A MATCH, AND EACH MATCHES WILL BE DIFFERENT.
AND YOU NEED TO ACTUALLY HAVE A PROJECT, WHETHER, YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE FULLY DESIGNED, BUT YOU'RE, IT'S A REAL PROJECT.
YOU HAVE, IT'S NOT JUST AN IDEA.
WE NOT ONLY HAVE A LOCAL FUNDING COMMITMENT BECAUSE OF THE VOTER'S CONFIDENCE LAST NOVEMBER PLUS OUR INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MODEL.
WE ALSO ARE MOVING A LOT OF THESE PROGRAMS THROUGH DESIGN PROCESS.
AND SO WE ARE GOING TO BE VERY STRATEGIC LAYOUT, A MULTI-YEAR STRATEGY TO GO AFTER THESE GRANTS IN RELATION TO THE OVERALL PROGRAM AT THINKING THROUGH DESIGN SPECIFICALLY.
SO THAT IS WHY, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF YOU ARE ENCOURAGING US AND OTHERS IN THE COMMUNITY THAT, HEY, STAY ON SCHEDULE, KEEP THIS THING MOVING.
ONE OF THE KEY GOALS OF THAT IS AS WE ADVANCE THE ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN PROCESS, IT WILL ALLOW US TO PARTICIPATE IN MORE GRANT OPPORTUNITIES.
SO THE BETTER WE DO AT OUR JOB, THE BETTER CHANCE WE HAVE TO GET EVEN MORE FED FEDERAL PARTICIPATION.
SO SORT OF TAKE A LITTLE BIT OF TIME WITH THAT, BUT I, I THOUGHT IT WAS REALLY IMPORTANT TO GROUND THE BOARD ON WHAT IS HAPPENING OUT OF DC.
I HOPE TO COME BACK IN SEPTEMBER TO TELL YOU THAT THE DEAL IS DONE AND MAYBE THERE'S EVEN MORE ELEMENTS THAT ARE POSITIVE FOR US.
BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, SO FAR SO GOOD, UH, IN, IN DC RELATED TO INFRASTRUCTURE.
I HAVE ONE, UH, MORE SLIDE AND THEN I'M OBVIOUSLY HAPPY TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, THOUGHTS, UH, CONCERNS WOULD BE, WE SIGNED OUR LEASE THANK YOU BOARD FOR, UH, APPROVING THIS.
I THINK IT WAS, I THINK IT WAS LAST MONTH OR THE MONTH BEFORE.
THIS IS OUR NEW SPACE AT 2 0 3 COLORADO, UH, IN DOWNTOWN.
IT'S REALLY GREAT COLLABORATION SPACE FOR A JOINT PROGRAM OFFICE.
IT'S GONNA BE WHERE ITP STAFF, THERE'S SOME CAP METRO STAFF, CITY OF AUSTIN, STAFF, CONSULTING STAFF, ET CETERA, WILL BE SUPER COLLABORATIVE, ALL ABOUT PARTNERSHIP, HOW TO GET THIS PROGRAM DONE.
WE ALSO HAVE SPACE IN THERE THAT COULD HOST OUR BOARD MEETINGS, BUT CERTAINLY ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETINGS, PUBLIC MEETINGS, UH, A NOTICE WILL BE COMING OUT SOON.
WE'RE STILL TRYING TO GET THE FINAL DATE, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE SOMETIME IN LATE SEPTEMBER WE WILL DO A, A PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE THAT, YOU KNOW, JUST TOUR THE SPACE, MAKE, YOU KNOW, KIND OF AGAIN, RE REINFORCE THE IDEA THAT THIS IS A PARTNERSHIP, IT'S COLLABORATIVE, UH, THE PARKING LOT OUT FRONT IS ACTUALLY PART OF THE LEASE IN, IN A WAY THAT ALLOWS US TO MAYBE DO DEMONSTRATIONS OR VEHICLE SETUPS OR TENTS AND ALL THESE KINDS OF THINGS AS WELL.
SO THAT WAS PART OF THE, UH, THE, THE BENEFIT OF THE SPACE AS WELL.
SO REALLY JUST EXCITED THAT WE'RE GONNA HAVE A COLLABORATION SPACE, ESPECIALLY AS WE'RE, UH, WE'RE RAMPING UP STAFFING PRETTY SIGNIFICANT.
SO WITH THAT CHAIR, THAT WAS MY UPDATE, BUT AGAIN, I'M HAPPY TO, TO TAKE COMMENTS, CONCERNS, QUESTIONS, THOUGHTS, UH, ANYTHING ELSE THAT I COULD PROVIDE TO THE BOARD AS WE, UH, GET GOING ON THE OTHER UPDATES.
DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? AND I'D LIKE TO FIRST OFF START BY SAYING CONGRATULATIONS ON GOING INTO PROJECT DEVELOPMENT.
[00:30:01]
ENORMOUS MILESTONE THAT YOU HAVE REACHED WITH YOUR TEAM, SO CONGRATULATIONS.DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MEMBER ELKINS? YEAH.
JUST, JUST, UH, TO ECHO WHAT, UH, MADAM CHAIR SAID, UH, RANDY TO YOU AND THE STAFF, UH, KUDOS ON GETTING THE NOTICE OF ACCEPTANCE.
UH, I KNOW FIRSTHAND THAT'S A HUGE STEP, UH, BIG MILESTONE AND, UM, UH, IT'S GREAT TO SEE THAT PROGRESS.
THANK YOU, MADAM CHAIR, BOARD MEMBER STRATTON, UH, AS, AS THE CAP METRO BOARD MEMBER.
WOW, MAN, IT'S, IT'S BEEN A JOURNEY.
I MEAN IT, AUGUST 7TH OF LAST YEAR, YOU KNOW, WE WERE AT THAT JOINT MEETING, UH, WITH CONTRACT WITH THE VOTERS AND THE COMMITMENT TO THE VOTERS FROM THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND, AND THE CAP METRO BOARD AT THAT JOINT MEETING.
AND, YOU KNOW, HERE WE ARE, YOU, YOU, YOU GUYS IN, IN LESS THAN A YEAR, WE PULLED THIS ALL TOGETHER.
AND, AND THAT, THAT, THAT IS A, THAT JUST IS A HUGE TESTIMONY TO THE AMAZING, INCREDIBLE TEAMWORK AND THE COMMITMENT THAT THE, THE VOTERS OF AUSTIN AND THE RIDERS OF CAP METRO, AND YOU AND YOUR TEAM AND THE FOLKS IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND THEIR STAFF AND NOW THE A TP STAFF HAVE, HAVE PUT TOGETHER.
I I I, I CANNOT FATHOM ANY, ANYTHING THAT I, I'VE SEEN AND, AND, YOU KNOW, IN MY, MY SHORT TIME IN TRANSIT THE LAST COUPLE OF YEARS, BUT ALSO LARGER PICTURE IN GOVERNMENT WERE SOMETHING THAT HAS STARTED THAT QUICKLY.
THINKING ABOUT THAT A TP FIRST, WE HAD OUR FIRST BOARD MEETING IN JANUARY, KICKING THIS THING OFF, AND BY, YOU KNOW, JULY, WHAT WAS IT? JULY, THERE YOU ARE.
AND, AND YOU'VE, YOU'VE GOT THE LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.
SO KUDOS TO, TO EVERYBODY IN THE COMMUNITY, BUT THEN ESPECIALLY YOU AND YOUR TEAM THAT HAVE BEEN JUST BUSTING DUST AND, AND, AND KICKING TAIL AND, AND MAKING THIS HAPPEN.
MAN, I, I REALIZE THAT IT IS JUST THE BEGINNING HERE.
AND, UH, REALLY, REALLY PROUD OF YOU GUYS.
THANKS SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING.
AND, UH, I CAN'T THANK THE STAFF WITHOUT THE STAFF AND I, AND I THINK THE BOARD RECOGNIZES I AND APPRECIATE THAT IS THIS.
WE HAVE A GREAT TEAM AND THEY'RE WORKING VERY HARD EVERY DAY.
UH, THE OTHER PART IS THE COMMITTED TO THE COMMUNITY.
IT'S PEOPLE HAVE SIGNED UP TO BE PART OF THIS PROGRAM BECAUSE THEY WANT TO DO THIS FOR THE COMMUNITY, AND IT'S VERY MISSION DRIVEN.
UH, GINA AND HER TEAM, YOU KNOW, WE, WE SAY THIS ALL THE TIME.
I, I'VE NEVER SEEN A PARTNERSHIP AS GOOD AS OUR TEAM AND THE CITY ALTOGETHER.
AND I THINK IT'S ONLY GONNA GET BETTER WITH THE COLLABORATIVE SPACE, TO BE HONEST.
I THINK AS EVERYONE EVEN GETS CLOSER, WE GET, IDEALLY MASS OFF AND PEOPLE, YOU KNOW, WE'RE SAFER ENVIRONMENT.
IT'S GONNA EVEN JUST GET BETTER.
UM, THE PART THAT I'M THE MOST PROUD OF IS WE, WE TOLD THE COMMUNITY WE HAD A SCHEDULE OF A VARIETY OF THINGS, AND WE HAVE YET TO NOT MEET A DATE.
UH, WE, WE ARE DOING A COUPLE THINGS ARE ACTUALLY A LITTLE BIT AHEAD.
SO, UH, AND THAT ONLY GOES TO THE STAFF WORK, YOU KNOW, I JUST GET THE, THE JOINT BEING HERE ON THE CAMERA AND, AND TELLING YOU THE GOOD NEWS.
BUT, UH, THE STAFF IS, IS REALLY DOING A GREAT JOB.
SO THANK YOU FOR RECOGNIZING THE EFFORTS.
AND I WILL SAY THE FT A COULDN'T ASK FOR A BETTER PARTNER.
THEY, THEY ARE THIS, THE SDOT AND THE F FDA A ARE REALLY, UH, LUCK HAND IN GLOVE WITH US.
SO I REALLY ENCOURAGE THE COMMUNITY, AND I KNOW WE'RE GONNA GET TO COMMUNITY UPDATE.
THAT DOESN'T MEAN DESIGN'S OVER BY ANY MEANS.
AND TO ONE OF THE EARLIER COMMENTS, WE NEED THE COMMUNITY TO GIVE US FEEDBACK ON SOME OF THESE BIG KIND OF QUESTIONS AND DESIGN ITEMS. SO THEN BY NEXT SUMMER, 30% DESIGN, WE WILL HAVE A GOOD FRAMEWORK AROUND 30% COST.
AND, AND THAT HELPS KIND OF MOVE THOSE CRITICAL DECISIONS FORWARD.
SO I REALLY ENCOURAGE THE COMMUNITY, UH, TO GET INVOLVED AND IF THERE'S WAYS WE CAN BETTER COMMUNICATE WITH ALL PART, ANY PARTS OF THE COMMUNITY, WE JUST NEED TO HEAR THAT BECAUSE IT WILL NOT BE A LACK OF EFFORT TRYING COMMUNITY.
IT COULD BE, UH, JUST A MISSTEP UNINTENTIONAL.
SO THE MORE BOARD MEMBERS OR OTHERS COULD TELL US, WE GOTTA GET OUT AND DO OTHER THINGS, WE WILL DEFINITELY DO THAT.
ONE OF THE, ONE OF THE, WHEN WE READ THE LETTER THAT YOU RECEIVED FROM FDA, THEY MENTIONED THEY HAD SOME FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS BEFORE THEY GAVE THE APPROVAL TO PROCEED.
CAN YOU GIVE US AN UPDATE OR DO YOU KNOW WHAT KIND OF QUESTIONS THEY HAD TO FOLLOW UP ON, UH, ON THE FORMAL LETTER? SO WE GOT A FORMAL LETTER.
WE GOT A LETTER BEFORE THAT SAYING, WE GOT YOUR PACKAGE.
WE NEED SOME MORE INFORMATION TO WHICH THE TEAM GAVE THEM.
UH, IF THERE'S ANYTHING MORE SPECIFIC, WHEN DAVE GETS UP TO DO HIS PIECE, I, I'LL DEFER TO HIM IF THERE'S A COUPLE THINGS THAT WE STILL KIND OF KIND OF OWE THEM, BUT MY GENERAL UNDERSTANDING IS WE'RE,
[00:35:01]
WE'RE AT LEAST INTO THE PROCESS.I, I GUESS I WOULD REINFORCE THIS WAY.
IT'S A NEVER ENDING PROCESS AND CONVERSATION.
SO WE, WE WILL LITERALLY MEET WITH THAT.
WE'LL TALK ABOUT FDA EVERY WEEK, PROBABLY REALISTICALLY MM-HMM.
AND WE ALREADY HAVE A FANTASTIC RELATIONSHIP BOTH WITH REGION HEADQUARTERS.
SO IF ANYTHING, IT'S A, IT'S A CONDITION TO SAY YOU WILL CONTINUE TO MEET WITH US.
AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, I THINK ONE OF THE CONDITIONS IN THERE IS YOU'LL NOTIFY US ABOUT DESIGN AND WHERE YOU ARE PROCESS.
SO IT'S NOT SO MUCH WHERE YOU ARE TODAY, IT'S KIND OF THE FORMALITY OF YOU HAVE TO KEEP COMMUNICATING WITH US, I THINK IS THE PART THAT YOU'RE REFERENCING.
BUT I'LL, I'LL ASK DAVE IF I GOT THAT WRONG.
HE COULD JUMP IN, UH, WHEN HE DOES THIS PIECE, I THINK THAT IS WHAT YOU'RE, UH, REFERRING TO.
AND IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE, THE ANSWER NOW, JUST, I WAS JUST CURIOUS.
UM, BUT WITH THAT, DO WE HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS FOR MR. CLARK? IF, IF YOU WANT ME TO JUMP IN HERE, UHHUH,
UH, SO ALL OF THAT WILL INCLUDE ADVANCING THE DESIGN, UH, COMPLETING EVERYTHING THAT'S THERE IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESS.
SO IT, IT IS NOT THAT WE WERE MISSING ANYTHING TO GET INTO PROJECT DEVELOPMENT, THAT THEY WOULD NOT GRANTED IT IF WE WERE MISSING ANYTHING.
AS MR. CLARK SAID, THERE WERE, UH, SOME THINGS THAT THEY LOOKED FOR ABOUT A MONTH BEFORE WE GOT THAT LETTER THAT WE PROVIDED.
UH, BUT AS WE GO FORWARD, IT WILL BE A WHOLE SERIES OF THINGS AND I'LL, I'LL TALK ABOUT SOME OF IT A LITTLE BIT LATER.
THANK YOU, MR. COUCH AND DR. BURNETT.
UM, I HAD MY CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU, RANDY, AND THE STAFF, UM, WITH MY FELLOW BOARD MEMBERS.
I HAVE A QUESTION BACK TO YOUR PRESENTATION ABOUT LAND ACQUISITION.
THE ACRONYM YOU USED, WAS IT RAM OR RAMP, OR, IT'S CALLED A RAMP AND IT'S A REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT PLAN.
AND SO IT'S BASICALLY A PROCESS.
HOW, HOW WE'LL GO THROUGH THAT PROCESS OF IDENTIFYING PARCELS, APPRAISALS, CONTACTING PEOPLE.
UH, MY, I'LL PROBABLY CONNECT TO A PROCUREMENT POLICY, YOU KNOW, ALL THOSE KIND OF, YOU KNOW, THOSE KIND OF THINGS.
UM, IN THE SPIRIT OF THE PARTNERSHIP, HOW DO WE, UM, FORM A PROCESS FOR THAT TO BE IN SYNC WITH THE ANTI DISPLACEMENT STRATEGIES? HOW WILL THOSE TWO HANDSHAKE CONSISTENTLY? SO, UH, SO IN THE ILA THAT WE GAVE TO THE BOARD, AND THE BOARD APPROVED FOR, UH, THE ANTI-DISPLACEMENT FUNDING GOING TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN, BECAUSE AT THE END OF THE DAY, A TP, WE HAVE NO CONTROL OR AUTHORITY OR JURISDICTION OVER THE $300 MILLION THAT, THAT $300 MILLION IS TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN.
ONE OF THE CLAUSES IN THERE SAYS THAT THE CITY OF AUSTIN WILL CHECK WITH THE PROJECT OFFICE.
SO IE DAVE'S TEAM SENSIBLY, BUT OUR REAL ESTATE TEAM AS WELL, THAT ANYTHING THAT THEY MAY WANNA ACQUIRE ALONG THOSE CORRIDORS WILL BE CONNECTED TO US FIRST.
SO WE ALSO CHECK THAT BOX TO SAY, THIS WILL NOT CREATE A CONFLICT.
AND SO YES, YOU CAN PROCEED WITH THAT PROPERTY.
SO IT, SO LIKE, YOU KNOW, THERE COULD BE A LOT ON NORTH LAMAR THAT THEY SAY, WE WANNA DO BUY THIS LOT, AND IT MIGHT BE FOR AN APARTMENT BUILDING, UH, SENIOR APARTMENT OR LOW INCOME APARTMENT.
YOU KNOW, EITHER YES, DO IT, BUT YOU CAN'T TAKE THESE 12 FEET, OR NO, THAT LOCK CAN'T WORK.
UH, IN THAT CASE, SECONDARILY, UM, YOU KNOW, LONGER TERM AND NOT, CERTAINLY NOT FOR NOW, YEARS FROM NOW, WE'LL HAVE TO WORK THROUGH PROPERTY THAT A TP ACQUIRES FOR THIS PROGRAM, WHAT OPPORTUNITIES BUILD UPON THE, THE CONSTRUCTION LONG TERM TO MAYBE WORK WITH THE CITY OR OTHER NONPROFIT PARTNERS OR WHATNOT TO ACTIVATE THOSE LOTS.
BUT THAT, I WOULD SAY WE'RE YEARS AWAY FROM FIGURING ANY OF THOSE.
WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE NOT EVEN AT THE POINT WHERE WE KNOW ALL THE PROPERTIES WE NEED TO ACQUIRE, LET ALONE IN 10 YEARS WHAT THOSE ACQUISITIONS COULD FOLD INTO.
SO, SO WHEN WE GET TO THE JOINT PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT, WE'LL, WE'LL STITCH A LITTLE BIT MORE ON THAT, UH, AND WHAT ROLE EACH KIND OF THE AGENCY PLAYS.
BUT THAT'S, THAT'S GENERALLY THE FRAMEWORK OF THAT.
I JUST WANNA BE SURE WE HAVE SOMETHING LIKE, IT'S A FORMAL PROCESS SO THAT THINGS DON'T FALL THROUGH THE CRACK, OR WE'RE NOT CHASING BEHIND THE, THE DOG DOESN'T, THE TAIL DOESN'T START WAGGING THE DOG.
SO I JUST WANNA MAKE SURE WE HAVE A FORMAL PROCESS WITH THAT.
I WASN'T GOING TO SAY ANYTHING, BUT WHEN EVERYBODY ELSE CONGRATULATES THE STAFF ON GETTING PAST THIS MILESTONE, I DON'T WANT TO BE THE ONLY ONE SILENT BECAUSE I RECOGNIZE THAT THE ACHIEVEMENT THAT IT IS, THE KIND OF THE GUN HAS GONE OFF IN REALLY BIG WAYS, UH, AND IT'S EXCITING.
SO, SO WITH THAT CHAIR, I, YES,
[00:40:02]
CHAIR, UH, IF I COULD, I'D ALSO LIKE TO JUST CONGRATULATE RANDY AND HIS TEAM, BUT ALSO THAT THE, THE CITY TEAM AND THE, UH, BOTH TEAMS AT CAPITAL METRO AND A TP, YOU KNOW, A A LOT OF WHAT, UH, YOU SEE HERE IS THE SUCCESS THAT WE'RE, YOU KNOW, SORT OF, UH, REAPING NOW THAT THE GROUNDWORK FOR THAT WAS LAID ACTUALLY LONG BEFORE THE VOTE WAS TAKEN.SO, UH, KUDOS TO RANDY AND THE CAPITAL METRO TEAM THAT, YOU KNOW, BROUGHT THIS CITI TEAM TO MEET WITH THE FTA.
UM, ACTUALLY, YOU KNOW, PROBABLY IN, UM, I THINK IT WAS 2019, RIGHT?
SO, UH, REALLY CONGRATULATIONS.
LOTS OF HARD WORK, LOTS OF HARD WORK AHEAD.
UM, AND WE APPRECIATE THE PARTNERSHIP.
JUST FOR THE BOARD'S LAUGHTER, WE, UH, SPENT ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF STUCK ON A HIGHWAY IN WACO TOGETHER.
SO, UM, THROUGH, THROUGH I 35 CONSTRUCTION, WHICH REINFORCED OUR VALUE OF MAKING SURE TRANSIT, UH, MOVES PEOPLE,
SO, UH, THAT'S MY REPORT FOR THIS MONTH CHAIR.
AND AGAIN, THANK YOU ALL BOARD MEMBERS FOR YOUR, UH, SUPPORT OF THE STAFF AND, UH, UH, BE INVOLVED IN THIS IMPORTANT ORGANIZATION.
AND WITH THAT, I, I'LL HAND IT BACK TO YOU CHAIR.
AND IF WE WERE ALL TOGETHER, I THINK THIS IS ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS THAT EVERY ONE OF THESE MILESTONES, WE COULD DO A STANDING OVATION,
[III.1. Community Engagement and Involvement Update]
WE'RE MOVING ON TO THE MONTHLY PROGRAM UPDATES, AND I WOULD LIKE TO, UH, WELCOME OUR DIRECTOR OF PROGRAM STRATEGY, MR. SAM, SERGEANT, GOOD AFTERNOON, CHAIR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CLARK, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD.I'M GONNA PROVIDE, UH, THIS MONTH'S COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AND INVOLVEMENT UPDATE, UH, IN PLACE OF JACKIE NIERENBERG, BUT WE'VE GOT SOME EXCITING, EXCITING THINGS TO COVER.
IT'S BEEN A VERY BUSY MONTH SINCE SHE LAST GAVE HER UPDATE.
SO, AS YOU KNOW, AND, UH, THANK YOU ALL FOR NOT ONLY GETTING THE WORD OUT ABOUT OUR VIRTUAL COMMUNITY MEETINGS, BUT ALSO PARTICIPATING IN SOME OF THEM.
BUT WE CLOSED OUT OUR, UH, 15% DESIGN, UM, SCHEDULED MEETINGS FOR ORANGE AND BLUE LINE, UH, THAT OCCURRED BETWEEN JULY 27TH AND AUGUST 13TH, AS WELL AS THE SELF-GUIDED VERSION OF THOSE, UH, WHICH BOTH HAD REALLY SUCCESSFUL BREAKOUT SESSIONS FOR THE VARIOUS SEGMENTS OF THE LINE, WHICH I THOUGHT WAS A REALLY GREAT WAY TO DO IT, AND REALLY APPRECIATE JACKIE AND HER TEAM, LONNIE STERN, UH, JANNIS BANKS, JOCELYN, AND OTHERS WHO MADE THAT POSSIBLE.
I THINK IT REALLY GAVE FOLKS A LOT MORE OWNERSHIP OVER THEIR SEGMENT OF THE LINE AND LET THEM SAY THEIR PIECE ABOUT THE WORK THAT WE'RE DOING.
BUT YOU CAN SEE SOME OF THE TOTALS HERE FOR THAT ENGAGEMENT.
UH, WE HAD HOPED TO HAVE A LARGE IN-PERSON MEETING AT THE CENTRAL LIBRARY, UH, BUT WE WILL HAVE TO DO THAT AGAIN AT ANOTHER TIME.
BUT 774 PEOPLE PARTICIPATED THIS TIME AROUND.
AND THEN WE ALSO HAVE HAD OUR IAG PSEC, EAC CON, UH, JOINT T MEETING AND A CAC MEETING SINCE THE A P BOARD LAST MET.
SO VERY BUSY MONTH OF ENGAGEMENT, VERY SUCCESSFUL AND JUST VERY EXCITING CONSIDERING THE PLACE THAT WE'RE AT RIGHT NOW.
SO, SOME OF THE THINGS THAT WE'VE HEARD SO FAR DURING THIS 15%, UH, DESIGN, UH, OUTREACH ROUND, UM, A LOT OF POSITIVE RESPONSES ABOUT THE FOURTH STREET CONCOURSE CONCEPT, BOTH AT THE STREET LEVEL AS WELL AS BELOW.
CONNECTING ALL OF THOSE STATIONS TOGETHER, HAVING THAT SEAMLESS CONNECTIVITY DOWNTOWN, REACHING OUT TO IMPACTED BUSINESSES AND PROPERTIES ARE CRITICAL.
WE COULDN'T AGREE MORE, AND WE WILL HAVE MORE, UH, MORE ON THAT FUTURE COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM, UH, AT A, AT ANOTHER MEETING.
UH, A LOT OF COMMENTS ON THE LONG AND SHORT TUNNEL OPTIONS, BUT A LOT OF POSITIVE COMMENTS FOR THE LONG TUNNEL OPTION ON SOUTH CONGRESS.
QUESTIONS, UH, ABOUT HOW WE'RE INTEGRATING WITH THE CAPITAL COMPLEX, ESPECIALLY THE EXPANSION TO THE NORTH.
AND I THINK A LOT OF THAT IS COVERED WITH OPTIONS B AND C THAT YOU WOULD'VE SEEN, UH, AT ONE OF DAVE COUCH'S LAST PRESENTATIONS FOR THE NORTH PORTAL.
UM, SO WE GOT A LOT OF GOOD FEEDBACK THERE.
TRAFFIC LANES ON RIVERSIDE, UH, AND THEN CONNECTIVITY TO, TO OTHER, UH, GOOD TRIP GENERATORS LIKE A CC, UH, AS WELL AS HEALTHCARE.
SO WE GOT A LOT OF GOOD FEEDBACK.
THIS IS JUST A SAMPLING OF IT.
MAYOR, DID YOU HAVE A COMMENT? I'M SORRY.
AND THEN SOME OF THE UPCOMING ENGAGEMENT.
SO CONTINUING OUR FORWARD MARCH, WE HAVE OUR NEXT COMMUNITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON AUGUST 25TH, ALONG WITH, UH, METRO RAIL.
WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A VIRTUAL COMMUNITY MEETING TO TALK ABOUT THE RED LINE IMPROVEMENTS.
WE'VE BEEN REALLY FOCUSED ON ORANGE AND BLUE, UH, BUT
[00:45:01]
WE'RE GONNA HAVE A MEETING ON METRO RAIL AS WELL AS ONE IN SEPTEMBER ON METRO RAPID.AND THEN IN SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, PETER MULLEN, UH, AND HIS ARCHITECTURE AND URBAN DESIGN TEAM ARE GONNA KICK OFF A SERIES OF, UH, DESIGN CHARETTES SO THAT WE CAN GET PUBLIC INPUT IN A, IN A REALLY COLLABORATIVE, OPEN FACILITATED SETTING, UH, AROUND SOME OF OUR MORE COMPLEX STATIONARIES AND SOME OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT, UM, DESIGN OPTIONS THAT ARE STILL ON THE TABLE, DOING A UNIVERSITY OWNED FACEBOOK LIVE TOWN HALL IN SPANISH ON OCTOBER 7TH.
AND THEN OF COURSE, CONTINUING OUR OUTREACH TO PROPERTY OWNERS BUSINESSES AND, UH, ENGAGEMENT WITH COMMUNITY NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS, HOPING TO GET OUT THERE TO MORE AND MORE COMMUNITY NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS WHO ARE STILL HOLDING THEIR MEETINGS VIRTUALLY AND TAKING THAT, GOING TO THEM APPROACH, UH, WHICH, WHICH I THINK FROM, FROM EXPERIENCE IS ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO, TO TALK TO PEOPLE ON THEIR TERMS, ON THEIR TIME.
SO CONTINUING, UH, THE GREAT WORK JACKIE'S GROUP IS DOING.
AND, UH, WITH THAT, I WILL TAKE ANY QUESTIONS THAT THE BOARD MIGHT HAVE.
DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU SO MUCH, SAM.
ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR MR. SERGEANT? I'M EXCITED TO LEARN ABOUT THE UNIVISION IN SPANISH FACEBOOK LIVE, SO I'M GLAD WE'RE INCLUDING THAT GROUP.
AND KUDOS TO YOU ALL FOR, FOR INCLUDING THEM AS WELL.
YES, I'LL, I'LL WORK WITH JACKIE AS WELL AS OUR COMMUNICATIONS TEAM, MAKE SURE THAT WE CONTINUE TO GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT THAT, THAT OPPORTUNITY.
GOOD JOB, MADAM CHAIR, BEFORE WE MOVE ON.
UM, SAM, WHEN, WHEN SOMEONE ASKS A QUESTION LIKE, WHY CAN'T THERE BE A STATION AT THE CAPITAL COMPLEX? DO WE ANSWER THOSE SOMEWHERE? WE DO.
WE, I MEAN, WE, WE, IT'S OUR PRACTICE TO RESPOND TO EVERY COMMENT THAT COMES IN.
UH, I WOULD NEED TO CONSULT WITH JACKIE, UH, OR POTENTIALLY DAVE COUCH, AND MAYBE WE COULD, COULD COVER THIS, UM, AT ANOTHER TIME.
BUT YES, I MEAN, WE, WE DO RESPOND.
UH, IT MAY BE ESPECIALLY IN THE SETTING OF THE BREAKOUT GROUPS WHERE WE'RE RESPONDING TO PEOPLE VERBALLY.
UH, SO WE DO HAVE THOSE RECORDED, BUT DAVE, I KNOW THAT WE LOGGED COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT COMMENTS, UH, AND, AND DO RESPOND TO THEM.
UM, BUT YES, WE, WE DON'T WANNA LET ANY OF THOSE SLIDE.
AND, AND IF WE FIND OURSELVES IN A, IN A POSITION WHERE WE, WE DON'T HAVE A READY ANSWER, WE, WE FOLLOW UP WITH THEM IN OTHER WAYS.
I SEE THAT PETER'S GOT HIS HAND UP AND HE ACTUALLY IS LIKELY THE BEST PERSON TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.
SO WE ABSOLUTELY WILL RESPOND TO ALL THE COMMENTS.
THE COMMENT PERIOD IS STILL OPEN.
JUST WANNA POINT THAT OUT, PHIL, FOR ANYBODY WHO'S LISTENING, COMMENT, PERIOD.
OPEN UNTIL AUGUST 27TH ON THE 50% DESIGN.
SO ONCE THAT COMMENT PERIOD IS OVER, WE'LL COLLECT ALL OF THEM, UM, GROUP THEM INTO, YOU KNOW, LIKE KINDS OF TOPICS AND THEN RESPOND TO ALL OF THEM AND HOW WE'RE GONNA, HOW WE'RE GONNA ADDRESS THEM, THAT THAT WILL BE POSTED ON THE COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT SECTION.
IF I COULD, I JUST ALSO, NOT TO ADD TO IT, BUT I WOULD MENTION THAT THERE IS A STATION AT THE CAPITOL, SO THAT'S ANOTHER WAY WE COULD, UH, WE'LL MAKE SURE THAT, UH, DR. BURNETT, ANY INFORMATION YOU NEED ON THAT, THERE IS, THERE'S A STATION CALLED GOVERNMENT CENTER CAPITAL WEST THAT HAS, I, YOU KNOW, THERE'S MULTIPLE OPTIONS AT THE FINAL WHERE THIS COULD BE, BUT I THINK WE'LL HAVE FANTASTIC ACCESS TO THE, UH, CAPITAL COMPLEX.
SO TO, TO THAT PARTICULAR QUESTION, PARTICULAR, AND THAT I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION.
WHEN DO WE MOVE FROM WORKING NAMES OF THE STATIONS TO HOW WILL THE ACTUAL NAMES OF THE STATIONS BE DETERMINED? WELL, WE, I, GENERALLY SPEAKING, MOST ALL THE NAMES WE FEEL ARE PRETTY DEFINED.
I MEAN, THAT'S THE NAMES THAT WE WENT TO THE COMMUNITY FOR THE REFERENDUM ON.
UH, A FEW OF THEM ARE STILL BEING TWEAKED IN THE SENSE OF, SO THEY COULD, UH, GO, YOU KNOW, UH, LIKE GOVERNMENT CENTER, CAPITAL WEST, AND HOW THAT'S KIND OF TWO NAMES FOR ONE STATION.
UH, RAINY AND MAC IS A GOOD EXAMPLE.
UH, WE OBVIOUSLY THROUGH THIS COMMUNITY PROCESS, THE 30% DESIGN BY 30%, WE REALLY GOTTA LAND ON WHAT THESE NAMES ARE.
BUT IF THERE'S SOME UNIQUE TWEAKS, IF YOU WILL, BECAUSE WE WANT TO REFLECT THE NEIGHBORHOOD, BUT AT THE SAME TIME, ACCESSIBILITY IS VERY CRUCIAL.
SO WE NEED OUR WAY FINDING TO BE UNIVERSAL, UH, OF HOW WE DO EVERYTHING.
SO THERE'S ACTUALLY A LOT OF DISCUSSION IN OUR INDUSTRY RIGHT NOW ABOUT HOW SOME PEOPLE HAVE SYMBOLS AND SOME PEOPLE HAVE ALPHA AND NUMERIC COMBINATIONS.
SO WE'RE WORK KIND OF WORKING THROUGH THAT.
I THINK THAT'S STUFF THAT MAYBE IN THE WINTER TO SPRING WILL EVOLVE THROUGH THAT.
THE, I COULD SEE US PROBABLY ENDING UP WHERE THE ORANGE LINE WILL BE THE ORANGE LINE, BUT MAYBE IT'S THE, UH, THE NUMBER
[00:50:01]
ONE LINE AND THE BLUE LINE IS THE BLUE LINE, BUT IT'S ALSO THE NUMBER TWO LINE JUST FROM AN ACCESSIBILITY, BOTH IN SOFTWARE UNIVERSAL, UH, ACCESS FOR MULTI LINGUISTIC STUFF LIKE THAT.SO THAT'S KIND OF AS WE WORK TOWARDS 30%, I THINK WE HAVE TO LAND ON THE EXACT DEFINITION OF, OF, UH, THAT THAT STATION OR OF THE STATIONS LIKE YEAH, EACH STATION FOR, FOR THE ALLIANCE.
BUT WE WANNA MAKE THEM AS CLEAR AS POSSIBLE SO SOMEONE KNOWS IT IS AT THIS LOCATION AND IT FEEDS THIS TYPE OF, YOU KNOW, AREA.
SO A GOOD EXAMPLE RIGHT NOW IS OUR DOWNTOWN STATION.
WE PROBABLY CAN'T IMAGINE THAT STAYING AS DOWNTOWN STATION.
IT'S ONLY DOWNTOWN STATION NOW BECAUSE IT'S THE ONLY STATION DOWNTOWN, OBVIOUSLY, WHEN YOU HAVE ALL THESE STATIONS DOWNTOWN.
SO THAT PROBABLY HAS TO REALLY BE THOUGHT MORE AS ABOUT BRUSH SQUARE AND CONVENTION CENTER THAN DOWNTOWN STATION, AS AN EXAMPLE.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUESTION, DR. BURNETT.
UM, DOES ANYBODY HAVE THEIR HAND UP OR THAT I CAN'T SEE FROM STAFF OR ANYBODY ELSE? OKAY, GREAT.
[III.2. Project Connect Monthly Technical Update]
WE'RE NOW MOVING ON TO MR. COUCH.UM, HE'S GOING TO GIVE US THE MONTHLY, UM, CHIEF WHO IS OUR CHIEF PROGRAM OFFICER, AND HE'S GOING TO GIVE US THE MONTHLY TECHNICAL UPDATE.
WELCOME, MR. THANK YOU VERY MUCH, CHAIR.
UH, MEMBERS OF THE BOARD, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CLARK.
UH, I'D LIKE TO GO AHEAD AND GO THROUGH FIRST THE TECHNICAL PORTION OF THE UPDATE FOR THE MONTH, UH, AND THEN GO INTO WHERE WE ARE WITH MANY OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, MR. CLARK WENT THROUGH WITH RESPECT TO THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND APTA.
UH, AS, AS WE GO FORWARD, WE ARE LOOKING AT THE REAL ESTATE, BEING VERY MINDFUL OF WHAT'S THERE AND WHAT WE ARE REQUIRED TO TAKE, TRYING TO MINIMIZE THAT.
UH, WE CONTINUE TO GET COMMENTS AND FINISH THEM WITH THE CITY ON THE 15% DESIGN.
AND WE'RE GETTING READY TO GO AHEAD ALSO AND RAMP UP THE SUE WORK.
THERE'S A CERTAIN AMOUNT THAT IS INCLUDED RIGHT NOW, BUT OUR OBJECTIVE IS TO BE ABLE TO GO AHEAD AND GET THE PIPES RE THAT WE NEED TO RELOCATE EARLY IN THE PROGRAM IDENTIFIED SO THAT WE CAN GO AHEAD AND PREPARE THAT AS EARLY WORK BEFORE WE GET ANY OF THE MAJOR CONTRACTS OUT THERE.
UH, THE TWO PICTURES ON THE RIGHT ARE SOMETHING THAT YOU'VE SEEN A DIFFERENT VERSION OF PREVIOUSLY.
UH, THIS IS BASICALLY THE OPERATION TO GO AHEAD AND TAKE THE SOIL BORINGS.
UH, AND THIS IS THE AREA WE HAD SHOWN YOU BEFORE THAT WAS DOWN CLOSER TO THE LAKE.
UH, WE NOW ARE TAKING THESE ALONG THE ENTIRETY OF THE ALIGNMENT, AND THE NEXT SLIDE WILL SHOW YOU.
THIS SHOWS YOU WHAT, THAT ALL TURNS BACK UP.
THIS SHOWS YOU WHAT IT ULTIMATELY TURNS INTO.
UH, YOU'VE GOT THE PLAN AT THE TOP THAT SHOWS THE ROUTE, AND THEN WHAT YOU SEE IN THE SECTION AT THE BOTTOM WITH THE DIFFERENT COLORS IS THE DIFFERENT MATERIALS THAT ARE THERE THAT WE'RE FINDING AS A RESULT OF THOSE BORINGS.
SO THERE ARE THINGS THAT, THE YELLOW PORTION IS THE AUSTIN
UH, AND THEN BELOW IT YOU HAVE ALSO GOT SHALE, WHICH IS GREAT FOR TUNNELING.
SO THIS STARTS TO GIVE US WHAT WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO GO FORWARD AND PROGRESS THE DESIGN, UH, LOOKING AT THE BEST POSSIBLE LOCATION AND ELEVATIONS TO BE ABLE TO, UH, GET THERE AND TO BE ABLE TO DO THE TUNNELING SAFE AND EFFICIENT.
THE LOW POINT, IF YOU WILL, IS RIGHT ON THE LEFT, JUST CENTER UNDER THE LAKE.
UH, THAT'S BASICALLY WHAT CONTROLS ALL THE ELEVATIONS THAT ARE COMING BACK OUT.
SO IT'S, IT'S A LITTLE BIT MORE TECHNICAL THAN WE USUALLY GET INTO, UH, BUT I WANTED TO JUST GO AHEAD AND SHOW YOU THE KIND OF PROGRESS THAT WE'RE MAKING AND WHAT WE'RE DOING, TRYING TO GET TO THE FUTURE, IN PARTICULAR ON ONE OF THE MOST CHALLENGING PARTS, WHICH IS THE TUNNEL.
WE CONTINUE, UH, AS WE GO FORWARD ON THE BLUE AND ORANGE WITH THE NEPA PROCESS.
UH, AS MR. CLARK SAID EARLIER, WE RECEIVED THE ENTRY INTO PROJECT DEVELOPMENT LETTER, UH, FROM FTA.
UH, AS A MATTER OF FACT, I HAD, UH, A MEETING THIS MORNING, UH, AN HOUR LONG THAT WE WERE TALKING ABOUT, UH, EXPO IN PLEASANT VALLEY.
UH, AND AT THE SAME TIME WE TALKED ABOUT WHEN DO WE GO AHEAD AND START AND SET UP TO BE ABLE TO HAVE THE MONTHLY OR QUARTERLY MEETINGS ON BLUE AND ORANGE.
UH, SO THAT'S A CONTINUING CONVERSATION, UH, AND I EXPECT THAT WE'RE GONNA START THOSE IN THE NEXT MONTH OR TWO.
UH, ANOTHER IMPORTANT THING TO AUGMENT THE FTA STAFF, UH, IS AS WE GO THROUGH THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESS FOR BOTH ORANGE AND BLUE AT THE SAME TIME, THEY HAVE A PROVISION CALLED 1 39 J THAT ALLOWS US TO GO AHEAD AND PROVIDE SUPPORT TO HELP IN THAT REVIEW.
SO WE HAVE SELECTED KIMLEY HORN TO GO AHEAD AND DO THAT WORK.
UH, THEY ARE CURRENTLY WORKING WITH FTA AND AS A MATTER OF FACT, THEY ARE IN TOWN YESTERDAY AND TODAY, UH, FOR BOOTS ON THE GROUND TOWER TOUR.
OF THE TWO LINES, UH, THE REST OF IT ARE THE THINGS
[00:55:01]
THAT WE'RE DOING ON REPORTS, LOOKING AT PROJECTIONS, UH, BASED UPON THE BUILD SCENARIO FOR RIDERSHIP, UH, AND THEN CONTINUATION OF THE ARCHEOLOGICAL, UH, AND OTHER COMPONENTS THAT WE NEED TO GO AHEAD AND COMPLETE, UH, THE OVERALL EIAS PROCESS.MOVING ON SPECIFICALLY TO THE METRO RAPID LINES.
UH, FOR EXPO IN PLEASANT VALLEY, WE HAVE A CONTRACT THAT IS CURRENTLY ADVERTISED.
UH, IT'S AN IDIQ INDEFINITE QUANTITY CONTRACT, UH, THAT WE'LL BE USING TO GO AHEAD AND BUILD THE CONCRETE STRUCTURE.
UH, SO THAT'S ADVERTISED WITH THE EXPECTATION TO BE AWARDED.
WE'RE WORKING TO GO AHEAD AND GET THE DESIGN DONE TO BE ABLE TO GET THE SHELTERS FABRICATED.
UH, AND THEN AS WE GO AHEAD AND MOVE FORWARD, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT WE DID IN PLANNING AHEAD, UH, IS THERE WILL BE A VEHICLE CONTRACT THAT WILL COME BACK TO THE CAT METRO BOARD FOR AWARD NEXT MONTH.
WE PUT WHAT'S CALLED AN OPTION IN THAT CONTRACT.
SO THERE ARE ENOUGH VEHICLES THAT WHEN THE CONTRACT IS AWARDED, UH, WE CAN ALSO EXECUTE THE OPTIONS.
SO WE'VE GOT AN ADVANCE THOSE VEHICLES THAT CAN BE MANUFACTURED AND DELIVERED UNDER THAT CONTRACT.
SO WE DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE THE TIME TO ADVERTISE A CONTRACT.
WE'VE ALREADY GOT IT SO THAT IT WILL BE IN PLACE.
UH, WE CONTINUE ON A SMALL STARTS READINESS DOCUMENTS.
THAT WAS PART OF WHAT WE REVIEWED THIS MORNING.
UH, AND, AND THAT'S A CONTINUOUS PROCESS, WHETHER IT'S PROJECT MANAGEMENT PLAN, RAMP, AS MR. CLARK MENTIONED EARLIER AND, AND SO ON, AS WE GO THROUGH ALL OF THE REQUIRED PORTIONS IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO GET THE FUNDING AGREEMENT IN PLACE.
UH, WE'RE ALSO CONTINUING WITH THE REAL ESTATE AND THEN SPECIFICALLY A LOT OF DETAIL WITH THE CITY, UH, UH, IN THOSE SPECIFIC LOCATIONS, UH, AND ARRANGEMENT OF A LOT OF THE SHELTERS.
UH, IT, IT'S SOMETHING THAT AS WE GO FORWARD, UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT HOW WE INTEGRATE NOT ONLY THE NEW STATIONS, BUT ALSO BIKE AND HEAD.
UH, SO THAT'S A CONTINUING OPERATION THAT WE'RE WORKING OUR WAY THROUGH.
UH, THE GOAL LINE AND LAMAR, UH, THOSE ARE ONES THAT WE'RE GONNA BE STARTING SOON.
UH, WE'RE GETTING READY TO GO AHEAD AND GET THE ENGINEERING, UH, AND THINGS IN PLACE TO MOVE FORWARD ON THOSE.
ON THE RED LINE, UH, THE MCCULLOUGH STATION, UH, WE'RE WAITING FOR FDA TO GO AHEAD AND APPROVE THE CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR A SMALLER AMOUNT OF LAND THAT WE HAVE TO ACQUIRE.
UH, 30% DESIGN IS DONE AND WE'RE MOVING ON TO THE 60%, UH, EXTENSIVE COORDINATION AGAIN WITH THE CITY.
UH, IN TERMS OF WHAT WE'RE GONNA DO AND HOW WE'RE GONNA PERMIT DIFFERENT PORTIONS OF THE PROGRAM, UH, BROADMOOR CONTINUES WITH THE COORDINATION WITH THE NEIGHBORS, UH, LEANDER, UH, AND LAKELINE.
UH, THAT SECTION IS GONNA GO BEFORE, UH, UH, THE AUGUST BOARD MEETING FOR APPROVAL, UH, AND ON THE CIRCULATORS.
WE CONTINUE TO GO AHEAD AND MOVE AND ROLL OUT OTHER ONES, UH, AS WE GO ALONG.
UH, AS YOU KNOW, IT'S BEEN A VERY, VERY SUCCESSFUL PROGRAM, UH, AND THE RIDERSHIP CONTINUES TO BUILD, UH, ON EACH ONE OF THOSE LINES.
THAT CONCLUDES MY PRESENTATION.
UH, MADAM CHAIR, I'D BE GLAD TO TAKE ANY QUESTIONS.
UM, DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD FOR MR. COUCH? UM, I DO.
I JUST STARTED CURIOSITY WITH THE DESIGN OF THE METRO RAPID STATIONS.
WE CURRENTLY HAVE A PROTOTYPE FOR THOSE, FOR THOSE STATIONS.
WHAT WAS, I'M, I'M JUST TRYING TO THINK IN TERMS OF A KIT APART AND WHAT CAPITAL METRO, AND, YOU KNOW, JUST AS, AS A PROGRAM, WE'RE GOING TO BE MAINTAINING THESE, EACH OF THESE STATIONS.
WHAT IS THE, I SEE THE DIFFERENCE IN THE DESIGN OF THESE PARTICULAR STATIONS THAT DEVIATES OR IS DIFFERENT FROM THE CURRENT DESIGN OF THE METRO RAPID UM, COULD YOU GUIDE ME A LITTLE BIT THROUGH WHAT WAS THE LOGIC OF THAT DESIGN? IT THAT, AS YOU SAY, IS A PROTOTYPE? WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING RIGHT NOW, UH, WITH MR. MULLEN TO GO AHEAD AND COME UP WITH WHAT THE DESIGN WILL BE ULTIMATELY FOR THE STATIONS.
UH, THAT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS THAT WE HAVE GOT TO GO AHEAD AND DEVELOP SOME DIFFERENT CONCEPTS, SOMETHING THAT WILL PROVIDE, UH, THE KIND OF ACCESS AND SHADE AND OTHER AMENITIES.
UH, AND WE'RE ALSO LOOKING AT HOW THOSE NEW DESIGNS WOULD FIT INTO WHAT THE EXISTING SYSTEM IS AND WHAT THE TYPE OF SHELTERS ARE THAT WE CURRENTLY HAVE.
UH, SO THAT'S SOMETHING THAT IS, THAT IS ONGOING PROCESS.
I'M, I'M JUST THINKING IN TERMS OF MAINTAINING IT AND HAVING THE REPLACEMENT PARTS AND MAKING IT EASY FOR, FOR THE GROUP TO, TO KEEP THEM IN TIP TOP SHAPE,
[01:00:01]
IT'S, IT'S INTENDED TO BE SOMETHING THAT IS GONNA BE MODULAR.IT'S INTENDED TO BE, UH, WE WILL KEEP IN STORAGE, UH, A CERTAIN NUMBER OF THEM, UH, SO THAT, YOU KNOW, IT, IT, ACCIDENTS HAPPEN AND YOU'VE GOTTA REPLACE A SHELTER IN THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS AND YOU DON'T WANNA BE GOING BACK TO A SUPPLIER.
UH, SO WE WILL MAINTAIN A CERTAIN STOCK SO THAT WHEN UNFORTUNATELY OCCURRENCES LIKE THAT DO OCCUR, WE'LL BE ABLE TO GO AHEAD AND GET A NEW, AN ERECTED.
UM, DO WE HAVE ANY OTHER QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD, BOARD MEMBER ELKINS? UM, THANK YOU MADAM CHAIR.
UH, DAVE, JUST A COUPLE QUESTIONS ON THE, UM, HIRING OF KIMBERLY HORN FOR THE REVIEW OF EIS TECHNICAL REPORTS.
I'M ASSUMING THAT CONTRACT WOULD BE UNDER THE LIMITS OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OR WOULD THAT BE COMING TO THE BOARD FOR APPROVAL AT A LATER DATE? UH, IT IS ACTUALLY CONTRACT THAT IS ABOUT IT.
IT IS OVER THE APPROVAL LEVEL OF THE CONTRACT WENT THROUGH, UM, CAPITAL METRO BECAUSE WE DO NOT HAVE THE CONTRACTING IN PLACE YET TO DO THAT PROCESS WITH A TP.
SO, SO THAT'LL BE THROUGH THEM.
AND I GUESS THERE'LL BE A REIMBURSEMENT MECHANISM TO CAPITAL METRO? IT, IT WILL ALL BE SOME OF HOW THE FUNDING MOVES BACK AND FORTH? YES.
AND I ASSUMING ONCE WE GET OUR PROCUREMENT POLICIES IN PLACE, I THINK WE'RE GONNA HAVE A BRIEFING ON THAT LATER THAN THESE TYPES OF CONTRACTS WE'D BE PROCURING DIRECTLY.
AND THEN I GUESS ONE OTHER THING, AND THIS MAY BE A TECHNICALITY FOR THE PROCUREMENT POLICY WHEN WE PUT IT IN PLACE, YOU MENTIONED IDIQ CONSTRUCTION SERVICES CONTRACT, UH, IS, I THINK SOME OF US KNOW THAT'S AN INDEFINITE QUANTITY AND INDEFINITE, WE DON'T KNOW HOW MUCH IT'S GONNA BE.
SO WE JUST NEED TO THINK IN OUR PROCUREMENT POLICY, HOW WE HANDLE IDIQ AND WHEN WE TRIGGER THE THRESHOLD FOR REPORTING THAT THERE'S A MECHANISM THAT WE GET REPORTED OR APPROVAL IF IT HITS A CERTAIN LIMIT.
I DON'T THINK WE NEED TO DO ANYTHING RIGHT NOW.
IT'S MORE JUST A TRIGGER THAT WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT.
THAT IT, IT'S THE TYPE OF CONTRACT AS YOU KNOW, THAT GIVES A GREATER GREAT DEGREE OF, UH, FLEXIBILITY, UH, BECAUSE WE'LL GET THAT CONTRACT IN PLACE PRIOR TO US HAVING A HUNDRED PERCENT DESIGN.
BUT SINCE IT IS A QUANTITIES TYPE, IS A QUANTITIES TYPE CONTRACT, UH, THAT LETS US GO AHEAD AND START THE WORK MUCH SOONER AS OPPOSED TO WAITING UNTIL THERE'S A HUNDRED PERCENT DESIGN.
UH, AND YES, YOU'RE EXACTLY RIGHT WITH THE APPROVAL LEVEL OF THAT AND A CONTINGENCY, UH, THERE ARE TIMES THAT IT IS A REPORT THAT COMES BACK, UH, AND REQUIRES ADDITIONAL APPROVALS.
AND, AND THE LAST THING WAS, UH, YOU MENTIONED YOUR EARLIER SLIDE, ONGOING DEVELOPMENT OF TRAFFIC ANALYSIS WAS FOCUSED ON TERM BAY LENGTH REQUIREMENTS.
I THINK AT ONE OF THE EARLIER MEETINGS, WE TALKED A LITTLE BIT ABOUT IMPACT OF TRAFFIC GOING FORWARD ON THE TWO LINES, PARTICULARLY THE ORANGE LINE.
AND I THINK AT, AT A LATER DATE, IT MIGHT MAKE SENSE TO HAVE A, A SEPARATE PRESENTATION ON TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT AND HOW WE ENVISION TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT TO LOOK UNDER THE CORRIDOR AS WE GET MAYBE A LITTLE BIT MORE ADVANCED IN DESIGN.
UH, YES, DAVID JUST, JUST WANTED TO SEE, GET, GOING BACK TO THAT SLIDE WITH THE, UH, BORINGS FIRST THANK YOU FOR INCLUDING THAT SLIDE.
UH, I THINK THERE, THERE'S A, UM, A COMMON MISCONCEPTION, UH, THAT, THAT WITHIN AUSTIN, BECAUSE YOU DON'T SEE BASEMENTS AS A COMMONALITY WITHIN RESIDENTIAL HOMES AROUND HERE.
UH, I REMEMBER GROWING UP EVERYBODY SAID, WELL, YOU JUST GO DOWN LIKE TWO INCHES AND YOU HIT BEDROCK.
AND I THINK, UM, YOU KNOW, PART OF THE DISCUSSION AS WE WERE GOING THROUGH AND, AND, AND PASSING THIS WAS, UM, YOU KNOW, PEOPLE SAW THIS CONCEPT OF THE, OF THE TUNNEL, BUT, BUT IT DIDN'T REALLY FULLY, YOU KNOW, UH, AND THEY WANTED TO SEE IT, BUT IT DIDN'T REALLY FULLY, YOU KNOW, TAKE, UH, TAKE HOLD OR REALLY FULLY, A LOT OF FOLKS DIDN'T UNDERSTAND WELL HOW THIS WAS GONNA, WAS GONNA GO ABOUT HAPPENING.
UH, I JUST WANTED, WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD JUST FLESH OUT A LITTLE BIT AS YOU'RE LOOKING AT THE BORINGS AND AS Y'ALL ARE NOW TAKING THE BORINGS FURTHER UP AND DOWN THE LINE, AND AS WE'RE NOW PROPOSING THE POSSIBILITY OF EXTENDING AND DOING THE TUNNELING FURTHER ALONG THAN WE, THAN WE HAD EXPECTED INITIALLY BASED ON THE, UM, UH, THE GEOMETRY ASSOCIATED WITH GETTING A TRAIN FROM FOURTH STREET UP ONTO A BRIDGE THAT, WELL, UNLESS PEOPLE LIKE RIDING A ROLLERCOASTER, WE'RE PROBABLY GONNA HAVE TO KEEP IT
LOOKING AT WHAT YOU'RE SEEING NOW IN THE BORINGS, IS THIS COMING BACK FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE AND YOUR, YOUR, UH, EXPERIENCE AND EXPERT OPINION, ARE YOU NOW FEELING IN YOUR TEAM FEELING THAT, THAT THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH WHAT WE WERE ORIGINALLY PERCEIVING AND THINKING THAT THE SOIL AROUND AUSTIN WOULD GIVE US, AND THAT WE'RE, WE'RE LOOKING
[01:05:01]
AT IF WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO BUILD OUT A LONGER, LONGER DISTANCE TUNNEL THAT, THAT WE'VE GOT THE APPROPRIATE SOIL TO GO ABOUT DOING THIS AND THAT THE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH DOING SO, UH, AT LEAST FROM A GEOGRAPHICAL SURVEY PERSPECTIVE, UM, AREN'T GOING TO BE, YOU KNOW, UH, YOU KNOW, OFF, YOU KNOW, OFFLINE FROM WHAT WE, WE MIGHT THINK THEY WOULD BE.UH, IN, IN MY EXPERIENCE IN A LOT OF OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY, I'VE DONE BOTH SOFT GROUND TUNNELING.
I'VE DONE DRILL AND BLAST FOR A LOT OF DIFFERENT METHODS.
UH, ONE OF THE THINGS WE'LL PROBABLY USE ON THIS PROJECT IS A TUNNEL BORING MACHINE, UH, THAT WOULD BE CLOSED FACE.
IT WILL BE ABLE TO CUT THROUGH THE ROCK, AND THEN WHEN WE ALSO GET TO A POINT THAT WE WOULD COME UP, UH, INTO THE SOIL AREA, UH, IT WILL BE ABLE TO HOLD THAT AND IT WILL BE STABILIZED.
SO WHAT WE'VE SEEN IN WHAT WE'VE BEEN TOLD PREVIOUS, UH, IS BASICALLY BEING VERIFIED WITH WHAT'S HERE.
UH, IT'S SIMILAR TO THE WHAT WE'RE GETTING AND THE INFORMATION FROM WALL CREEK TUNNEL.
UH, SO I BELIEVE THIS IS GONNA BE BETWEEN THE AUSTIN CHALK, UH, AND THEN INTO THE SHALE.
I THINK IT'S GONNA BE A VERY, VERY GOOD, UH, TUNNELING METHOD.
UH, AND I THINK IT IS GONNA BE SOMETHING THAT, UM, GETS US TO THE POINT, PARTICULARLY WITH BEING DEEP ENOUGH UNDER THE LAKE, UH, THAT WE'RE IN GOOD ROCK, UH, AND THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO GO AHEAD AND DO THAT SUCCESSFULLY.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH AND THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR, YOU AND YOUR TEAM, FOR YOUR THOROUGHNESS AND, AND NOW ADVANCING THIS FURTHER AND GETTING US THIS ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.
AGAIN, THANK YOU SPECIFICALLY FOR INCLUDING THAT, UH, TECHNICAL SLIDE IN YOUR PRESENTATION THIS AFTERNOON.
AND ANYBODY ELSE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS? I THINK THAT YOUR SLIDE, THE TECHNICAL SLIDE THAT SHOWS A SECTION THROUGH THE PROFILE OF, OF THE TUNNEL BORING SECTIONS, UM, MAY HELP IF MS. PANTEL IS STILL ON, YOU KNOW, WATCHING THE MEETING, IT MAY HELP EXPLAIN ALSO SOME OF HER CONCERNS OF WHY AND HOW WE'RE TUNNELING.
AND, UH, ONE THING THAT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO, TO CLARIFY IS THAT THIS IS EXACTLY THE PROCESS WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH IN ANALYZING AS WE GO THROUGH DESIGNING 15% DESIGN AND 30% DESIGN.
AND AS WE MOVE FORWARD, WE'RE, WE'RE GONNA DISCOVER NEW THINGS AND WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO PIVOT AND ALTER OUR, THE DESIGN DECISIONS TO DEAL WITH REAL WORLD CONDITIONS.
AND SO, IF ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADD MR. COUCH IN, IN RESPONSE TO HER GENERAL QUESTION WAS, YOU KNOW, WHY DO WE NEED TO HAVE SO MUCH MORE TUNNELING? AND I KNOW WE TALKED ABOUT IT LAST TIME IN TERMS OF THE GRADING CHANGES, BUT IF ANYTHING THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE FOR, FOR HER KNOWLEDGE AND TO, UM, TO ANSWER HER CONCERN? YEAH, I, I THINK THE MAJOR THING THAT IS THERE, UH, REALLY HAS TO DO WITH US HAVING THE UNDERGROUND TUNNEL THAT IS AT REPUBLIC SQUARE.
UH, AND THEN BEING ABLE TO GO AHEAD AND GET FROM THAT DEPTH BASICALLY, IF WE WERE TO GET BACK TO A BRIDGE, UH, WHAT UNFORTUNATELY HAPPENS, AND IT'S BECAUSE OF THE GRADE, UH, IS THAT THERE ARE A SERIES OF VERY HEAVY, UH, UTILITIES THAT ARE IN THIRD AND ALSO SECOND STREET.
AND AS YOU GO AHEAD AND GO BACK TO GRADE FROM AN UNDERGROUND TUNNEL, THE RESULT WOULD'VE BEEN WE WOULD'VE HAD TO CLOSE SECOND STREET TO THROUGH TRAFFIC THAT THEN WOULD'VE STARTED US TO TRY TO GET UP AND OVER, UH, CAESAR CHAVEZ TO A BRIDGE.
SO WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT THOSE COMPLICATIONS ARE WITH THE UTILITIES, WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT IS THERE WITH RESPECT TO THE CLOSURE OF A MAJOR STREET, LIKE, UH, SECOND, UH, THOSE ARE THE REASONS THAT WE WENT AHEAD AND WENT TOWARDS THE TUNNEL.
THERE'S ALSO A PIECE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE LAKE.
IF WE HAD GONE OVER IN A BRIDGE, UH, THE AREA THAT IS RIGHT THERE ON RIVERSIDE AND AROUND TO, UH, CONGRESS, UH, THAT AREA IS FLOOD PLAIN.
SO WE WOULD'VE NOT ONLY HAD TO GO OVER WITH A BRIDGE, WE ALSO WOULD'VE HAD TO CONTINUE WITH AN AERIAL STRUCTURE ACROSS RIVERSIDE, AND THEN PART OF THE WAY
SO THERE, THERE'S COMPLICATIONS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE LAKE, UH, THAT HAVE DRIVEN US TO THIS DECISION TO GO THIS WAY.
AND I THINK, UM, UM, THE, THE SECOND PART OF HER QUESTION, AND WE MAY NOT BE READY TO ANSWER IT AT THIS TIME, SO PLEASE, UM, CORRECT ME OR STOP ME IF, IF I'M TAKING THINGS OUT OF, OUT OF TIMING FOR PRESENTING TO THE PUBLIC, BUT ANY CHANGES THAT ARE HAPPENING IN TERMS OF ADDITIONAL TUNNELING THAT WOULD COST MORE FOR US TO IMPLEMENT MEANS THAT IT'S ALL WITHIN OUR
[01:10:01]
FUNDING MECHANISM.IT'S NOT THAT WE'RE ASKING THE VOTERS FOR ADDITIONAL MONEY, BUT WE HAVE TO MAKE IT WORK WITHIN OUR CONSTRAINTS.
HOLLY? I I CAN ANSWER THAT PART CHAIR.
SO WE, WE HAVE NO, UH, INCLINATION OR, UH, CONCEPT WORKING AT SAP THAT WE WILL COME BACK TO THE COMMUNITY AND ASK FOR ADDITIONAL REVENUE FROM TAXES.
SO WE ARE GOING TO MAKE THIS PROGRAM WORK BASED ON WHAT WE COMMIT TO THE VOTERS.
SO WE HAVE, AS DAVE MENTIONED, THAT IS A TECHNICAL DRIVEN DESIGN PART ON THE TUNNEL.
WE ALSO HAVE MULTIPLE SECTIONS OUT THERE THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR COMMUNITY INPUT ON.
SO WE HAVE A LONG AND A SHORT TUNNEL IN SOUTH CONGRESS.
WE NEED THE COMMUNITY'S INPUT ON THAT PROCESS.
THERE'S PROS AND CONS TO BOTH OF THAT.
THERE'S A LONGER TUNNEL TOWARDS MLK ON THE NORTH SIDE AS AN EXAMPLE.
THERE ARE THOSE TYPES OF ELEMENTS THAT WE NEED THE COMMUNITY TO BE PART OF.
AND WE'RE GONNA CONTINUE TO ADVANCE THE ENGINEERING AND CONCEPTS WORKING IN CONJUNCTION WITH OUR CITY PARTNERS.
SO, UH, WHEN WE GET TO NEXT SUMMER, WE'RE GONNA HAVE A 30% DESIGN, AND THEN AT THAT POINT WE'LL HAVE GOOD COST ESTIMATES.
SO RIGHT NOW WE'RE STILL IN THE ROUGH ORDER OF MAGNITUDE.
YOU, YOU KNOW, WE ARE GOING TO BE BRINGING TO YOU, UH, 3% DESIGN ON RED LINE, YOU KNOW, METRO RAPID, THOSE TYPE OF THINGS.
ONCE YOU GET TO THAT LEVEL OF ENGINEERING AND DESIGN AND COMMUNITY INPUT, YOU REALLY NOW HAVE SOME FOUNDATIONAL COST ESTIMATES.
AND I THINK ONE THING WE'LL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH THE COMMUNITY AND THE BOARD AND OTHERS ON IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A BUDGET AND THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COST ESTIMATES.
AND I KNOW GREG CANAL'S UP NEXT, AND DIANE SELLER WILL TALK ABOUT THAT AS WELL, TO REALLY FRAME OUT BUDGET IS ANNUAL COST ESTIMATES ARE A DIFFERENT COMPONENT, BUT WE HAVE NO INCLINATION OF BRINGING ANYTHING TOWARDS THE VOTERS FOR ADDITIONAL FUNDING.
UH, AS THE PROGRAM EVOLVES, WE'LL HAVE TO FIGURE OUT, AGAIN, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THERE'S GONNA BE OPPORTUNITIES ON REVENUE SIDE THAT WE NEVER NECESSARILY EXPECTED WITH, UH, WHAT'S GOING THROUGH THE FEDERAL SIDE RIGHT NOW.
UH, WE MAY HAVE COST SAVINGS ON OTHER COMPONENTS.
UM, BUT YOU KNOW, WE DO HAVE OTHER RED FLAGS THAT ARE CLEARLY OUT THERE THAT I THINK WE HAVE TO BE HONEST WITH THE COMMUNITY ABOUT.
REAL ESTATE PRICES IN THE CITY OF AUSTIN HAVE GONE UP ABOUT 30% SINCE THE START OF THE YEAR.
SO IF A, IF A RESIDENTIAL HOME OR BUSINESS HAS GONE UP 30%, THE RIGHT OF WAY HAS GONE UP 30% AS WELL.
UH, INFLATION ON CONSTRUCTION COSTS, IF ANYONE IS DOING ANY HOME RENOVATION OR PARTS OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, THEY UNDERSTAND INFLATIONARY PRESSURES.
WE HAVE TO SEE WHAT IS TRANSITORY VERSUS WHAT IS FIXED.
BUT WE HAVE TIME ON ALL OF THOSE THINGS.
SO REALLY BY LATE NEXT SPRING SUMMER, WE ARE GOING TO BE AT A REALLY CONSEQUENTIAL POINT FOR THIS BOARD USING A RISK ANALYSIS PROCESS TO SAY HOW DOES THE FRAMING OF THE WHOLE PROGRAM FIT IN THE AFFORDABILITY OF WHERE, OF WHERE THE FUNDING IS AND WHAT NEW SOURCES COULD BE IN VERSUS NEW COSTS.
AND I THINK AT THAT TIME WE'LL ALSO BE ABLE TO GET A BETTER UNDERSTANDING FROM THE FEDERAL PERSPECTIVE ON WHETHER THEY'D BE ABLE TO HELP US IN OUR MATCHING GRANTS, CORRECT? YES.
SO I THINK, UM, DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS? THANK YOU, MR. CLARK.
UM, WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON NOW TO A, AN UPDATE FROM MS. RODERICK, BUT I ALSO LEARNED THAT MS. RODLEY, WHO WAS ONE OF OUR COMMUNITY, UH, SPEAKERS, IS BACK ON THE LINE.
AND SO IF, IF SHE CAN HEAR US, WE'RE GONNA HAVE THE PRESENTATION FROM MS. FREDRICK.
AND THEN, UM, WE'LL GIVE YOU THREE MINUTES TO SPEAK.
[IlI.3. Administrative Program Update]
SO OUR NEXT, UH, PRESENTER WILL BE THE, I LOST MY PLACE IN, IN THE SCRIPT.SO WE'LL HAVE OUR DIRECTOR OF PROCUREMENT, VICKY FREDRICK, WITH THE PROCUREMENT CALENDAR, LOOK AHEAD FOR THE MONTHLY ADMINISTRATIVE UPDATE.
UH, GOOD AFTERNOON BOARD MEMBERS AND DIRECTOR CLARK.
SO THIS IS JUST A QUICK CALENDAR UPDATE TO TALK ABOUT WHERE WE ARE OR WHERE WE HOPE TO BE, I SHOULD SAY, FROM A PROCUREMENT PERSPECTIVE, PENDING, UH, APPROVAL OF BOARD ACTION NEXT MONTH ON OUR POLICY.
SO, UH, OF COURSE, TODAY, UH, FOLLOWING THE COMMENTS, I'LL GIVE A BRIEFING ABOUT OUR BOARD, UH, PROCUREMENT POLICY AND PROCEDURES.
AND THEN, UH, TOMORROW I'LL ALSO PRESENT TO THE, UH, FINANCE AND RISK ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO TALK ABOUT THE PROCUREMENT POLICY GUIDELINES AND ADDRESS ANY CONCERNS OR QUESTIONS THAT THEY MAY HAVE.
UH, BY THE 25TH, THE PLAN IS TO GIVE THE BOARD A COPY OF THE PROCUREMENT POLICY AND GUIDELINES SO THAT YOU HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW AND PROVIDE COMMENTS PRIOR TO THE SEPTEMBER THE 15TH BOARD WHEN WE'RE COMING BACK, ASKING YOU TO ADOPT, UH, THE POLICIES AND, UH, GUIDELINES.
HOPEFULLY, UH, ONCE THAT, UH, IS ADOPTED IN MID-SEPTEMBER, THAT WE WILL ACTIVELY START SOLICITING, UH, IN THE NAME OF, UH, AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
[01:15:01]
SO WE'LL BEGIN OUR PROCESS, AND SHORTLY AFTER THAT, IN OCTOBER, WE WILL BRING TO YOU, UH, THE ON-CALL LEGAL SERVICES, UH, CONTRACT.UH, WE RECEIVE PROPOSALS IN TODAY ON THAT AT TWO O'CLOCK, AND HOPEFULLY WE'LL BE ABLE TO BRING THOSE TO YOU IN OCTOBER FOR THE BOARD TO APPROVE AWARD OF THOSE LEGAL SERVICES CONTRACTS.
AND SO SHORTLY, I'LL GIVE YOU AN OVERVIEW OF THE POLICY AND GUIDELINES FOR PROCUREMENT.
ARE THERE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS ABOUT, UH, THE PROCUREMENT CALENDAR AND WHERE WE ARE? THANK YOU.
DO WE HAVE MS. LEY ON THE LINE? YES, I'M HERE.
OH, WELL, WELCOME BACK, I HOPE.
UM, THANK YOU FOR STICKING WITH US THROUGH THIS TECHNICAL GLITCHES.
AND YOU HAVE THREE MINUTES, MA'AM.
UH, WELL THANK YOU AND GOOD AFTERNOON.
THIS IS MY FIRST TIME PRESENTING BEFORE THE BOARD.
AND AS STATED, MY NAME IS SHANICE RUTLEY.
I AM THE DIRECTOR OF OUTREACH AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FOR THE AUSTIN AREA URBAN LEAGUE.
THE URBAN LEAGUE, UH, MISSION IS TO PROVIDE TOOLS TO AFRICAN-AMERICANS AND UNDERSERVED POPULATIONS TO BUILD A FOUNDATION FOR SOCIO AND ECONOMIC EQUALITY.
IN ALIGNING WITH THIS MISSION, THE AUSTIN URBAN LEAGUE HAS JOINED FORCES WITH THE A TX MOBILITY COALITION, WHO ARE MOST KNOWN FOR ADVOCATING SUCCESSFULLY FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF $300 MILLION OF ANTI DISPLACEMENT FUNDING.
SO TODAY I COME TO ASK YOU TO DOUBLE DOWN ON YOUR EQUITY PRINCIPLES AND IMPLEMENTATIONS INTO THE PROCESSES AND PROCEDURES OF PROJECT CONNECT.
ONE WAY IS BY PROVIDING ADEQUATE TIME FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WHEN IT COMES TO THE JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT.
ADDITIONALLY, THE INTEGRATION OF THE A TX MOBILITY COALITIONS COM COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PRINCIPLES ACROSS THE ENTIRE PROJECT, WHICH WILL ENSURE THAT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT STAYS AT THE FOREFRONT OF NOT ONLY THE JPA, BUT ALL OTHER NUANCES OF THE PROJECT.
SO IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS, PLEASE DO NOT HESITATE TO REACH OUT TO SHANTI LEY, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR TIME.
THANK YOU MS. RADLEY, FOR BEING INTERESTED IN THIS PROGRAM AND FOR REACHING OUT TO US.
DO WE HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FROM THE BOARD FOR MS. LEY? GREAT, THANK YOU SO MUCH.
SO IF WE DON'T HAVE, UM, SO WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON NOW TO OUR ACTION ITEMS. OUR FIRST ACTION
[IV.1. Approval of Minutes from the June 16, 2021, and July 21, 2021 Board Meetings]
ITEM TODAY IS THE APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE JUNE 16TH AND THE JULY 21ST, 2020 FIRST AUSTIN STRAN PARTNERSHIP BOARD MEETINGS.UM, HAS EVERYONE HAD A CHANCE TO READ AND REVIEW THE MINUTE MINUTES? YES.
IF I COULD HAVE A MOTION TO APPROVE IN A SECOND.
AND DO I HAVE A SECOND? SECOND BY MR. ELKINS.
UH, MAKE SURE YOU'RE ON CAMERA.
THE MEETING MINUTES HAVE BEEN APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
[IV.2. Approval of a Resolution Adopting the ATP Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Statement]
TO OUR SECOND ACTION ITEM, THE APPROVAL OF A RESOLUTION ADOPTING THE AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP DIVERSITY, EQUITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION STATEMENT.UM, I'LL MAKE, I'LL MAKE THE MOTION.
UM, DO I HAVE A SECOND? THANK YOU.
UM, EVERYONE, UM, IN FAVOR, PLEASE SAY AYE.
UM, OUR POLICY HAS BEEN APPROVED UNANIMOUSLY.
UM, SO THIS CONCLUDES OUR TWO ACTION ITEMS FOR THIS MEETING.
SO NOW WE'RE GONNA MOVE ON TO OUR DISCUSSION ITEMS. THE FIRST
[V.1. Procurement Policy Briefing]
IS A PROCUREMENT POLICY BRIEFING.UM, AND AGAIN, WE'RE GONNA HAVE OUR DIRECTOR FOR PROCUREMENT.
[01:20:01]
RODERICK.UH, SO THIS IS JUST A HIGH LEVEL OVERVIEW OF, OF THE DOCUMENT THAT YOU'LL RECEIVE ON THE 25TH IS OUR PROCUREMENT POLICY AND GUIDELINES.
THE MAIN THING THAT I WANT TO POINT OUT IS THAT THE PROCURE, THE PROCUREMENT POLICIES AND GUIDELINES ARE BASED ON BEST PRACTICES IN THE INDUSTRY, AS WELL AS COMPLIANCE WITH LOCAL, STATE, AND FEDERAL LAW.
THE BIG THING IS THAT IT PROTECTS THE INTEGRITY OF THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS.
IT TALKS ABOUT THE DOS AND DON'TS DURING THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS.
IT TALKS ABOUT ETHICS FROM BOTH AN ORGANIZATIONAL AND FROM A PROCUREMENT PERSPECTIVE.
ONE OF THE BIG THINGS THAT IT TALKS ABOUT IS COMMUNICATIONS, UH, DURING AN ACTIVE SOLICITATION AND BEFORE A SOLICITATION.
AND THEN IT COVERS, UH, ORGANIZATIONAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.
IT PROVIDES CONSISTENCY IN SOURCING.
AND WHEN WE HAVE CONSISTENCY IN SOURCING, UH, IT MINIMIZES THE, UH, POSSIBILITY OF HAVING A PROTEST SO THAT WE DON'T HAVE PROBLEMS AWARDING OUR, UH, CONTRACTS.
AND IT'S COMPLIANT WITH THE FTA GUIDE FOR PROCUREMENT SYSTEM REVIEWS.
THERE ARE ABOUT 63 ITEMS ON THAT LIST, AND OUR PROCUREMENT POLICY AND GUIDELINES, UH, IS COMPLIANT WITH THAT.
WE HAVE HAD A CURSORY REVIEW FROM FTA REGION SIX.
WE'VE HAD TWO OUTSIDE ATTORNEYS LOOK AT THE POLICY AND GUIDELINES.
WE'VE HAD ONE LOCAL ATTORNEY, AND THEN WE'VE HAD ALSO ATTORNEY WHO SPECIALIZES IN, UH, FTA GUIDELINES.
SO WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THE COMPLIANCE PIECE, WE ARE LOOKING AT THE VARIOUS, UH, TEXAS TRANSPORTATION CODES, THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT CODES, UH, FROM A FEDERAL PERSPECTIVE, WE'RE LOOKING AT TWO CFR PART 200, WHICH COVERS ALL THE PROCUREMENT RULES AND REGULATIONS.
UH, WE'RE LOOKING AT THE FTA MASTER AGREEMENT, AND THEN THE FTA CIRCULAR 42 20 0.1 F, WHICH IS A GUIDE FOR THIRD PARTY CONTRACTING WHEN YOU'RE DEALING WITH ANY, UH, FEDERAL FUNDING AS FAR AS PROCUREMENTS GO.
AND SO, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE WAY THAT WE HAVE THIS BROKEN OUT, WE HAVE POLICY GUIDELINES AND WE HAVE ADMINISTRATION.
THE POLICIES, UH, PRETTY MUCH GO OVER OUR OBJECTIVES, TALKS ABOUT THE PROCUREMENT METHODS, TALK ABOUT REMEDIES THAT OUR CONTRACTORS AND CON AND CONSULTANTS HAVE, IF THEY HAVE ANY CO UH, ISSUES WITH OUR PROCUREMENTS.
AND THEN OF COURSE, IT TALKS ABOUT, UH, ETHICS AND THEN YOUR CONFLICTS OF INTEREST.
AND SO THAT WILL BE IN THE FIRST FOUR CHAPTERS, UH, THAT WE ARE TITLED POLICY.
AND IN THE POLICY, THE WAY THAT WE HAVE IT WRITTEN INTO THE DOCUMENT IS THAT ANYTHING THAT CHANGES WITHIN POLICY, THAT WE COME BACK TO OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR APPROVAL TO MAKE ANY OF THOSE CHANGES.
AND THEN WE HAVE THE GUIDELINES, WHICH WILL BE CHAPTERS FIVE THROUGH NINE OF THE DOCUMENT.
THIS PIECE GOES INTO YOUR CONTRACT SPECIFICATION.
IT TALKS ABOUT COST PRINCIPLES AND CONTRACT ADMINISTRATION, ALL OF THESE THINGS WHICH ARE REQUIRED BY THE FTA, AND THEY LOOK AT WHEN THEY DO THEIR SYSTEMS REVIEW OR THEIR AUDIT.
SO WHEN WE ASK YOU TO ADOPT THIS IN SEPTEMBER, WE WILL BE ASKING FOR YOU TO ADOPT BOTH THE POLICIES AND THE GUIDELINES.
WE WILL BE ABLE TO CHANGE THOSE AT A STAFF LEVEL IF SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE CHANGED, OF COURSE, WITH, YOU KNOW, LEGAL REVIEW AND, UH, AGREEMENT ON MAKING ANY CHANGES.
THE LAST SECTION WE HAVE AS AN, AS AN ADMINISTRATION, UH, MANUAL.
AND THAT DOCUMENTS SORT OF A PROCUREMENT HOW TO, THAT TALKS TO THE PROCUREMENT STAFF ABOUT HOW TO DO THINGS USING THE CHECKLIST SO THAT WE MAKE SURE WE DON'T MISS ANY STEPS ABOUT DOCUMENTING THE HISTORY OF THE ENTIRE PROCUREMENT PROCESS, THE ADMINISTRATION CLOSING OUT THE CONTRACT AND WORKING WITH OUR INTERNAL PARTNERS.
SO THAT DOCUMENT DOES NOT COME BACK TO THE BOARD FOR APPROVAL, BUT WE JUST WANTED TO TIE IT TOGETHER TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WE HAVE POLICY GUIDELINES AND WE HAVE THAT ADMINISTRATIVE MANUAL.
AND THEN JUST SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS AND SOME OF THE THINGS THAT, UH, WE'VE HEARD AS WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT.
THE POLICY IS, ONE, IT ENCOURAGES INNOVATION.
IT ALLOWS SOURCING FLEXIBILITY.
IT DOESN'T TIE US TO JUST DOING ONE TYPE OF, UH, PROCUREMENT METHOD.
IT ALLOWS FOR BOTH PERFORMANCE AND
[01:25:01]
COMP INCENTIVES BASED ON THE NEEDS OF THE BUSINESS AND BASED ON THE PARTICULAR SOLICITATION.IT ALSO ALLOWS EVALUATION CRITERIA, FLEXIBILITY.
FOR INSTANCE, IF WE ARE DOING A SOLICITATION FOR PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, WE ARE GONNA WANT THAT CRITERIA DIFFERENT FROM SOMETHING, UH, A SOLICITATION THAT'S DOING A TUNNEL.
SO WE WANT TO BE ABLE TO, UH, BE ABLE TO, UH, DO PROCUREMENTS BASED ON THE SOLICITATION TYPE.
UH, WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO SOLE SOURCING.
WE HAVE THE ABILITY FOR SOMEONE TO SUBMIT AN UNSOLICITED PROPOSAL.
SO THE PROCUREMENT POLICIES AND GUIDELINES GO INTO ALL THESE THINGS.
AND ONE OF THE BIG THINGS THAT IT DOES IS SUPPORTS THE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION POLICY, WHICH YOU'LL HEAR COURTNEY TALK ABOUT A LITTLE BIT LATER.
AND SO, WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE POLICY AND THE GUIDELINES, SOME OF OUR MAIN OBJECTIVES ARE TO PROVIDE FOR PUBLIC CONFIDENCE AND THE INTEGRITY, FAIRNESS, AND ACCOUNTABILITY OF OUR PROCUREMENT PROCESS.
SO WE COVER ALL OF THOSE THINGS WITHIN THE DOCUMENT SO THAT IF SOMEONE IS DOING BUSINESS WITH A TP AND THEY WANNA KNOW WHY OR HOW WE'RE DOING THINGS, THEY CAN USE THIS DOCUMENT AS A GUIDE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT WE'RE DOING.
AND WE HAVE IT DOCUMENTED SO THAT WE ARE CONSISTENT TIME AND TIME AGAIN WITH WHAT WE'RE DOING.
THE OTHER THING IS WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE ENSURING FAIR AND EQUITABLE TREATMENT OF ALL PERSONS WHO ARE DOING BUSINESS WITH AUSTIN TRANSIT PARTNERSHIP.
AS FAR AS THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS GOES, WE PROMOTE CONTRACTING OPPORTUNITIES FOR, UH, DBES, MBS, ALL OF THE VARIOUS SMALL AND MINORITY, UH, OWNED BUSINESSES PROMOTE POSITIVE RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH COURTESY AND BEING IMPARTIAL.
AND ONE OF THE MAIN REQUIREMENTS, UH, FOR FEDERAL DOLLARS AS WELL AS ANY GOVERNMENT DOLLARS, WE, IT FOSTERS FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION, AND IT CREATES AN ENVIRONMENT OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND TRANS, UH, TRANSPARENCY THAT WE CAN SHARE WITH OUR, WITH OUR STAKEHOLDERS, OUR VOTERS, WITH OUR PUBLIC.
AND AS WE TALK ABOUT HOW WE SUPPORT THE DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION, UH, POLICIES AND, UH, HOW COURTNEY AND I WILL WORK TOGETHER AND COLLABORATE, WE COLLABORATE THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE CONTRACT LIFECYCLE.
WHEN YOU LOOK AT STARTING WITH THE PRES SOLICITATION PHASE, ONCE WE RECEIVE A REQUISITION, WE SEND THAT SCOPE AND THEN THAT COST ESTIMATE OVER THE COURTNEY SO THAT SHE CAN EVALUATE AND, AND START THE GOAL SETTING PROCESS BASED ON THE SCOPE AND AVAILABILITY OF MINORITY, UH, CONTRACTORS FOR THAT PARTICULAR SCOPE.
DURING THE SOLICITATION PHASE, WHEN WE PUT A SOLICITATION ON THE STREET, WE HAVE EXHIBITS WITHIN OUR CONTRACT THAT FOCUS SOLELY ON THE, UH, DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION IN MINORITY, IN SMALL BUSINESSES.
WE, FOR THE EVALUATION CRITERIA, THE DEI PORTION IS NOT AVERAGE, IS ADDITIVE.
SO WHILE ALL OF THE TECHNICAL PROPOSALS, THEY'LL BE AVERAGE THROUGH, UH, BASED ON THE CRITERIA, BUT THE DEI IS ADDITIVE.
SO THAT GIVES YOU AN INDICATION THAT AS WE'RE GOING THROUGH THAT DEI SCORE MEANS A LOT TO THOSE BUSINESSES.
WE HAVE WHAT'S CALLED AN INTENT TO PERFORM THAT'S INCLUDED IN THOSE DOCUMENTS, WHICH ALLOWS THE, UH, CONSULTANTS AND CONTRACTORS TO TELL US HOW THEY INTEND TO USE THEIR MINORITY SUPPLIERS.
THAT INFORMATION IS TRACKED THROUGHOUT THE LIFE OF THAT CONTRACT.
SO WHEN THEY GIVE US THOSE DOLLARS, WE LOOK AT 'EM AT THE SOLICITATION PHASE, WHEN THEY SUBMIT A SOLICITATION AS WE GO INTO THE POST AWARD PHASE.
AND WE ARE LOOKING AT THOSE, THEY HAVE A MONTHLY VENDOR PAYMENT REPORT WHERE THEY REPORT TO US HOW MUCH THEY PAID TO THEIR, UH, MINORITY SUPPLIERS.
AND WE'RE TRACKING THAT AGAINST WHAT THEY TOLD US ON THEIR INTENTS TO PERFORM TO SEE HOW THEY'RE MEETING THOSE GOALS OF THE, UH, D THE DBE OR MINORITY PARTICIPATION GOALS.
SO THOSE ARE JUST SOME OF THE WAYS THAT COURTNEY AND I WILL WORK TOGETHER.
WE'LL DO, UH, EDUCATION AND ENGAGEMENT, EXPLAINING TO THE COMMUNITY HOW TO DO BUSINESS WITH A TP, HOW TO CONTACT COURTNEY AND WORK WITH OUR DEI DEPARTMENT AS FAR AS LOCATING AND ENGAGING MINORITY
[01:30:01]
SUPPLIERS.SO IT'LL BE AN ONGOING PROCESS THROUGHOUT THE LIFE OF ANY CONTRACT THAT WE HAVE.
SO I BELIEVE THAT'S MY LAST SLIDE.
UH, IF THERE ARE ANY, UH, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, I'LL BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO TAKE THOSE AT THIS TIME.
UH, VICKI, FIRST OF ALL, UM, I WANNA SAY IT'S GREAT TO HAVE YOU ON BOARD, SOMEBODY WITH YOUR EXPERIENCE, UM, REALLY HAPPY YOU'RE HERE.
UH, I GET EXCITED ABOUT PROCUREMENT.
I NOTICE SOME FOLKS, BUT IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT.
SO SEEING YOUR SLIDES, UH, AND A LOT OF THE BUZZWORDS THAT YOU HAVE IN THERE, UH, ARE THINGS THAT I REALLY THINK ARE IMPORTANT IN THERE.
UM, YOU KNOW, WE CAN'T DO PROCUREMENT IN A VACUUM.
WE NEED, UH, FEEDBACK FROM THE MARKET.
SO, UM, THE MORE FEEDBACK WE GET FROM THE CONSTRUCTION FIRMS, THE ENGINEERING FIRMS, THE CONSULTANTS OUT THERE, THE BETTER THE PROCUREMENTS ARE GONNA BE FOR OUR INDIVIDUAL PROJECTS WITHIN THE PROGRAM.
UNSOLICITED PROPOSALS, UH, I THINK ARE REALLY IMPORTANT.
SO WE NEED TO ADVERTISE THAT, THAT WE HAVE AN UNSOLICITED POLICY, HOW IT WORKS, UM, HOW PEOPLE WOULD GET SELECTED.
SO, YOU KNOW, AND THAT KIND OF GETS BACK INTO INNOVATION.
WE WANNA GET A LOT OF INNOVATION, AND I LIKE WHAT YOU SAID ABOUT REWARDING INNOVATION.
FOR ME, REWARDING INNOVATION COMES THROUGH AND WHAT'S CALLED ATCS, ALTERNATIVE TECHNICAL CONCEPTS.
SO WE NEED TO BE OUT THERE TELLING THE MARKET.
WE ARE VERY OPEN TO ALTERNATIVE TECHNICAL CONCEPTS.
AND IF ACCEPTED, UM, YOU KNOW, WE'LL BE IMPLEMENTED IN, IN, IN THAT TEAM'S SPECIFIC PROPOSAL.
UH, AND I THINK A LOT OF INNOVATION AND COST SAVINGS COME THROUGH, YOU KNOW, IN THESE, UH, ATCS.
AND, UM, AND I THINK THE OTHER THING TOO, YOU KNOW, I KNOW WE TOUCHED UPON THIS, VICKI IN ONE OF OUR EARLIER MEETINGS, YOU KNOW, YOU KNOW, DBES GOALS ARE OBVIOUSLY VERY IMPORTANT.
I'D LIKE US TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN CREATE A CARROT AND STICK APPROACH WITH DBE GOALS.
YOU KNOW, WE'LL SET A GOAL OF X PERCENT, BUT IF A TEAM IS ABLE TO EXCEED THAT PERCENTAGE, YOU KNOW, HOW DO THEY GET REWARDED FOR THAT? AND CONVERSELY, IF THEY ARE UNDER THE TARGET, YOU KNOW, WHAT ASSOCIATED PENALTIES, IF ANY, ARE APPROPRIATE.
UH, AND THAT WAY MAYBE WE CAN PUSH PEOPLE TO DO MORE THAN THE DBE TARGET WE'VE SET.
AND, AND WE JUST NEED TO THINK ABOUT HOW WE CAN DO THAT.
CAN WE DO THAT WITHIN THE CONSTRAINTS OF, OF THE FEDS? BUT SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
AND THANK YOU FOR THAT COMMENT.
AND COURTNEY AND I, UH, HAVE BOTH BEEN COMMUNICATING WITH, UH, OUR CONTACTS AT REGION SIX DISCUSSING THESE THINGS.
AND SO WE WILL HAVE SOMETHING TO BRING BACK TO YOU, UH, HOPEFULLY BY NEXT WEEK ON THAT SUBJECT, AND TALK ABOUT, YOU KNOW, SOME IDEAS ON MAYBE HOW, WHAT WE CAN DO AND WHAT WE CAN'T DO.
UM, I ECHO WHAT, UM, UH, BOARD MEMBER TONY ELKINS SAID.
I, AND HE ACTUALLY TOUCHED ON A QUESTION THAT I HAD.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY'RE NOT IN COMPLIANCE? AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO ANSWER THAT NOW, BUT I THINK, YOU KNOW, AND IT'S PROBABLY GONNA BE SPELLED OUT.
I JUST WANNA BE SURE THAT THAT IS SPELLED OUT.
LIKE WHAT HAPPENS IS WHEN SOMEONE IS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WILL MEET THE TARGETS.
AND I REALLY LIKE THE CONCEPT OF WHEN SOMEONE EXCEEDS THE TARGETS, THAT SHOULD BE THE, IN LIKE AN INCENTIVE FOR THAT, A CARROT AND A STICK APPROACH.
ALL RIGHT, COURTNEY AND I WILL, UH, GET TOGETHER AND WE WILL PUT TOGETHER A DOCUMENT BASED ON OUR CON CONVERSATIONS WITH FTA AND WE WILL GET THAT INFORMATION BACK.
AND THEN, AND THEN DO WE BUILD A LIST OF POTENTIAL SUPPLIERS THAT ARE DBES OR, UM, YOU KNOW, WHERE'S THAT, WHERE'S THAT? WHAT'S THE SOURCE OF THAT? I KNOW MS. CHAZ WOULD LIKE TO ANSWER THIS.
DO YOU WANT ME TO TAKE THAT? UM, SO YEAH, SO WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT DBE SPECIFICALLY, WE HAVE A DATABASE CALLED THE TEXAS UNIFIED CERTIFICATION PROGRAM DATABASE WHERE ALL DBES ARE LOCATED, AND YOU CAN SEARCH IT BY, UM, WORK CODES AND OTHER, OTHER LOCATIONS, OTHER CRITERIA TO IDENTIFY WHERE, WHO, WHO'S AVAILABLE FOR WORK PRODUCTS.
IN ADDITION WHERE WE USE OTHER DATA THAT MAY BE AVAILABLE TO US CENSUS DATA, UM, WE LEARN BY LISTENING TO THE COMMUNITY OF WHO'S AVAILABLE AND WHO MAY BE AVAILABLE TO MOVE INTO THE DB PROGRAM TO BE CERTIFIED.
SO THERE'S A LOT OF DIFFERENT SPACES, BUT FOR A PRIME CONTRACTOR WHO WANTS TO HIRE A DBE ON A CONTRACT, THAT TUCP DATABASE IS THEIR PRIMARY SOURCE.
IS THERE SOMETHING LIKE THAT AVAILABLE ON A NATIONAL SCALE? UM, THAT'S AN EXCELLENT QUESTION.
I ACTUALLY DON'T KNOW THE ANSWER TO THAT OFFHAND.
[01:35:01]
STATE HAS THEIR OWN DIRECTORIES AND I, BUT I DON'T KNOW IF THERE'S A NATIONAL THAT PULLS IT ALL TOGETHER.BUT I CAN FIND OUT BECAUSE ARE WE ONLY, ARE WE ONLY INTERESTED IN THOSE IN TEXAS OR, SO WE DO HAVE TO LOOK AT WHAT OUR MARKET AREA IS WHEN WE'RE SETTING GOALS.
AND OURS WOULD BE TEXAS SPECIFIC.
BUT WE, WE INVITE PEOPLE, I MEAN, OH, AHEAD.
I MEAN, I MEAN FOR SUPPLIERS, NO, WE CAN ALSO LOOK BEYOND TEXAS.
THAT'S A GREAT QUESTION, DR. BURNETT.
UM, BECAUSE I KNOW THIS IS JUST FOR INSTANCE, IN TERMS OF PROCUREMENT FOR DESIGN, ARE FIRMS, MOST OF THE FIRMS THAT PURSUE THIS KINDS OF PROJECTS ARE NATIONAL FIRMS. SO THE OUTREACH IS ALREADY OUT THERE FOR, TO INVITE THEM TO PARTICIPATE.
BUT YOUR, YOUR QUESTION, DR. BURNETT, IS SPECIFIC TO WHEN YOU SAY SUPPLIERS, IS THE, THE PEOPLE THAT WOULD ACTUALLY GET TO BUILD IT AND GIVE US THE MATERIALS FOR THE SYSTEM? WELL, OF THE PRIME CONTRACTORS, LIKE THERE HAS TO BE A LIST OR MM-HMM.
LET'S STRETCH OURSELVES BECAUSE LIKE YOU SAID, THOSE ARE GOING TO MOST LIKELY NOT BE IN THIS GENERAL AREA.
THOSE LARGER PROVIDERS OR LARGER SUPPLIERS, I'M TRYING TO USE YOUR TERMINOLOGY, THE LARGER SUPPLIERS, MAYBE I, MAYBE I COULD JUST MAKE A COMMENT ON, ON THAT TOO, THAT MIGHT GIVE MAYBE SOME CLARITY AND HOPEFULLY IT DOESN'T MAKE IT, UH, LESS CLEAR.
SO THE DIFFERENCE, MAYBE SUPPLIER VERSUS, SAY CONTRACTOR.
SO ON THE SUPPLIER SIDE, THERE ARE DB LINKAGES ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THE WHOLE SUPPLY CHAIN.
SO A GOOD EXAMPLE IS WE GO TO BUY A RAIL VEHICLE.
THE RAIL VEHICLE WILL HAVE 50 SUPPLIERS THAT WORKS FOR A PRIME, UH, WHAT WE CALL, UH, A BUILDER.
SO AN AL STALER, A KIKI SHERIFF, IT DOESN'T MATTER.
SOMEONE THAT DOES SEATS AND SECURITY CAMERAS AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON.
AND THEY ALREADY KNOW, GENERALLY SPEAKING, WHO THE DBE SUPPLY CHAIN IS IN THE COUNTRY.
BECAUSE WE'RE NOT THE ONLY, AND, AND NOT ONLY THAT, WE'RE NOT EVEN THE BIG LARGE PEOPLE THAT BUY VEHICLES.
UM, YOU KNOW, IF WE END UP WITH 75 VEHICLES, IT MIGHT SEEM BIG TO AUSTIN, BUT THAT IS VERY SMALL COMPARED TO NEW YORK OR CHICAGO.
SO THEY, THAT IS A PRETTY WELL ESTABLISHED IN OUR INDUSTRY.
AND THINGS LIKE APTA, UH, THE, UH, THE NATIONAL TRADE ASSOCIATION HAS AN ENTIRE GROUP FOR BUSINESS BOARD MEMBER, UH, BOARD MEMBERS, UH, SORRY, BUSINESS MEMBERS.
AND INSIDE THAT THEY HAVE DBE SUBCOMMITTEES.
AND ALL OF THOSE APTA EVENTS ARE GOOD NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES TO CREATE SUPPLIER CONNECTIONS.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE CONTRACTOR SIDE, AS COURTNEY SAID, OBVIOUSLY WE'RE FOCUSING AS BEST WE CAN ON LOCAL.
'CAUSE WE WANT THE JOBS TO BE LOCAL WITHIN FEDERAL LAW AS BEST WE CAN.
BUT CLEARLY THERE WILL BE FIRMS THAT PARTICIPATE, NOT THAT DO WORK IN MULTIPLE LOCALES.
SO, UH, WE ARE, PART OF WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO, AND I THINK GREG WILL MENTION THIS A LITTLE BIT, IF, IF HE DOESN'T, UM, WE, WE WILL BE GOING FORWARD WITH A RISK, FINANCIAL RISK ANALYSIS PROCESS TO BRING SOMEONE IN AND HELP US ANALYZE PROGRAMMATICAL RISK.
AND ONE OF THE THINGS WE WANNA BE ABLE TO DO IS NOT JUST COST AND SCHEDULE, BUT ALSO SAY DB PARTICIPATION.
AND SO HOW WE DIVIDE THE CONTRACTS UP IS A COMPLICATED MATRIX.
IF WE PUT THE ORANGE LINE OUT AS ONE CONTRACT, THERE'S VERY LITTLE PEOPLE THAT ARE GOING TO BE ABLE TO BID ON THAT.
IF WE PUT IT OUT, WE MIGHT DO CIVIL CONTRACTS, WHICH ARE DIFFERENT THAN SYSTEMS. WE MAY DO ORANGE LINE NORTH VERSUS ORANGE LINE SOUTH.
WE MAY DO TUNNEL STRUCTURE, WHICH IS DIFFERENT THAN TUNNEL FINISHING.
ALL OF THOSE HAVE PUTS AND TAKES RELATED TO COST, SCHEDULE, SUPPLY CHAIN, DBE.
SO A LONG WAY, WAY TO SAY THAT ANALYSIS WILL HAPPEN OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT YEAR.
SO THEN WHEN WE COME TO ENGAGE THE BOARD, AND AGAIN, KIND OF GOES BACK TO WHAT I SAID CHAIR EARLIER, THE 30% TIMEFRAME IS WHERE A LOT OF THIS STARTS COMING TOGETHER.
WE HAVE A DESIGN, A BETTER SENSE OF TRUE COMMUNITY DRIVEN DESIGN, COST FRAMEWORK, REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES, AND THE CONTRACTING METHODOLOGIES THAT WILL BEST GET THE BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK, BUT ALSO ARTICULATE ALL THE VALUES THAT YOU ARE ALL ADOPTING ON THINGS LIKE DE AND I, UH, LOCAL AS BEST WE CAN, APPRENTICESHIP WORKFORCE, ALL OF THOSE TYPES OF THINGS.
SO HOPEFULLY, UH, DR. BURNETT, THAT'S NOT TOO LONG WAY AWAY, BUT IT'S A COMPLEX WAY TO SAY WE WANT AS MANY LOCAL JOBS AS POSSIBLE.
BUT NATIONALLY, EVERYONE THAT HAS THE OPPORTUNITY WITH PARTICIPATING, AND TRUST ME, EVERYONE IN THE WORLD HAS BEEN RINGING OFF OUR PHONES RELATED TO CONTRACTORS.
THEY WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM.
PEOPLE WILL ARE READY TO, UH, GET INTERESTED IN PROCUREMENTS AT A TPI CAN PROMISE YOU THAT.
AND I, I'M, I, I'M DON'T WANNA MIS UM, BE MISUNDERSTOOD.
I'M SU SUGGESTING AS MANY LOCAL
[01:40:01]
JOBS AS POSSIBLE.THEY'RE GONNA BE LOCAL JOBS AS POSSIBLE.
NOT SUGGESTING TRANS IMPORTING IN, UM, ANYONE TO TAKE LOCAL JOBS.
THAT'S NOT MY, THAT'S NOT WHERE I'M GOING WITH THAT AT ALL.
SUPPORT THAT FULLY WHERE I'M GOING IS THAT WE CAST OUR NET WIDE AND BROAD AND THAT WE DON'T JUST 'CAUSE A A A LARGER CONTRACTOR'S, SUPPLIER'S GONNA EMPLOY PEOPLE LOCALLY.
SO, SO MY
THERE'S, THERE ARE ONLY X AMOUNT OF FIRMS IN THE WORLD THROUGH THE BIGGEST OF THE, BUT THEY'LL PROBABLY HAVE SEVEN 12 SUBS AND COULD BE FOUR OF THOSE OF DBES ON PER PROJECT.
LIKE, SO, UH, I THINK, WE'LL, AS WE GO THROUGH THIS PROCESS, ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE GONNA DO IS NOT ONLY TAKE BOARD MEMBERS TO DIFFERENT CITIES TO DEEP DIVE IN THEIR PROGRAM, WE'RE GONNA BRING CASE STUDIES BACK TO THE BOARD TO SAY, HERE'S HOW CONTRACTING WORK AT ONE PLACE AND HOW THEY DIVIDED A PROJECT.
AND HERE'S PROS AND CONS AND 'CAUSE EVERYTHING HAS PUTS AND TAKES.
SO WE'RE KINDA, AGAIN, THIS IS THE WHOLE PROCESS OF STARTING THE PROCUREMENT PROCESS, BUT THEN BUILD ALL OF OUR EDUCATIONAL PROCESS FOR YOU ALL TO HAVE TO MAKE PRETTY COMPLICATED DECISIONS, UH, AT SOME POINT.
UM, MADAM CHAIR, ONE LAST, UH, COMMENT THAT I HAVE.
UM, AND VICKI'S, VICKI, IN YOUR PRESENTATION, WORDS HAVE POWER.
I WOULD PREFER THAT WE SAY THAT THE PURCHASING POLICY IS NOT, THAT IT SUPPORTS THAT THE DE AND I POLICY, BUT IT ABIDES BY, BECAUSE THAT'S, I THINK THAT'S, UM, WHAT WE'RE, I'M SURE THAT'S THE INTENTION IS THAT WE'RE ABIDING BY THAT.
IT SHOULDN'T BE SUPPORTING IT.
THANK YOU DR. BURNETT, AND THANK YOU, VICKI.
DO WE HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS? RIGHT, THANK YOU.
I LOOK FORWARD TO, TO SEEING THE POLICY.
[V.2. Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) Program Briefing]
GOING TO HAVE A BRIEFING ON THE DISADVANTAGED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE PROGRAM BY OUR DIRECTOR OF EQUITY IN DBE MS CORN CHAVEZ.UM, AND SO TO CONTINUE OUR CONVERSATION THAT WE JUST STARTED DR. BURNETT, WE'RE GONNA, UM, DO A BRIEF OVERVIEW TO, TO STEP BACK AND TALK ABOUT WHAT THE DBE PROGRAM IS AND THEN GET A LITTLE BIT DEEPER INTO GOAL SETTING AND HOW AND WHY WE'RE DOING IT, AS WELL AS SOME OF THE NEEDS THAT WE'RE GONNA BE ASKING THE BOARD TO DO, UM, INCLUDING APPROVING A GOAL AT THE NEXT BOARD MEETING, UH, AND WALKING THROUGH THAT PROCESS WITH YOU.
AND SO TO START OFF, THE DB PROGRAM ITSELF, IT IS A FEDERAL PROGRAM.
IT'S A FEDERAL REGULATION PROGRAM WHERE, UM, ALL OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR HOW WE ARE INTENDED TO IMPLEMENT, MONITOR, AND, UM, AND, UH, ADMINISTER THE PROGRAM ARE LAID OUT IN 49 CODE OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS PART 26.
IT IS A VERY DETAILED, UM, REGULATION, AND THAT IS THE BASELINE REQUIREMENTS, WHAT, WHAT WE NEED TO SET UP TO HAVE A STANDING COMPLIANT DBE PROGRAM.
AND SO TERMINOLOGY IS IMPORTANT.
IT IS, UH, IT WAS IMPORTANT IN OUR CONVERSATION A LITTLE BIT EARLIER.
IT'S IMPORTANT HERE WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT THE DBE PROGRAM.
WE DO USE LANGUAGE THAT IS, UM, FOUND IN THE REGULATIONS THEMSELVES.
AND SO YOU'LL SEE US REFER TO DBE AS SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED BUSINESSES.
UM, WE USE TERMS LIKE RACE CONSCIOUS AND RACE NEUTRAL FOR DBE CERTIFICATION WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED INDIVIDUALS.
UH, U-S-D-O-T HAS IDENTIFIED PRESUMPTIVE GROUPS WHO ARE, UM, IDENTIFIED IN THAT, IN THAT CAPACITY, WHICH INCLUDES USING THEIR LANGUAGE.
UM, WOMEN, UH, BLACK AFRICAN AMERICANS, UH, HISPANIC AMERICANS, ASIAN PACIFIC ISLANDERS, AND SUB SUBCONTINENT, ASIAN, I'M SAY, I APOLOGIZE, I LEFT MY LIST.
SUBCONTINENT, ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICANS, AND THEN OTHERS WHO MAY NOT BE LISTED IN THAT CATEGORY WHO CAN STILL APPLY TO THE PROGRAM.
THE PROGRAM ITSELF IS DESIGNED TO HAVE FOUR KEY ELEMENTS TO IT.
ONE IS THE PROGRAM DOCUMENT, WHICH OUTLINES HOW WE INTEND TO RUN THE PROGRAM.
WITHIN THAT WE IDENTIFY OUR CAPACITY AND OUR MECHANISMS FOR MONITORING COMPLIANCE AND OVERSIGHT OF OUR CONTRACTING COMMUNITY WHO ARE, UH, WORKING ON OUR CONTRACTS.
WE HAVE A PORTION FOR GOAL SETTING METHODOLOGY, WHICH INCLUDES BOTH THE OVERALL DBE GOAL THAT WE EXPECT, UH, OVER THE YEAR, AS WELL AS HOW WE INTEND TO, UH, TO REACH THOSE GOALS.
AND THEN SEMI-ANNUAL REPORTING, WHICH MEANS THAT, UM, SEMI-ANNUALLY WE ARE REPORTING OUT OUR OUTCOMES, OUR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, AND IF WE DID NOT MEET OUR GOALS, WE DO EXPLAIN WHY.
[01:45:04]
AS PART OF THE DOCUMENT ITSELF, WE HAVE TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL OF THESE DIFFERENT TOPICS ARE COVERED.SO THE POLICY STATEMENT IS OUR COMMITMENT AS AN AGENCY TO, UM, TO CONFIRM THAT WE ARE INTEND TO, IM IMPLEMENT THE PROGRAM EFFECTIVELY AND EFFICIENTLY, UH, ALL FROM THE HIGHEST LEVELS, ALL THE WAY THAT WE INCLUDE STANDARD CONTRACT ASSURANCES WHEREIN EVERY CONTRACT WITH ANY PRIME CONTRACTOR OR SUBCONTRACTOR, WE INCLUDE ME MECHANISMS FOR, UH, NON-DISCRIMINATION CLAUSES AND, UH, PROCESSES THAT THEY MUST ABIDE BY CONTRACTUALLY TO ENSURE THAT, THAT OUR TRACTORS ARE IMPLEMENTING THE DBE PROGRAM AS WE SET IT OUT.
UM, THERE'S A DBE LIAISON OFFICER, WHICH IS THE POINT OF CONTACT FOR ANY, ANY SMALL BUSINESS, REALLY THOUGH PRIMARILY THE DBES THEMSELVES TO REACH OUT TO.
IF THERE'S A PROBLEM, A CONCERN OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROGRAM ITSELF.
WE HAVE PROMPT PAY AND RETAINAGE PROVISIONS, MEANING THAT WE'RE ABIDING BY NOT ONLY FEDERAL REGULATIONS, BUT ALSO LOCAL STATE, UH, REGULATIONS AND LAWS THAT THAT PROVIDE TIMELINES FOR WHEN A, ANY BUSINESS, ANY SMALL BUSINESS NEEDS TO BE PAID OUT BY THEIR PRIME CONTRACTOR.
BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT PAYMENT TO BECOME A BARRIER TO SUCCESS FOR ANY DBE OR OTHER SMALL BUSINESS.
UM, WE HAVE TO LAY OUT GOOD FAITH EFFORT CRITERIA, WHICH CARRIES THROUGH THE ENTIRE LIFE OF THE CONTRACT.
SO IF WE'RE LOOKING PRE-BID, LIKE VICKI WAS EXPLAINING EARLIER, IF WE SET A GOAL IN A CONTRACT AND A PRIME CONTRACTOR BIDDING SAYS THAT THEY CAN'T MEET THAT GOAL, THEY HAVE TO PROVIDE US CLEAR DOCUMENTATION AND EXPLANATION AS TO WHY THEY CAN'T MEET THAT GOAL.
AND THEN WE AS A TEAM WILL EVALUATE WHETHER WE AGREE OR NOT, AND THEN WHETHER WE CONSIDER THE BID PROPOSAL, UM, COMPLIANT OR NOT.
IN ADDITION, AS YOU'RE LOOKING THROUGH THE CONTRACT ITSELF, THERE ARE OTHER ADDITIONAL MECHANISMS FOR GOOD FAITH WHERE, UM, AS WE'RE MONITORING THE WORK ON THE CONTRACT WHERE CIRCUMSTANCES COME UP AND A PRIME CONTRACTOR DETERMINES THAT THEY NEED TO REMOVE OR, UH, WANT TO TERMINATE A DBE, WE ACTUALLY CREATE MECHANISMS WHERE THEY CANNOT DO THAT WITHOUT OUR APPROVAL.
AND SO THEY MUST COME TO US WITH INFORMATION AS TO WHY, UM, IF WE, IF WE IN THAT EVALUATION, DETERMINE THAT THEY CAN REMOVE A DBE, THEY HAVE TO PUT IN GOOD FAITH EFFORT TO REPLACE WITH ANOTHER DBE.
UM, WE HAVE ADDITIONAL MONITORING MECHANISMS LIKE VICKI MENTIONED, ABOUT ENSURING THAT THE APPROPRIATE, UM, PAYMENTS ARE GOING TO THE DBES THAT THEY'RE DOING THE WORK THAT THEY WERE HIRED TO DO, THAT ALL THE INTENTS TO PERFORM ARE BEING FOLLOWED, AND SO ALL THEIR CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS ARE BEING MET.
THERE'S ALSO A SMALL BUSINESS PROVISION, WHICH IS IN TERMINOLOGY OF RACE CONSCIOUS, RACE NEUTRAL.
THIS IS THE RACE NEUTRAL PORTION OF THE DBE E PROGRAM WHERE, UH, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IS ASKING US TO CREATE MECHANISMS THAT ENSURE THAT ALL SMALL BUSINESSES BEYOND DBES ALSO HAVE EQUAL ACCESS TO OUR CONTRACTS.
UM, AND THEN GOAL SETTING, WHICH IS A TWO STEP PROCESS.
SO GETTING INTO GOAL SETTING, MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE PURPOSE OF GOAL SETTING IS TO REALLY EVALUATE THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN OUR COMMUNITY TO DETERMINE WHAT PERCENTAGE OF OUR, OUR OUR, UH, FISCALLY OUR CONTRACTS OVER THE FISCAL YEAR ARE EXPECTED TO GO TO DBES.
AND SO IT HAS TO BE BASED ON DEMONSTRABLE EVIDENCE.
WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO EXPLAIN WHY WE SEE THE NUMBERS THE WAY THAT THEY ARE, AND THEN, UH, BUILD OUT AN OVERALL GOAL.
THAT WILL BE SOMETHING THAT WE WORK TOWARDS FOR THE, FOR THE, FOR THE YEAR.
WHEN WE'RE CREATING THAT GOAL, WE'D HAVE THE TWO STEP PROCESS.
STEP ONE IS CREATING THE BASE FIGURE, AND THAT IS PREDOMINANTLY A MATHEMATICAL CALCULATION WHERE WE'RE LOOKING AT OUR EXPECTED PROCUREMENTS DURING THE FISCAL YEAR.
WE'RE BREAKING IT DOWN BY, UH, WORK SCOPES AND THEN WORK CODES SO THAT WE CAN THEN, UH, IDENTIFY WHAT DBES ARE AVAILABLE TO DO THAT WORK WITHIN OUR MARKET AREA, WHICH FOR US THAT WOULD BE TEXAS.
UM, AND THEN WE DIVIDE THAT NUMBER BY ALL THE FIRMS THAT ARE AVAILABLE IN OUR MARKET AREA TO GET THAT BASELINE NUMBER.
WE DO WEIGHT IT BASED ON THE AMOUNT THAT'S BUDGETED FOR EACH WORK CODE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE GET A MORE ACCURATE PERCENTAGE.
STEP TWO IS THE PROCESS OF ADJUSTING OUR BASE FIGURE.
AND SO THIS IS WHERE WE TAKE OUR BASELINE FIGURE THAT WE'VE DETERMINED, AND THEN WE DO ADDITIONAL EVALUATIONS.
WE LOOK AT DISPARITY STUDIES, AND THAT GOES BEYOND A, ANY CAP METRO A TP DISPARITY OR AVAILABILITY STUDY THAT WE DO.
WE CAN ALSO, AND SHOULD ALSO BE LOOKING AT OTHER STUDIES THAT, UM, HAVE RECENTLY BEEN DONE IN OUR REGION.
[01:50:01]
A, UM, UH, PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT DISCUSSIONS WITH INTERESTED PARTIES.SO TALKING TO LOCAL CHAMBERS, BUSINESS OWNERS, ANYONE WHO HAS AN INTEREST IN THE PROGRAM ITSELF TO GATHER INFORMATION AND FEEDBACK ON HOW THEY VIEW THE PROGRAM, UM, WHAT THEY'RE SEEING IN THE CONTRACTING COMMUNITY SO THAT WE CAN THEN DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT WE NEED TO SHIFT OUR NUMBER BASED ON THAT FEEDBACK.
BEFORE WE SHIFT NUMBER, WE ACTUALLY NEED TO CLEARLY IDENTIFY THE METHODOLOGY OF WHY WE DECIDED TO SHIFT FROM OUR INITIAL, UM, BASELINE GOAL TO, TO THIS NEW ADJUSTED GOAL.
AND THEN WE CREATE AN OVERALL CALCULATION THAT'S BROKEN UP INTO A RACE CONSCIOUS PORTION AND A RACE NEUTRAL PORTION.
SO TO MAKE THAT EASIER TO UNDERSTAND, UH, THE RACE NEUTRAL PORTION IS WHAT WE EXPECT TO OCCUR ON A PROJECT, UM, ABSENT OUR REAL EFFORT.
AND SO IT'S MORE OF THE ORGANIC.
AS LONG AS WE ARE ALERTING PEOPLE OF THE EXISTENCE OF THESE PROJECTS AND TELLING THEM HOW TO BID, THEY'RE GONNA BE ABLE TO GET ONTO OUR CONTRACTS.
THE RACE CONSCIOUS PORTION IS WHAT WE'RE, WE ARE ABLE TO DO SPECIFICALLY FOR DBES, WHICH GOES TO CONTRACT GOAL SETTING, WHICH MEANS THAT ON EVERY INDIVIDUAL CONTRACT THAT COMES THROUGH AND THAT I'M EVALUATING, I'M LOOKING TO SEE IF I CAN SET THAT RACE CONSCIOUS GOALS, THAT GOAL THAT WILL REQUIRE A PRIME TO USE DBES FOR THAT PERCENTAGE AMOUNT.
SO MOVING INTO HOW WE GET INTO OUR OWN A TP SPECIFIC GOAL AND PROGRAM, UM, OUR FIRST STEP IS TO START WITH ADOPTING CAT METRO'S BASELINE GOAL.
AND SO I'LL TELL YOU WHY WE'VE SELECTED CAT METROS AND WE'LL WALK THROUGH THAT A BIT.
UM, NEXT, A TP DOESN'T HAVE A HISTORY YET OF GOAL SETTING, AND SO WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING THAT WE CAN RELY ON, UH, ON OUR OWN BECAUSE CAT METRO IS IN A REGION, IT'S A TRANSIT, UH, A TRANSIT AGENCY THAT WE ARE VERY CLOSELY CONNECTED TO.
WE CAN UTILIZE THEIR GOAL AS OUR STARTING POINT.
FROM THERE, IT WILL ALLOW US TO SET GOALS ON CONTRACTS.
IT WILL ALLOW US TO GET A DBE PROGRAM UP AND STANDING.
AND SO THEN IT'LL ALLOW US TO MOVE FORWARD ON ADJUSTING THE BASELINE GOAL OVER THE NEXT YEAR, WHICH IS WHERE STEP TWO COMES INTO, WE'RE GOING TO BE UTILIZING AVAILABILITY AND DISPARITY STUDIES.
WE'RE GONNA BE GOING THROUGH EVERY STEP OF THE PROCESS TO REEVALUATE NOT ONLY WHERE WE ARE CURRENTLY, BUT WHERE WE SEE OURSELVES HEADING OVER THE NEXT FEW YEARS WITH PROCUREMENT SO THAT WE CAN MAKE SURE THAT OUR GOAL IS ACCURATE BASED ON A TP CONTRACTS, BECAUSE OUR CONTRACTS WILL SHIFT IT.
THEY WILL BE DIFFERENT FROM CAT METRO IN THE FUTURE, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE'RE TALKING ABOUT CONSTRUCTION AND HEAVY CIVIL CONSTRUCTION OF SUBWAY BUILDS.
SO OUR GOAL IS BY NEXT SUMMER WE'LL BE ABLE TO PROPOSE A A TP SPECIFIC GOAL BASED ON ALL OF THAT INFORMATION, ON ALL OF THAT REVIEW AND ALSO PUBLIC DISCUSSION, UM, SO THAT WE CAN USE THAT MOVING FORWARD SIMULTANEOUSLY, EVEN THOUGH I HAVE IT AT STEP FOUR AND STEP FIVE, IT'S, IT'S REALLY DONE SIMULTANEOUSLY THAT, UH, THROUGHOUT THIS YEAR, WE'RE ALSO GONNA BE SETTING UP THE BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY PROGRAMS, BE WORKING VERY CLOSELY WITH VICKI ON THE PROCUREMENT SIDE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT PIECES OF THE CONTRACTS WE CAN, UM, TARGET FOR SMALL BUSINESS SET ASIDES, IF POSSIBLE, WHAT WE CAN DO AS A TEAM TO ENSURE INFORMATION IS SHARED OUT TO OUR DBES, WHAT WE CAN DO TO BUILD OUT AND BRING IN MORE DBES INTO THE PROGRAM.
SO WHAT WE WILL BE ASKING YOU TO DO AT THE NEXT MEETING IS FOR, IS TO ALLOW US TO ADOPT CAP METRO'S TRIANGLE OF 19% AS OUR BASELINE FIGURE GOAL.
UM, I CAN WALK YOU THROUGH BRIEFLY WHAT CAP METRO DID, WHICH IS THEY DID FOLLOW THE FDA GUIDELINES OF HOW TO REACH THIS GOAL.
SO THEIR FIRST STEP WAS TO EVALUATE THEIR OWN, UH, PROCUREMENTS FROM FY 20 TO 22.
THEY LOOKED AT THE, THE, UH, THE WORK CODES AND DIVIDED IT BY DBES, UH, DBES DIVIDED BY, UM, ALL FIRMS IN ORDER TO GET THAT, THAT OVERALL NUMBER FOR THEIR BASELINE FIGURE.
AND THEN THEY ALSO WENT THROUGH THE PROCESS TO ADJUST THAT FIGURE, UM, HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH LOCAL CHAMBERS, HAVING CONVERSATIONS WITH, WITH, UH, COMMUNITY STAKEHOLDERS, AND ALSO PROVIDING A 30 DAY PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD FOR, UH, ANYONE INTERESTED IN, IN PROVIDING FEEDBACK.
SO ALL OF THAT WAS INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO JUST GET A PROGRAM STANDING.
THIS IS THE COMPLIANCE PIECE OF IT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN MOVE FORWARD WITH THIS WITH THE DPE PROGRAM ITSELF.
UH, BEYOND THAT, ONCE WE ARE STANDING AND MOVING FORWARD, THERE ARE A LOT OF ADDITIONAL PIECES THAT WE'RE GONNA BE BUILDING IN.
SO YES, WE WOULD MONITORING COMPLIANCE, WE'LL BE MAKING SURE THAT EVERYONE IS TREATED THE WAY THAT THEY NEED TO BE TREATED, AND, UM, BEING A PAID EFFECTIVELY AND BE, AND MOVING THEIR PROJECTS FORWARD.
[01:55:01]
PARTICIPATION AND WE'LL BE REPORTING OUT UTILIZATION RATES AS ARE REQUIRED.BUT ON TOP OF THAT, WE'LL BE DEVELOPING EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES.
WE'LL BE MAKING SURE THAT THAT DBES AND OTHER BUSINESSES KNOW HOW TO DO BUSINESS WITH, WITH A TP LIKE VICKI WAS MENTIONING.
WE'RE GONNA DEVELOP MENTORING PROGRAMS, UM, TO ENSURE THAT WE UNDERSTAND HOW TO BUILD CAPACITY AND SUPPORT DBES TO ENSURE THAT THEY HAVE CAPACITY BUILDING AND GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES.
UM, WE CAN FIND AND KEEP NEGOTIATING INNOVATIVE WAYS TO WORK WITH PROCUREMENTS AND SEE WHAT WE CAN DO THERE.
WE HAVE PLANS TO CONNECT WITH U-S-D-O-T AND FTA ON WHAT WE CAN DO BEYOND THE DBE PROGRAM TO EXPAND ACCESS.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, WHICH I THINK COMMISSIONER, UH, BOARD MEMBER ELKINS YOU MENTIONED, THIS IS THE FEEDBACK LOOPS.
SO WE WILL, WE WILL HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO REALLY CONNECT DEEPLY WITH THE CONTRACTING COMMUNITY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT CHALLENGES THEY HAVE, NOT JUST WITH DBES, BUT WITH CONTRACTING IN GENERAL, UM, WHAT THEY'RE SEEING, WHAT THE CHALLENGES ARE, AND ALSO USING OUR OWN, UH, COMMITTEES THAT HAVE BEEN SET UP TO DO THIS AS WELL.
AND I BELIEVE THAT IS MY LAST SLIDE.
AND SO I KNOW THAT THERE ARE PROBABLY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DBE PROGRAM.
IT'S A, IT IS A COMPLEX, VERY WORDY REGULATION, BUT I'M HAPPY TO ANSWER THEM.
UM, ANY QUESTIONS FOR HER? MS. CHAVEZ? YES, MR. ELKINS.
THAT WAS A GREAT PRESENTATION.
I KNOW THERE'S A LOT THAT'S GONNA GO INTO THIS DB POLICY.
UM, YOU MENTIONED ONE THING, WHICH IS KIND OF, UM, I, I THINK YOU ALLUDED TO ENLARGING IT.
WHAT WHAT WE CLEARLY WANT TO DO IS WE MAY HAVE A DBE BASE RIGHT NOW THAT'S X.
HOW DO WE MAKE THAT BASE BIGGER? UH, AND THAT'S THROUGH PERHAPS APPRENTICE PROGRAMS, THINGS LIKE THAT.
SO WHAT THINGS CAN WE DO NOW THROUGH, UM, THE VARIOUS, UH, COMMUNITY COLLEGES, THE OTHER SCHOOLS TO KIND OF GET FOLKS THE NECESSARY SKILLS SO THAT THEY'RE ELIGIBLE TO BID ON THESE PROJECTS AND WORK ON THESE PROJECTS AS DBS, YOU KNOW, IN, IN A COUPLE YEARS WHEN THEY COME OUT TO BID? I, I, WE DON'T NEED TO HAVE THE ANSWERS, BUT THE MORE WE CAN DO TO KIND OF INCREASE THE BASE NOW, GIVEN THAT WE'VE GOT A COUPLE YEARS, OBVIOUSLY THE BETTER OFF WE'LL BE.
AND THE OTHER THING YOU MENTIONED KIND OF IS, YOU KNOW, IS REMOVING IMPEDIMENTS FOR DBES.
ONE OF THE BIG ONES HAPPENS TO BE INSURANCE.
SO, YOU KNOW, A LOT OF CONTRACTORS CAN DO WHAT'S CALLED WRAP UP INSURANCE AND THINGS LIKE THAT WHERE THEY CAN, YOU KNOW, BOND DOWN TO THE SUB.
SO WHEN, WHEN WE CAN THINK OF WAYS AND, AND PROMOTE CONTRACTORS TO IN REMOVING IMPEDIMENTS SO THESE DBES CAN PLAY, THAT'S, THAT'S ALL OF OUR BENEFIT.
SO JUST THINGS TO THINK ABOUT.
SO TONY'S READING MY NOTES,
UM, I WAS GONNA SAY THE, UM, THE MUCH OF THE SAME THING, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE WORK THAT YOU AND ILLA PUT INTO THIS.
IT'S VERY CLEAR, A LOT OF THOUGHT.
UM, AND I REALLY APPRECIATE THAT.
AND I WAS, I JUST WANNA REEMPHASIZE, BROADENING THAT BASE AND FOR US TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE COMMUNICATING WHAT WE'RE DOING, UM, NOT ASSUMING THAT OTHERS KNOW WHAT WE'RE DOING.
SO I JUST REALLY WANNA CONTINUE TO PUSH THAT SO THAT PEOPLE ARE AWARE, UM, SIMILAR TO WHAT WE DO NOW WITH COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT WITH, IF WE HAVE THAT KIND OF INVOLVEMENT ON THIS, WE WOULD HAVE LIFTED THE BAR FOR AUSTIN IN, IN, IN GENERAL, AND THAT WOULD BE A WONDERFUL THING.
SO I'VE TAKEN NOTE OF THAT AND I, AND I AGREE.
UM, SO IF I UNDERSTAND THIS CORRECTLY, THE 19% THAT WE'RE ESTABLISHING USING CAPITAL METRO'S POLICY, CURRENT POLICY IS A STARTING POINT, BUT IT ALSO MEANS THAT THIS IS NOT A MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.
I MEAN, IT IS A MINIMUM REQUIREMENT, IT JUST DOESN'T CAP THEM, RIGHT? THEY CAN HAVE A 25%, 30%, 45% MINORITY IN PARTICIPATION.
AND, AND SO IF I CAN PROVIDE SOME CLARITY, SO THE 19% IS THE OVERALL AND THE EXPECTATION FOR THE WHOLE YEAR OF WHAT THE, UH, DB PARTICIPATION WILL BE.
SO WITHIN THE YEAR, WE LOOK AT CONTRACTS THAT ARE COMING THROUGH EVERY PROCUREMENT THAT COMES THROUGH, AND WE UTILIZE THOSE PROCUREMENTS TO SET RACE CONSCIOUS GOALS IN ORDER TO REACH THAT OVERALL DB EAGLE GOAL ANNUALLY.
AND SO IT BECOMES A CALCULATION.
SO THE 19% IS THE ANNUAL GOAL THAT CAP METRO IDENTIFIED THROUGH THEIR PROCESSES AS WHAT THEY EXPECTED, UH, TOTAL PARTICIPATION TO BE ON THEIR CONTRACTS THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 20, THEN AGAIN THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 21, AND THEN AGAIN THROUGH FISCAL YEAR 22.
AND SO THEY'LL BE GOING THROUGH THE SAME PROCESS WE ARE WHERE WE HAVE TO LOOK AT WHETHER THAT GOAL IS STILL ACCURATE FOR THEM.
[02:00:01]
LOOK AT WHETHER WE NEED TO RAISE THE GOAL BASED ON ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE AND WHAT OUR PROCUREMENTS WILL LOOK.SO THIS IS REALLY CUMULATIVE FOR ALL THE CONTRACTS.
IT'S NOT JUST ONE CONTRACT SPECIFIC THAT THEY HAVE TO MEET THESE THAT, THAT'S CORRECT.
SO IT'S CU IT'S CUMULATIVE FOR ALL THE CONTRACTS AND WHAT WE EXPECT FOR THE ENTIRE FISCAL YEAR OF WHAT, UM, DBES WILL PARTICIPATE ON.
WE USE THE CONTRACT SPECIFIC GOAL SETTING AS A MECHANISM TO REACH THAT, THAT OVERALL ARCHING GOAL.
AND IS THIS THE VALUE OF THE CONTRACT? NOT THE NUMBER OF CONTRACTS CORRECT.
BECAUSE I MEAN, NOT ALL CONTRACTS ARE GONNA BE, ARE GONNA HAVE THE SAME AMOUNT OF THAT'S RIGHT.
SO AND SO TO, AND I KNOW IT GETS INTO, INTO THE WEEDS A LITTLE BIT ON HOW WE DO GOAL SETTING.
UM, BUT TO GIVE YOU A BIGGER PICTURE, WHEN I'M TALKING ABOUT RACE CONSCIOUS GOALS IN PARTICULAR, SO SET, SETTING UP RACE NEUTRAL ASIDE, IF I'M TALKING ABOUT RACE CONSCIOUS GOALS, IN PARTICULAR, WHAT WE DO ON EVERY CONTRACT IS WE TAKE THE CONTRACT AND LOOK AT THE WORK SCOPE DIRECTLY.
FROM THERE WE LOOK, WE BREAK IT DOWN INTO WORK CODES AND ARE ABLE TO IDENTIFY WHO IS AVAILABLE PER WORK CODE FOR THAT ONE CONTRACT, UM, ON THE DBE E SIDE, SO THAT WE CAN THEN SHOW A METHODOLOGY FOR HOW WE SET A RAISE CONSCIOUS GOAL ON THAT ONE CONTRACT.
THEN WE'RE DOING THAT FOR SUBSEQUENT CONTRACT CONTRACTS.
AFTER THAT, AT THE END OF THE SIX MONTH TIMEFRAME PERIOD, WE THEN DO A FULL MATHEMATICAL CALCULATION TO UNDERSTAND NOT ONLY DID WE MEET THE GOALS, HOW MANY, HOW MUCH MONEY, HOW MANY, HOW MUCH MONEY WAS, WAS PAID TO DBES, AND THEN REPORT OUT ON IT TO GIVE THE OVERARCHING PICTURE OF WHAT WE'RE ACHIEVING FOR ALL OF THOSE CONTRACTS TOGETHER.
SO, AND THAT'S GONNA BE REALLY COMPLEX.
SO I KNOW MAJOR ADLER, YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP
COURTNEY, I REALLY APPRECIATE THE WORK AND, AND THIS IS AN, AN ISSUE THAT IS BOTH, BOTH TECHNICAL AND IMPORTANT TO THE COMMUNITY.
I JUST WANNA SAY, I APPRECIATE YOU LAYING THIS OUT IN THAT DETAIL AND YOU LAYING IT OUT AS A DISCUSSION ITEM ON OUR AGENDA SO THAT THE COMMUNITY, UH, IF IT WANTS TO, TO, TO WEIGH IN, HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO DO THAT BEFORE WE, UH, ACT AT OUR NEXT MONTH'S MEETING.
UH, BUT JUST ALSO WANT TO SHARE THAT THIS IS THE TIME TO DO THAT.
UH, SO, UH, I WANT TO INVITE THE COMMUNITY TO, TO DO THAT.
UH, THIS OPPORTUNITY IS IN PART PROVIDED FOR THEM, UH, TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO, TO WEIGH IN.
UH, BUT THIS IS THE TIME I INVITE EVERYONE TO REACH OUT TO, TO ME AND TO THE OTHERS ON THE BOARD OR TO, UH, A TP IF THEY, UH, UH, HAVE ANY THOUGHTS OR, OR, OR SUGGESTIONS.
AND IF I CAN ADD ALSO, UM, THERE WILL BE ADDITIONAL TIMES AS WELL THAT PLEASE GIVE THE FEEDBACK NOW, BUT ALSO WE WILL CONTINUE TO BUILD IN OPPORTUNITIES TO, TO, UM, LISTEN TO THE FEEDBACK THROUGHOUT THE PROCESS AND, AND AS THE YEARS CONTINUE.
AND COURTNEY, JUST WANT TO ECHO A THANKS FOR, FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE HERE.
'CAUSE THIS IS, I KNOW IT, UH, THE CAP METRO SIDE OF THINGS THAT THIS HAS BEEN A, A, A VERY BIG ISSUE THAT, THAT MY, MY COLLEAGUES HAVE EXPRESSED A VERY GREAT INTEREST IN, UH, IN UNDERSTANDING AND ENSURING, UH, SEVERAL OF MY COLLEAGUES HAVE WANTED TO ENSURE THAT, UH, THAT, THAT WE TO WHAT, UH, BOTH, UH, BOARD MEMBER, UH, BURNETT AND, AND ELKINS HAVE EXPRESSED THAT, THAT WE ARE NOT JUST, NOT JUST, I SUPPOSE, UM, DOTTING I'S AND CROSSING T'S, BUT, BUT ALSO AS IT WERE BUILDING THE FARM TEAM, LOOKING AT WAYS THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY ENHANCE AND INCREASE THE AVAILABILITY AND GROW, UH, POTENTIAL, UH, DBE PARTICIPANTS WITHIN THE PLAYING FIELD, ESPECIALLY HERE LOCALLY.
UM, JUST TO, TO KIND OF CLOSE THE LOOP ON THIS AND, AND MAKE SURE THAT, THAT I'VE GOT A GOOD FIRM UNDERSTANDING OF HOW WE APPLY THIS.
UM, SO ONE, ONCE THAT GOAL IS SET, AND THAT IS THAT, AS I UNDERSTAND IT, WE'RE GONNA TAKE THIS YEAR GOAL, AND THIS IS GONNA BE OUT, THIS IS GONNA BE, WE'RE TAKING CAP METROS TO START WITH, AND THAT OF COURSE WILL BE CHANGING AS THREE YEARS FROM NOW OR DOWN THE ROAD CAP METRO DEALS IN THE, YOU KNOW, MILLIONS OF DOLLARS, TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN CONTRACTS WE'RE GONNA BE DEALING IN, IN THE, YOU KNOW, POTENTIALLY HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS AND EVEN BILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF CONTRACTS, DEPENDING.
AS, AS, UH, RANDY SAID EARLIER, YOU KNOW, HOW WE DECIDE TO BREAK UP THE ORANGE LINE AND THE BLUE LINE IS THE, AND THE TUNNEL IS THE, THE, THE BIG CHUNKS OF THINGS HERE.
BUT THOSE NUMBERS ARE GONNA BE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.
THAT 19% COULD VERY WELL COULD VERY WELL GO
[02:05:01]
UP.IT, IT'S REALLY GONNA LOOK AT, UH, OR MIGHT GO DOWN.
IT'S REALLY GONNA DEPEND ON WHAT WE'RE LOOKING AT BASED ON THOSE, UH, THE, THOSE, UM, UH, THOSE DIFFERENT CODES AND AND WHAT THE, THE, THE, THE, THE DIFFERENT EVALUATIONS ARE APPLYING THE TECHNICAL GUIDANCE THAT THE, THE FTA, THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SAYS, THIS IS WHAT YOU MUST USE.
THIS IS THE FORMULA YOU HAVE TO USE.
AM I, AM I ON THE SAME PAGE SO FAR RIGHT NOW? BUT THAT'S HOW THAT GOES.
SO WHEN YOU GET TO AN INDIVIDUAL CONTRACT, THEN, UH, YOU WERE MENTIONING THIS EARLIER ABOUT THE GOAL SETTING.
UM, YOU'RE WRITING THE REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL, WE'RE PUTTING SOMETHING OUT THERE TO THE, TO, TO OUT ON THE STREETS TO THE COMMUNITY, UH, NATIONALLY SAYING, OKAY, WE WE'RE, WE'RE, WE'RE READY NOW TO, TO PUT A BID OUT FOR A PORTION OF THE ORANGE LINE, YOU KNOW, TO TO, TO DO SOME CONSTRUCTION WORK HERE.
THE RFP ITSELF WOULD ACTUALLY HAVE A SECTION IN THERE FOR THE DBE PROGRAM WITH THAT GOAL ALREADY INCLUDED, RIGHT? BECAUSE YOU GUYS IS THAT, WHEN THAT GETS WRITTEN IN THERE, AS YOU GUYS HAVE ALREADY DONE THE MATH, YOU FIGURED OUT THIS IS WHAT WE THINK WE NEED.
AND YOU'RE GOING TO SAY THAT WHOEVER IS BIDDING HERE, WE EXPECT YOU ON THIS CONTRACT FOR ORANGE LINE CONSTRUCTION, YOU NEED TO HAVE INCLUDED A, YOU KNOW, SOMEHOW TO SHOW, PROVE TO US IN YOUR, IN YOUR RESPONSE TO THIS BID FOR, FOR CONSTRUCTION WORK WITH US, A TP THAT YOU'RE GOING TO MEET.
AND IT, IT COULD BE MAYBE 12% FOR THAT ONE CONTRACT MIGHT BE 9%, COULD BE 15%.
AM I, AM I STILL ON THE SAME PAGE? IS THAT CORRECT? YOU'RE STILL CORRECT.
SO THEN AT THAT POINT, WE'RE GONNA GET MULTIPLE BITS THAT'S GONNA COME IN FOR THE STAFF TO LOOK AT AND REVIEW, AND THAT DBE IS GONNA BE ONE OF THE CRITERIA THAT YOU'RE GONNA REVIEW THAT YOU'RE GONNA LOOK AT.
AND SO ALL OF THESE FIRMS THAT ARE THESE BIG, BIG FIRMS THAT ARE GONNA BE BIDDING FOR BUSINESS, THAT WANT TO COME TO AUSTIN AND BUILD THAT SECTION OF THE ORANGE LINE, IF, AS USING MY EXAMPLE, ARE GONNA COME TO THE TABLE AND SAY, HI, YOU KNOW, ACME HERE IS GOING TO BE BRINGING WITH THEM, YOU KNOW, THREE DIFFERENT POTENTIAL DBES SUBCONTRACTORS.
THEY'RE GONNA, THEY'RE GONNA COME AND TELL YOU WHEN THEY COME TO THE TABLE, THEY'RE GONNA SAY, HERE'S OUR BID.
AND OUR BID HAS THE FOLLOWING THREE SUBCONTRACTORS THAT ARE MINORITY OWNED BUSINESSES THAT MEET THE DBE CRITERIA THAT WE SAY WE'RE READY AND, AND ARE ABLE, AND THEY'RE GONNA BE, BE OUR PARTNERS WHEN WE COME TO THE TABLE.
IS THAT, THAT THAT REALLY KIND OF THE WAY IT WORKS AS WELL? YES.
AND YOU'RE STILL, YOU'RE STILL IN LINE WITH HOW WE WOULD BE, BE OPERATING AND EVALUATING EACH OF THOSE PIECES.
AND SO THEN YOUR, THEN YOUR JOB AS STAFF IS GOING TO BE LOOKING AT EACH ONE OF THE DIFFERENT, EACH ONE OF THE DIFFERENT RESPONDENTS THAT SUBMITS THEIR INFORMATION IN TO SEE AS PART OF THIS, HOW THAT WORKS UNDER DBE AND FIND OUT, OKAY.
AND YOU'RE GONNA AWARD THEM CRITERIA POINTS BASED ON DOES IT LOOK LIKE, ARE THEY, ARE THEY, YOU KNOW, ARE THEY IN LINE WITH, WITH WHAT NEEDS TO, WITH WHAT YOU GUYS FEEL? IS IT LEGITIMATE? IS IT CORRECT? IS IT ARE, ARE THEY COMPLETELY OFF BASE HERE AND THROWING? ARE, ARE THEY, ARE, ARE THEY BEING, YOU KNOW, CAN THEY REALLY MEET THAT CRITERIA BASICALLY, OR, OR, OR NOT, YOU KNOW, AND WHATEVER THE POINT SCALE IS THAT Y'ALL ARE EVALUATING ON FOR THAT PARTICULAR CASE.
SO I WILL, I WILL TWEAK IT A BIT TO SAY THAT, UM, IN THE EVALUATION, WE LOOK AT THE INTENTS TO PERFORM WHERE THEY LIST THE SUBCONTRACTORS OUT AND ENSURE THAT, THAT THEY ARE DBE FIRMS, WE ENSURE THAT, UM, THE INFORMATION IS VALID, ACCURATE, THAT IT, THAT IT, IT MEETS THE CRITERIA THAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR.
AND THEN ON TOP OF THAT, WE'RE ALSO EVALUATING THAT GOOD FAITH EFFORT PIECE FOR ANY CONTRACTOR WHO WERE TO COME FORWARD AND SAY, UM, WE TRIED TO MEET THAT GOAL AND WE COULDN'T, AND HERE'S WHY.
AND ALL OF THAT GOES TO OUR EVALUATION.
AND THEN, AND THEN WHENEVER WE AWARD SOME SOMETHING TO THEM, WHEN THE, WHEN, WHEN THE CONTRACT'S ACTUALLY PUT IN PLACE AND IT'S AWARDED, THEN AFTER THAT'S TAKEN CARE OF, THE FLIP SIDE OF IT IS WE'RE DOING CONTINUAL CONTRACT MONITORING TO ENSURE THAT YES, INDEED WHAT THEY SAID THEY WERE GONNA DO IN RELATION TO DBE E THEY ARE INDEED DOING IT.
I, I THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME WALK DOWN THAT TRAIL.
THIS IS AS, AS YOU'VE POINTED OUT, AND AS EVERYBODY ELSE NOTED, THIS IS AN, AND THERE IS SO MUCH TECHNICAL DETAIL TO THIS.
THERE'S SOME THINGS I RECOGNIZE AND, AND I'VE, I'VE, I'VE FELT, I'VE SEEN THIS ON THE, UH, WITH, WITH CAP METRO BOARD TOO.
THERE'S SOME THINGS THAT ARE WITHIN OUR CONTROL THAT, THAT I BELIEVE WE HAVE THE ABILITY TO DO AS, AS BOARD MEMBERS, AS STAFF WITH A TP, SOME THINGS THAT, THAT WE CAN'T BECAUSE IT IS LARGELY
[02:10:01]
GIVEN TO US BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, AND THEY, THEY DICTATE WHAT THE GUIDELINES AND THE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE.UM, BUT I, I JUST, I WANTED TO MAKE SURE WALKING THROUGH THIS, THAT, THAT I'M, I'M KIND OF UNDERSTANDING AND THAT THE, THAT, THAT THE COMMUNITY UNDERSTANDS HOW THE PROCESS AND HOW THE PROCEDURES WORK TO GET BACK AND ECHOING WHAT, WHAT, WHAT TONY SAID.
AND I THINK WHAT COLETTE SAID, IF THERE'S WAYS THAT WE CAN GO BACK TO FTA AND SAY, HEY, WE'D LIKE TO BE A LITTLE BIT MORE INNOVATIVE AND EITHER PROVIDE SOME EXTRA POINTS OR, YOU KNOW, CARROTS AND STICKS WHEN IT RELATES TO THIS.
I, I AM COMPLETELY ON BOARD WITH THAT.
EVEN AS WE ON THE FRONT END ARE TRYING TO, AS TONY SAID IN THE FIRST NN NEXT COUPLE OF YEARS HERE, FIGURING OUT WAYS TO, TO, TO GROW THE FARM TEAM.
I, I THINK THAT'S, THAT'S ALSO ALSO, UH, KEY AS WELL.
I, I, ERIC, I THINK THE KEY THING TO FOCUS ON RELATING TO CARROTS AND STICKS IS THESE ARE TARGETS, UH, DB TARGETS.
IT'S NOT AN ABSOLUTE MANDATE, RIGHT? SO, RIGHT.
YOU KNOW, PROCUREMENT AND PEOPLE LIKE VICKI AND COURTNEY ARE GONNA MAKE SURE THAT PEOPLE GET SELECTED THAT HAVE, YOU KNOW, UH, DB FIRMS THAT ARE PRE-QUALIFIED AND ALL THAT.
BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, IF THEY DON'T HIT THEIR TARGETS, WHAT DO WE DO? RIGHT? SO THAT GETS BACK TO THE EARLIER COMMENT, HOW CAN WE BE MORE INNOVATIVE TO REWARD AND, AND PENALIZE? BECAUSE THERE ARE INSTANCES WHERE PEOPLE CAN'T HIT THE NUMBER, AND MAYBE THEY SHOULD HAVE HIT IT, BUT THEY DIDN'T TRY HARD ENOUGH.
AND SHOULD THEY GET A A GET OUTTA JAIL FREE CARD FOR THAT? I, YOU KNOW, WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT THAT.
AND THE FEDERAL REGULATIONS ARE THE, ARE THE BAR NOT THE CEILING.
THAT'S WHAT YOU LOST FROM, THAT'S THE MINIMUM.
THEY'RE NOT RESTRICTING US TO GO ABOVE AND BEYOND.
AND I THINK THAT THAT'S WHAT WE SAID THIS PROJECT IS GOING TO DO.
SO I THINK THAT SHOULD BE CONTINUOUS OUR FOCUS.
IT IS THE, IT IS THE FLOOR, THE PLAT, THE PLAT THE PLATFORM.
AND I KNOW MS. UH, FCA, YOU HAVE YOUR HAND UP TOO.
THANK YOU CHAIR AND COURTNEY, THANK YOU.
UM, I JUST ASK YOU, AS YOU CRAFT YOUR DBE POLICIES TO THINK ABOUT WHAT ARE THE INTERNAL A TP POLICIES FOR PARTICIPATION IN YOUR, YOUR, YOUR CONTRACTING.
IN OTHER WORDS, SOMETIMES THE ANSWER WE GET IS DETERMINED BY THE QUESTION THAT WE ASK.
SO IT'S EASY FOR A LOT OF FIRMS TO PARTICIPATE IF THEY HAVE, UH, IF THEY'RE WELL STAFFED IN THEIR, AND THEY'RE, THEY'RE SEASONED AND THEY CAN SORT OF CHURN OUT RESPONSES TO RFPS, UM, AND OTHER COMPANIES MAYBE JUST DON'T HAVE THAT BANDWIDTH.
SO HOW DO YOU SORT OF RESET THAT PARTICIPATION THRESHOLD? THANK YOU.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR GREAT PRESENTATION, MS. CHAVEZ, DO WE HAVE ANY MORE QUESTIONS? NO.
[V.3. Integrated Model Review & Proposed Fiscal Year 2022 Budget Briefing]
WE'RE MOVING ON TO OUR THIRD DISCUSSION ITEM, A BRIEFING ON THE INTEGRATED MODEL REVIEW AND PROPOSED BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 2022 BY OUR A TP CHIEF FINANCIAL AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICER, GREG CAN AND BUDGET DIRECTOR DIANE SEILER.UM, APPRECIATE THE OPPORTUNITY THIS AFTERNOON TO SPEAK WITH YOU AND THE BOARD AND THE COMMUNITY ABOUT, UH, ATP'S FIRST, UM, FULL YEAR, UH, BUDGET, OUR PROPOSED BUDGET, UM, AS YOU SAID, UH, DIANE SEILER IS JOINING ME AND SHE'S GONNA, UH, WALK YOU THROUGH THE PROPOSED BUDGET.
UM, BUT BEFORE WE STARTED, I THINK IT, IT'S JUST IMPORTANT TO KIND OF DO A, UM, KIND OF TALK ABOUT WHERE WE'VE BEEN.
I THINK WE'VE BEEN DOING THAT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS MEETING, YOU KNOW, WHERE WE'VE BEEN SINCE LAST AUGUST, AND THE SUCCESS WE'VE HAD AND HOW WE'RE CONTINUING TO MOVE FORWARD.
AND JUST TO PUT SOME CONTEXT AROUND WHERE WE ARE IN TERMS OF THE BUDGET BEFORE WE GO INTO THIS UPCOMING ANNUAL BUDGET, UM, HOW IT FITS INTO THE OVERALL, UM, PROCESS OF, UH, BUILDING OUT PROJECT CONNECT AND SEQUENCING PLAN.
SO ON THE NEXT SLIDE, I THINK THERE MIGHT BE TWO SLIDES.
SO, WANTED TO JUST KIND OF TAKE US BACK A LITTLE BIT AND TALK ABOUT WHAT HAS BEEN FUNDAMENTAL TO REALLY THE IDEA OF ATP'S EXISTENCE, UM, AND CREATION OF A TP BY THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND BY CAPITAL METRO, UH, TO CREATE, UH, THE INDEPENDENT BOARD TO, TO OVERSEE, UH, PROJECT CONNECT IMPLEMENTATION.
AND REALLY STARTED BACK WITH LOOKING AT, UH, BOTH CONCEPTUAL COST ESTIMATES AS WELL AS BASELINE FUNDING SOURCES.
SO ON THE COST TESTIMATE SIDE, WE INITIALLY LOOKED AT THE CAPITAL COST, UH, WHICH INCLUDE LIKE NORMAL, ANY CAPITAL PROJECT, ANY BIG PROGRAM.
COST INCLUDES STAFFING REQUIRED FOR THAT, ALL
[02:15:01]
THE CONSULTANTS REQUIRED FOR THAT, AS WELL AS THE HARD CONSTRUCTION COSTS.SO BOTH THE KIND OF SOFT COST AND HARD COST.
UM, AND WHAT IS SO INTRIGUING ABOUT OUR, ABOUT WHAT HAS BEEN DONE HERE FOR PROJECT CONNECT IS THE FUNDING REGIME THAT WE HAVE IN PLACE, NOT ONLY FUNDS THE BUILDING OF THE PROJECT, BUT IT FUNDS THE OPERATIONS OF THE PROJECT, AND IT FUNDS THE STATE OF GOOD REPAIR OF THE PROJECTS.
AND THEN REALLY UNIQUELY FOR AUSTIN, WE'RE ALSO ABLE TO CRAFT A, UH, UH, AN ELECTION THAT WAS ABLE TO FUND $300 MILLION IN ANTI DISPLACEMENT.
AND YOU, AS A BOARD HAVE ALREADY PUT IN PLACE, UM, UH, AN INTERLOCAL TO HELP, UH, ACCELERATE AND MOVE FORWARD THAT FUNDING.
UM, SO THAT'S WHERE WE STARTED WITH ON THAT.
ON THE, ON THE FUNDING SOURCE SIDE OF IT, WE HAD SOME BASELINE FUNDING, AND THAT INCLUDED THE PROPOSITION A, UH, VOTE THAT THE VOTERS OF AUSTIN, UH, SUCCESSFULLY APPROVED LAST NOVEMBER.
UM, CAPITAL METRO IS INCLUDING FUNDING ON AN ANNUAL BASIS FROM ITS, UH, REVENUE SOURCES, INCLUDING ITS SALES TAX.
AND THEN KEY, THE REALLY KEY PART OF THIS IS MARRYING ALL THAT WITH OUR FEDERAL FUNDING.
SO THAT WAS OUR BASELINE WHERE WE WERE LAST YEAR.
UM, AND WITH THAT, WE BROUGHT THOSE TOGETHER TO DO TWO THINGS.
UH, FIRST WE CREATED AN INTEGRATED FINANCIAL MODEL, WHICH IS REALLY THE MODEL THAT WE ARE USING YEAR IN YEAR OUT, TO MAKE SURE THAT DIRECTION, DIRECTIONALLY WE ARE ON THE RIGHT PLACE FROM A, FROM A REVENUE STREAM AND A CASHFLOW PERSPECTIVE AS IT RELATES TO OUR, OUR, OUR, OUR NEEDS FOR THE PROJECT THAT WENT HAND IN GOVE WITH THE SEQUENCING PLAN THAT IS ACTUALLY PART OF, UH, THE, THE CONTRACT AND THE VOTE WITH THE, WITH THE VOTERS IN TERMS OF ACCOMPLISHING THE MANY ASPECTS OF THE PROJECT CONNECT PROGRAM, ALL THE VARIOUS PROJECTS.
SO THAT KIND OF, THAT'S WHERE WE ARE, AND WE CAN KIND OF KEEP THAT AS OUR, UM, SOMEWHAT AS OUR TABULAR ROSTER AS WE MOVE FORWARD OUR DAYS AND OUR WEEKS AND OUR MONTHS IN TERMS OF, UH, IMPLEMENTING THE PROJECT CONNECT, UH, PROGRAM.
UM, BUT WE WANNA LOOK AHEAD AND WE'RE GONNA SHOW YOU WHERE WE'RE GOING WITH THIS.
'CAUSE IT'S NOT A STATIC EFFORT.
UM, WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO ASSESS WHERE WE ARE.
SO IN THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, KIND OF LOOKING AHEAD WHERE WE'RE GOING.
AND THE FIRST THING JUST TO STOP QUICKLY IS WHEN WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS, AND YOU ARE GONNA CONTINUE TO TALK ABOUT THIS, IS THIS IDEA OF THE INTERDEPENDENCIES BETWEEN THE COST, UM, UH, THE SCHEDULE, THE COST, AND ALSO THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES TO, TO GET TO THAT COST, THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECTS, AND THEN THE SCHEDULES OF PROJECT.
THEY ALL THREE WORK INTERDEPENDENTLY.
AND AS WE MAKE CHANGES TO ONE, THERE'S CHANGES TO THE OTHERS.
SO WITH THAT IN MIND, LOOKING AHEAD ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, WE WANNA LOOK AHEAD TO THE OVERALL PROJECT CONNECT MODEL.
WE WANNA LOOK AT UPDATING THE DESIGN COST ESTIMATES ON THE ONE SIDE OF THE, OF THE BALANCE, AND THEN ALSO LOOKING AT NEW AND ADDITIONAL POTENTIAL REVENUE DRIVERS THAT WE CAN ADD TO THE MIX.
AND, AND I THINK RANDY TALKED ABOUT THIS ON THE FRONT END WITH, UH, SOME OF THE, UH, LEGISLATIVE UPDATE WITH WHEN WE'RE, WHEN COLLECTIVELY WE'RE TRACKING POTENTIALLY NEW, UH, OPPORTUNITIES FROM A REVENUE PERSPECTIVE.
BUT ON THE COST DRIVER SIDE, UM, AND I THINK IT'S BEEN TALKED ABOUT A LITTLE BIT AS, AS DAVE WENT THROUGH HIS PROGRAM UPDATE, WE'RE GOING THROUGH OUR, FIRST AND FOREMOST, WE'RE GOING THROUGH OUR ENGINEERING PROGRESSION, THE NORMAL STEPS TO GO NOW TOWARDS 15% DESIGN AND STILL WORK TO DO AS WE MOVE AHEAD.
THERE'S DESIGN OPPORTUNITIES THAT NEED TO BE DISCUSSED.
UM, CLEARLY EVEN TODAY WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THE TUNNEL LENGTH AND PERHAPS SOME CHOICES AS WE GO AND CONTINUE TO TALK TO THE COMMUNITY ABOUT THAT.
UM, A BIG ISSUE AROUND THE COMPLETE STREETS AS WE GO THROUGH AND WORK, UH, WITH THE CITY ON, UH, DIFFERENT ELEMENTS OF, OF, OF, ESPECIALLY AROUND THE LIGHT RAIL LINES, WORKING THROUGH THE COMPLETE STREETS PROCESS AS PART OF THE AUSTIN STRATEGIC MOBILITY PLAN, UH, RIGHT OF WAY ACQUISITIONS.
UM, ALSO TOUCHED ON THE COST AROUND THOSE.
WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE ASSESSING THOSE AND UNDERSTANDING THOSE.
SAME WITH THE CONSTRUCTION, LABOR MATERIAL, UH, INFLATION AND COST AND WHERE WE ARE HERE IN, UH, IN, IN, IN KIND OF THE END OF THE SUMMER OF 2021.
UM, AND IT ALL COMES TOGETHER TOO, AS WE ASSESS OUR CONSTRUCTION METHODOLOGIES.
UH, IT WAS MENTIONED THAT WE ARE IN THE PROCESS AND ONE OF OUR NEXT SOLICITATIONS THAT WILL BE OUT ON THE STREET, UM, UH, POST, UH, ADOPTION OF A POLICY.
WE'LL BE BRINGING IN A COMMERCIAL RISK AND ADVISORY, UM, FIRM TO HELP US ASSESS MANY ASPECTS OF OUR PROGRAM.
BUT MOST, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT IS UNDERSTANDING OUR BEST CONSTRUCTION METHODOLOGY AS IT RELATES TO RISK.
SO WE CAN BE AS, AS EFFICIENT AS WE CAN WITH OUR RESOURCES, BUT ALSO MAKE SURE WE'RE DOING THINGS, UH, AS, AS, UM, ABIDING BY OUR, UH, BY THE DBE GOALS AND MAKING SURE WE CAN, UH, UH, GET AS MUCH AS WE CAN ON THAT ROLE AS WELL.
SO THAT'LL BE A KEY AREA THAT WILL BRING THAT AFFIRM IN TO HELP US WITH THAT.
AND THEN AS WE MOVE FORWARD ON THE, ON THE JOINT PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT, UH, DECISIONS AND, AND ELEMENTS THAT ARE PART OF THAT WILL BE PART OF, UH, OUR COST, UH, ESTIMATED UPDATED.
ON THE REVENUE SIDE, WE'RE GONNA BE LOOKING, AS WE MENTIONED ABOUT FEDERAL INFRASTRUCTURE, UH, POTENTIALLY SOME STATE FUNDING AS THEY'RE LOOKING AT INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDING, REGIONAL FUNDING.
AND, AND A KEY AREA FOR US IS CONTINUING PARTNERSHIP FUNDING, BOTH WITH, UM, UH, BOTH, UH, PRIVATE AND PUBLIC,
[02:20:01]
PUBLIC, UH, OPPORTUNITIES FROM A PARTNERING PERSPECTIVE.WE WANNA MAKE SURE WE'RE LEVERAGING.
'CAUSE WHAT WE'LL BE BUILDING, UH, IS THE TRANSIT SYSTEM THAT INTERACTS WITH ALL OF THOSE.
AND WE WANNA MAKE SURE THAT WE CAN LEVERAGE AS MANY REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES AS WE CAN, AND THAT WORK WILL CONTINUE.
SO WHAT DOES THAT LEAD US TO? UM, SO NEXT MONTH AT OUR NEXT BOARD MEETING, WE ANTICIPATE COMING BACK, UH, TO DO A, A KIND OF A MORE THOROUGH, UH, CURRENT PROGRAM UPDATE, UM, KIND OF, UH, SUPERSIZE WHAT, UH, WHAT DAVE TYPICALLY DOES IN THE FRONT END OF THE PRESENTATION.
AND THEN LOOKING AHEAD TO NEXT YEAR, LOOKING AT A MUCH MORE THOROUGH PROGRAM UPDATE AT THAT POINT WITH WHAT WE HAVE FOR 30% DESIGN FOR THE ORANGE AND BLUE LINES, AND ALL OF THE WORK THAT GOES INTO THAT.
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT SOME OF THESE COST DRIVERS THAT WE'VE MENTIONED HERE, AND AGAIN, THAT WE'LL GO THROUGH, UH, MORE, UH, THOROUGHLY IN, IN SEPTEMBER.
SO AGAIN, THAT'S JUST CONTEXT BEFORE WE GET TO THIS YEAR'S BUDGET TO REMIND EVERYONE, OUR BUDGET THAT WE DO EACH YEAR IS REALLY ABOUT MOVING FORWARD AND PROGRESSING ON, UM, ADHERING TO WHAT THE VOTERS SAID TO DO WITH THE VOTE AND THE SEQUENCING PLAN, UM, RELATED TO, UH, THE TAX RATE ELECTION AND ULTIMATELY IMPLEMENTING PROJECT CONNECT.
SO ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, NOW I WANT TO SPEND JUST A QUICK, BEFORE WE GET TO DIANE'S FUND PROPOSED BUDGET.
I WANT TO GO OVER A COUPLE TOPICS AROUND PROPERTY TAX.
THAT'S PROBABLY THE NUMBER ONE QUESTION THAT I'VE HAD IN THE LAST COUPLE MONTHS IS, UH, PROPERTY TAX.
UH, IN MY OLD DAYS, IN MY OLD WAY, WAY BACK ALMOST 20 YEARS AGO, I USED TO LIVE AND SLEEP AND BREATHE PROPERTY TAX RATES AND CALCULATIONS.
AND, UM, LUCKILY I DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT TOO MUCH ANYMORE.
BUT, UM, WE WANT TO TALK TO YOU JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT WHAT ARE THE RULES ABOUT IT.
AND NOT TO GO THROUGH ALL THE DETAILS OF THIS, BUT I THINK THE QUESTION IS, IS WE'VE TALKED ABOUT LAND VALUES.
WE ALL SEE CRANES, NOT EVEN JUST DOWNTOWN.
AND THE NORMAL NATURAL REACTION IS, WOW, THIS MUST BE GREAT.
WE'RE GONNA, THE REVENUE'S GONNA BE COMING IN, UH, HIGHER THAN WE, THAN WE EXPECTED.
UM, IN TEXAS, IN THE STATE OF TEXAS, UM, UH, IT'S ACTUALLY FAIRLY SIMPLE.
UM, UH, THE, WE, THE, THE, THE PROPERTY TAX REVENUE THAT THE CITY COLLECTS, OF WHICH 20% IS DEDICATED TO A TP, UH, EACH YEAR, UM, THAT IS REALLY THE, THE AMOUNT OF THAT REVENUE IS DICTATED BY STATE LAW.
AND EACH YEAR THAT REVENUE CAN ONLY GO UP 3.5%.
SO REALLY, THERE'S A BALANCING ACT BETWEEN PROPERTY VALUES AND REVENUE GROWTH.
AND WHAT SPITS OUT IS A TAX RATE.
UM, UH, AND THIS IS SOMETHING THE CITIES HAVE TO DO AND THE COUNTIES HAVE TO DO ALL AROUND THE STATE.
SO REALLY WHAT YOU DO IS YOU CALCULATE YOUR REVENUE THAT YOU CAN GROW.
UM, YOU GET YOUR VALUATION FROM THE INDEPENDENT APPRAISAL, UH, BOARDS, AND THEN YOU DO THE CALCULATION TO SPIT OUT A TAX RATE.
AND, AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THAT IS WHAT OUR INTEGRATED MODEL IS BASED ON.
UM, THE GREAT RESULT OF THIS TRE THAT PUTS US AS A, IN HERE, IN AUSTIN, IN A, IN A GREAT POSITION, IS BECAUSE OF THE REALLY, THE, THE, THIS, THIS PROPERTY TAX REVENUE SOURCE IS VERY, UM, UH, COMES WITH VERY FEW SHOCKS TO IT.
UM, YOU'RE NOT GONNA SEE BIG DECLINES IN IT.
YOU'RE NOT GONNA SEE BIG UPSIDES ON IT EITHER.
BUT THAT, THAT STEADY REVENUE SOURCE IS REALLY CRITICAL TO, OUR OVERALL MODEL, IS REALLY CRITICAL TO US ISSUING THE BONDS THAT WE NEED TO DO TO FINANCE THIS PROJECT.
SO IT COMES WITH A GREAT ASSURANCE, BUT IT DOESN'T COME WITH, UH, THESE GREAT UPSIDES THAT YOU SEE PERHAPS IN SOMETIMES SALES TAX.
I WILL SAY THAT WE DO GET, WE DO SEE NEW VALUES COMING IN, AND WE DO GET ADDITIONAL, A LITTLE BIT EXTRA REVENUE EACH YEAR, HOWEVER, THAT IS ALREADY BAKED INTO THE MODEL.
UM, OUR MODEL WILL ALWAYS BE, WE WANNA BE CONSERVATIVE ABOUT THAT, BUT IF NEW REVENUE IS COMING IN ABOVE AND BEYOND, OR NEW PROPERTIES COMING ON THE TAX ROLL ARE A LITTLE BIT HIGHER, UM, THEN WE FACTORED IN, WE STILL GET THOSE FUNDS.
UM, AGAIN, IT COMES TO THE CALCULATION OF THE CITY.
SO THAT'S ONE PIECE OF THE, THE PROPERTY TAX CALCULATION.
AND THE OTHER ONE WE WANTED TO TALK TO ON THE NEXT SLIDE WAS THE, UM, THE, AND THIS IS REALLY JUST SHOWING YOU THE EXAMPLE OF REGARDLESS OF IF A PROPERTY VALUE INCREASES 10% OR 25%, THE TAX RATE GOES DOWN AND OUR REVENUE STAYS THE SAME.
IF THE PROPERTY VALUE DECREASES 10 OR 25%, TAX RATES GO UP AND OUR REVENUE COMES THE SAME.
SO IN THE END, WE WANTED TO JUST ILLUSTRATE WITH YOU, WE ARE, WE ARE, IT IS, AS THE CALCULATIONS ARE DONE, YOU ARE DRIVING TO A REVENUE NUMBER, NOT TO A TAX RATE NUMBER.
UM, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, THE OTHER TOPIC THAT HAS COME UP IS ABOUT HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION.
THE CITY, UM, ON A SOMETIMES ROUTINE BASIS, LOOKS AT THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION.
THIS IS ENTIRELY IN THE PURVIEW OF THE CITY COUNCIL.
UM, RECENTLY THEY HAVE, UH, INCREASED THE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION.
THIS IS, IF YOU'RE A HOMEOWNER, UH, WHAT YOUR TOTAL TAXABLE BILL WOULD BE, YOUR TAXABLE VALUE VERSUS THE MARKET VALUE OF YOUR HOME.
[02:25:01]
THEY HAVE MADE SOME CHANGES TO THIS.I THINK THE NET TO, TO A TP AND THE NET TO THE CITY IS AS WELL, IS THAT DOES NOT CHANGE THE AMOUNT OF REVENUE THAT WE'RE BRINGING IN.
IT JUST SHIFTS OVERALL FROM THE OVERALL PROPERTIES WITHIN THE CITY, BETWEEN COMMERCIAL AND, AND, AND, UH, RESIDENTIAL OR THE EXEMPTIONS ABOUT HOW THE SHARE OF THE OVERALL REVENUE IS DONE, UM, AT THAT THREE POINT HALF PERCENT REVENUE GROWTH EACH YEAR.
SO AGAIN, THE CHANGE IN THAT HAS NO IMPACT, UH, OF OUR REVENUE COMING IN, UM, FROM THE PROPOSITION A REVENUE.
UH, ON THE NEXT SLIDE, UM, JUST, THIS IS KIND OF ONE OF MY, MY LAST ONE BEFORE I TURN OVER TO DIANE.
UM, AND, AND ALL THE WORK THAT HER AND HER STAFF AND THEY REALLY, THE FULL TEAM HAVE WORKED ON PUTTING TOGETHER THE PROS POST BUDGET.
SO WE TALKED ABOUT THE MODEL THAT WE HAVE, UM, AND, AND THAT WE'RE GONNA COME BACK AND, AND, AND UPDATE AS WE LOOK AT DIFFERENT, UH, COST DRIVERS AND REVENUE DRIVERS.
THIS IS REALLY THE ONE THAT JUST HELPS US ANALYZE AND COMPILE WHAT WE'RE DOING, BOTH LOOKING BACKWARDS AND LOOKING FORWARD.
UM, AND IT'S REALLY A NECESSARY AND REALLY A BEST PRACTICE FROM A, FROM DOING SCENARIO PLANNING AND BUDGET AND ASSET MANAGEMENT AND HOW WE DO OUR RATES AND HOW WE DO OUR CASH FLOWS.
UM, IT'S REALLY A STANDARD TOOL THAT YOU NEED TO HAVE IN, IN GOVERNMENT FINANCE AND GOVERNMENT BUDGET.
THE MODEL THEN REALLY HELPS US DO WHAT IS THE BUDGET.
UM, THE BUDGET IS THE OUTPUT OF THE MODEL, UM, AND IT REPRESENTS THE TARGET EXPENSES FOR WHAT WE'RE DOING IN THIS SPECIFIC TIME PERIOD.
FOR EXAMPLE, OUR FISCAL YEAR AND FOR A TP, WHAT WILL BE OUR MULTI-YEAR CAPITAL BUDGET AS WELL.
UM, SO THEY WORK HAND IN HAND TOGETHER.
A BUDGET IS ALSO A ROADMAP AND A TEMPLATE FOR OUR YEAR IN TERMS OF MANAGING OUR RESOURCES AND MANAGING, UH, THE REVENUE AND EXPENSES THAT WE PUT, UH, IN FRONT OF THE BOARD FOR APPROVAL.
UM, SO, SO WITH THAT, UM, I COULD STOP AND IF THERE'S ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PIECES I WENT THROUGH BEFORE I HAND IT OVER TO DIANE, MAYBE PERHAPS THAT'S THE BEST WAY TO DO THAT.
BUT IF NOT, WE COULD HAVE DIANE GO THROUGH THE FULL, UM, UH, THE PROPOSED BUDGET PRESENTATION, WHICH AGAIN, WE'RE REAL EXCITED TO HAVE THE CHANCE TO, UH, GO THROUGH THAT WITH YOU AND THE COMMUNITY TODAY.
DO WE WANNA MOVE FORWARD WITH QUESTIONS OR DO WE HAVE MS. SEIDLER COME NEXT? GO AHEAD, MS. OKAY, CHLOE, NEXT SLIDE.
SO, UM, GOOD AFTERNOON, CHAIR BOARD MEMBERS.
UH, AS GREG HAS MENTIONED, YES, I AM VERY EXCITED TO SHARE WITH YOU TODAY ATP'S PROPOSED BUDGET FOR NEXT YEAR.
UH, A FEW MINUTES AGO, MAYBE ABOUT AN HOUR AGO, I SENT OUT AN EMAIL TO EACH OF YOU WITH THE, UM, BUDGET DOCUMENT ATTACHED.
SO THE PURPOSE OF THIS PRESENTATION IS TO DISCUSS WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THAT DOCUMENT YOU RECEIVED.
UM, AND THEN WHEN WE COME BACK NEXT MONTH, UH, IT IS THAT BUDGET DOCUMENT THAT'LL ASKING YOU TO APPROVE.
UM, BEFORE WE GET INTO THE NUMBERS, I DO WANNA SPEND A FEW MINUTES, UH, SHARING WITH YOU THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS BUDGET.
SO, AS YOU KNOW, OUR EARLIEST PROJECTS TO COME ONLINE HAVE BEEN THE NEIGHBORHOOD CIRCULATORS.
UH, NEXT YEAR WE'RE GONNA BE PROVIDING CAPITAL METRO WITH $2.2 MILLION TO OPERATE THESE THREE NEW SERVICE AREAS.
UM, AND AS YOU'VE HEARD FROM VICKI, OUR PROCUREMENT STAFF HAVE BEEN JUST AS BUSY AS OUR HR STAFF.
UM, IN ADDITION TO THE WORK THAT THEY'VE BEEN DOING ON THE PROCUREMENT POLICY, UH, THEY, THEY DID HOLD THEIR FIRST PRE-BID MEETING FOR LEGAL SERVICES, UM, THAT WAS VERY WELL ATTENDED.
AND THEY'RE CURRENTLY WORKING ON A SCOPE FOR A NUMBER OF NEW CONTRACTS, INCLUDING THE ONE GREG MENTIONED FOR THE, UM, COMMERCIAL RISK AND ADVISORY SERVICES, FINANCIAL ADVISORY SERVICES.
SO WE ALSO ANTICIPATE, ANTICIPATE ISSUING CONTRACTS FOR COMMERCIAL AND BANKING SERVICES IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS.
AND AS YOU'VE HEARD FROM DAVE, UH, CONSTRUCTION IS EXPECTED TO START ON BOTH THE PLEASANT VALLEY AND THE EXPO METRO RAPID LINES, AND THAT'S GONNA BE FOLLOWED CLOSELY, WE HOPE BY FULL FUNDING GRANT AGREEMENTS FROM THE FTA SIMULTANEOUSLY, STAFF WILL BE DOING THE DESIGN WORK FOR RELATED PARK AND RIDE LOCATIONS AND INLINE CHARGING STATIONS.
WE'RE ALSO GONNA BE BE BEGINNING CONSTRUCTION ON THE MCCULLOUGH AND BROADMOOR RAIL STATION AND THE LEANER AND LAKELINE DOUBLE TRACKING.
MEANWHILE, OUR VEHICLES TEAM HAS BEEN WORKING ON DEVELOPING THE CONTRACTUAL AND THE TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS FOR OUR, THE PURCHASE OF OUR ROLLING STOCK.
AND THAT'S IN ANTICIPATION OF ISSUING AN RFP FOR THE REAL VEHICLES BY THE SECOND QUARTER OF FOI 22.
ANOTHER AREA THAT'S GONNA SEE SIGNIFICANT ACTIVITY
[02:30:01]
IN FY 22 IS THE REAL ESTATE GROUP.IN ADDITION TO WORKING WITH OUR PROCUREMENT STAFF FOR CONSULTING SERVICES, UM, COVERING BASICALLY ALL AREAS OF THE RIGHT OF WAY ACQUISITION, THEY'RE WORKING TO IDENTIFY EARLY OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACQUISITIONS.
AND, UM, AS MENTIONED BY RANDY, THEY NEED TO COMPLETE THE REAL ESTATE ACQUISITION MANAGEMENT PLAN, WHICH IS A REQUIRED ASPECT OF RECEIVING AN FDA GRANT GRANT AWARD.
NOW, AS WE MOVE TOWARDS THE HEAD, THE, UM, END OF OUR NEXT FISCAL YEAR, WE'RE LOOKING FORWARD TO HITTING THE 30% DESIGN FOR THE ORANGE AND THE BLUE LINES, AND FOR ISSUING THAT DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR PUBLIC REVIEW.
UM, LIKEWISE, WE ANTICIPATE ADVANCING OUR FACILITIES, PLANNING AND PROGRAMMING STUDIES AND BEGINNING THE RELATED, UH, NEPA PROCESS.
SO, LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST, UM, FY 22 SHOULD SEE A TP COMPLETE ITS INITIAL GROWTH PHASE.
WE EXPECT TO HIRE, UH, AN ADDITIONAL 40 PLUS STAFF MEMBERS MOVE INTO THAT NEW DEDICATED PROJECT CONNECT, UM, PROGRAM OFFICE THAT RANDY MENTIONED, AND THEN DEVELOP OUR HUMAN, UH, NO, OUR, LET'S SEE, OUR FINANCIAL HUMAN RESOURCES AND OUR PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, UM, SOFTWARE SYSTEMS. SO WE ARE LOOKING TO START FY 23.
NOW ONTO THE NUMBERS, OUR BUDGET FOR FY 22 IS $312.2 MILLION.
NEARLY $154 MILLION IS GOING TO COME FROM THE PORTION OF THE PROPERTY TAX THAT IS DEDICATED TO PROJECT CONNECT.
UH, CAPITAL METRO WILL BE CONTRIBUTING, UH, $23.4 MILLION, WHICH REPRESENTS 8% OF OUR TOTAL FUNDING.
AND THEN THE FINAL ONE, UH, $135 MILLION THAT WE NEED TO FUND OUR, OUR PROJECT COSTS FOR FY 22 WILL COME FROM THE FUNDS RESERVED FROM THIS YEAR'S ALLOCATION OF PROPERTY TAX FUNDING AND AS, AS WAS ORIGINALLY PLANNED.
SO BEFORE I GET INTO THE USES OF FUNDS SECTION OF THE PRESENTATION, I, I DO WANNA REMIND EVERYONE OF THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE OPERATING AND THE CAPITAL BUDGETS.
UM, FIRST AND GENERALLY, MOST NOTABLY, THE OPERATING BUDGETS ARE ANNUAL, SOMETIMES BIANNUAL APPROPRIATIONS.
UM, AND AT THE END OF THAT DEFINED PERIOD, THOSE BUDGETS ARE ZEROED OUT, AND ALL OF THAT SURPLUS FUNDS, UM, GET INCORPORATED INTO SUBSEQUENT BUDGETS.
SO, IN CONTRAST THOUGH, CAPITAL BUDGETS ARE MULTI-YEAR APP APPRO APPROPRIATIONS.
AND WHAT THAT MEANS IS THAT THE BUDGET IS SET AND IT REMAINS IN EXISTENCE UNTIL THE PROJECT IS COMPLETE.
SO ALSO ANNUAL BUDGETS ARE USED TO FUND, YOU KNOW, THE DAY-TO-DAY OPERATIONS.
UH, GENERALLY THE COST NECESSARY TO OPERATE, MANAGE, MAINTAIN, UH, A PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM.
ALSO INCLUDED IN AN OPERATING BUDGET WOULD BE, UM, GENERAL REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE FOR EXISTING ASSETS.
NOW, CAPITAL, THE CAPITAL BUDGET, ON THE OTHER HAND, UM, ARE USED TO FUND THE, THE CREATION, RENOVATION, THE UPGRADE FOR, UM, CAPITAL ASSETS LIKE, UH, LIKE THE RAIL LINES, FACILITIES AND VEHICLES, ATP'S FUNDING SOURCES FOR THE OPERATING BUDGET COME FROM THE, UM, THE TAXES, THE PARTNER CONTRIBUTIONS AND FARES.
SO WE CAN ALSO USE THOSE FAME SAME FUNDING SOURCES TO FUND CAPITAL BUDGETS, AND WE DO SO THROUGH A TRANSFER FROM THE OPERATING BUDGET INTO THE CAPITAL BUDGET.
BUT WITH THE CAPITAL BUDGET, WE ALSO CAN ISSUE DEBT, TAKE OUT LOANS, AND RECEIVE RECEIVE GRANTS.
SO THESE NEXT TWO SLIDES, UM, ARE GOING TO SHOW YOU HOW WE'RE USING THE $312 MILLION.
THIS FIRST SLIDE IS THE EXPENDITURE, THE, THIS FIRST SLIDE, THE EXPENDITURES ARE BEING SHOWN BY COST CATEGORY.
AND THEN IN THE NEXT SLIDE, I'M GOING TO SHOW YOU THE EXPENSES IN THE MORE TRADITIONAL WAY THAT YOU'VE GOTTEN ACCUSTOMED TO SEEING 'EM BY, BY OUR VARIOUS PROJECTS.
SO IT'S JUST, IT'S THE SAME SET OF DATA, I'M JUST ARRANGING IT USING A DIFFERENT, UM, CRITERIA IN ORDER TO GIVE YOU A, A FULLER PICTURE OF THE BUDGET.
UNSURPRISINGLY, OVER HALF OF OUR BUDGET, $173 MILLION WILL BE USED FOR CAPITAL CONTRACTS AND RIGHT OF WAY ACQUISITIONS.
AND THEN ANOTHER NEARLY, UH, 20% OR UM, $59 MILLION WILL BE USED TO REIMBURSE CAPITAL METRO FOR THE EXPENSES THAT THEY WILL BE INCURRING ON BEHALF OF PROJECT CONNECT.
AND THAT'S NAMELY THE METRO RAPID AND REDLINE
[02:35:01]
PROJECTS.$42 MILLION WILL BE PROVIDED TO THE CITY FOR THEIR ANTI DISPLACEMENT INVESTMENTS.
A TOTAL OF, UH, $5.2 MILLION IS GOING TO BE PROVIDED TO THE CITY OF AUSTIN AND CAPITAL METRO FOR SUPPORT.
SO THERE'S, UH, $2.4 MILLION INCLUDED TO FUND THE PROJECT CONNECT SUPPORT OFFICE WITH THE CITY.
AND THEN THERE'S ANOTHER $2.8 MILLION FOR SERVICES SUCH AS IT ACCOUNTING AND MARKETING THAT ARE BEING PROVIDED TO A TP FROM CAPITAL METRO.
AS I MENTIONED IN THE HIGHLIGHTS, UH, WE'LL BE TRANSFERRING TO CAPITAL METRO, $2.2 MILLION TO OPERATE THE NEW PICKUP SERVICE ROUTES.
AND THEN FINALLY, THE LAST 10% OF OUR BUDGET, OR JUST OVER $30 MILLION, WILL FUND, UM, SALARIES, OUR LEASE OPERATING CONTRACTS AND OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.
ALSO INCLUDED IN THAT NUMBER IS $1 MILLION FOR AN OPERATING CONTINGENCY.
UM, YOU KNOW, AS GREG POINTED OUT, THIS IS OUR FIRST FULL YEAR OF OPERATIONS, AND SO WE ARE STILL IN THE RIGHT SIZING PHASE OF, OF BUDGETING.
AND SO WE WANTED TO GIVE OURSELVES A LITTLE BIT OF ROOM IN CASE WE GOT SOME OF THE ASSUMPTIONS UP A LITTLE WRONG.
SO HERE, HERE ARE THE NUMBERS SEEN IN A DIFFERENT, UH, VIEW.
THE $312 MILLION WILL BE SPLIT 86% INTO THE CAPITAL PROJECTS, 13% INTO THE ANTI DISPLACEMENT INITIATIVES, AND THAT IT LEAVES ANOTHER 1% FOR THE, UM, OPERATIONS TRANSFER TO CAPITAL METRO, THE OPERATING CONTINGENCY I JUST SPOKE OF, AND SOME OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES THAT ARE NOT ELIGIBLE INTO, INTO THE, UM, CAPITAL PROJECTS.
SO WHAT I WANNA NOTE, WHAT, WHAT I WANNA NOTE IS IMPORTANT ON THIS SLIDE IS THAT ALL OF OUR CAPITAL, UM, A TO, SORRY, ALL OF THE A TP OVERHEAD IS, UM, EMBEDDED AND INCORPORATED INTO THESE CAPITAL PROJECTS, AS IS ANY DIRECT SALARY, UM, OR OTHER DIRECT EXPENSES.
AND IT'S THIS NEXT SLIDE THAT I'M GONNA GO INTO WHERE I'LL TALK ABOUT HOW WE MANAGE TO GET THAT, UM, KIND OF PROCESS DONE.
SO FORGIVE ME, I'M JUST GONNA GO INTO THIS AND GET A LITTLE WONKY ON YOU, SO JUST BEAR WITH ME.
UM, THE MAJORITY OF ATPS AGENCY COSTS, UM, THOSE COSTS THAT ARE NOT DIRECTLY TIED TO A A SPECIFIC CAPITAL PROJECT ARE CONSIDERED OVERHEAD OR INDIRECT COSTS.
AND THEY INCLUDE THINGS LIKE, UM, LABOR, RENT, UTILITIES, COMPUTER SOFTWARE, HARDWARE, STAFF DEVELOPMENT, ET CETERA.
UM, ALSO INCLUDED IN THAT POOL OF, UH, EXPENSES ARE THE REIMBURSEMENTS TO CAPITAL METRO AND TO THE CITY FOR THE SUPPORT SERVICES THAT THEY PROVIDE US.
SO IN ORDER TO GET THESE CAPITAL, IN ORDER TO GET THESE COSTS INTO THE CAPITAL PROJECTS THAT THEY SUPPORT, WE USE WHAT'S CALLED AN A COST ALLOCATION PLAN.
UM, THE FIRST STEP OF THE PROCESS IS TO IDENTIFY THOSE COSTS THAT ARE ELIGIBLE TO BE CHARGED TO THE CAPITAL PROJECTS.
AND THEN THE NEXT STEP OF THE, OF THE PLAN IS TO THEN ALLOCATE THOSE COSTS TO EACH PROJECT BASED ON A PREDEFINED METRIC.
SO FOR OUR ALLOCATION PLAN, THE METRIC WE'RE USING IS THE TOTAL ANNUAL SPENDING BY EACH PROJECT.
SO IF I WERE TO SWITCH BACK TO THE PREVIOUS SLIDE, THERE IS A SMALL SLICE.
THERE'S A SMALL SLICE, THAT SMALL SLIVER OF $3.7 MILLION, UM, THAT IS ACTUALLY THE PORTION OF ATP'S OPERATING BUDGET THAT IS NOT ELIGIBLE FOR ALLOCATION.
SO IF YOU'LL SWITCH BACK, CHLOE, THANKS.
UM, SO THE REST OF THE $35 MILLION OF WHAT IS, YOU KNOW, THE OPERATE WOULD'VE BEEN THE OPERATING BUDGET PRE ALLOCATION OR, UH, $31.3 MILLION IS THEN MOVED OUT OF THE OPERATING BUDGET AND ALLOCATED INTO THE CAPITAL BUDGET.
SO THE BOTTOM HALF OF THIS SLIDE SHOWS THE COMPONENTS OF THE BOTH THE OPERATING AND THE CAPITAL BUDGET.
THE, UM, AS I MENTIONED, THE OPERATING BUDGET HAS THE NON-ELIGIBLE OVERHEAD COSTS, UM, THE TRANSFER TO CAP METRO FOR THE OPERATIONS, AND THEN THE CON THE OPERATING CONTINGENCY, WHEREAS THE CAPITAL BUDGET HAS, UM, THE OVERHEAD COSTS THAT HAVE BEEN, HAVE BEEN PUSHED IN THROUGH THE ALLOCATION PLAN, UH, CONTRACTS RIGHT OF WAY ACQUISITIONS AND DIRECT STAFF CHARGES.
SO IN THE FUTURE YEARS, UM, THIS IS ALSO GOING TO INCLUDE CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING COSTS.
UH, JUST AS A NOTE BEFORE I LEAVE THIS SLIDE, THIS COST ALLOCATION PLAN WILL NEED TO BE APPROVED BY THE FTA AND WE PLAN ON HAVING THAT HAPPEN MID, UM, FY 22
[02:40:01]
SO NOW I JUST WANNA SHIFT OUR FOCUS SLOW SOLELY TO THE CAPITAL PROJECTS, UM, BACK TO THE $266.5 MILLION THAT WE ANTICIPATE SPENDING OVER THE NEXT YEAR.
THE PREVIOUSLY I MENTIONED, SORRY, I'M GETTING A CALL.
UM, PREVIOUSLY I MENTIONED THAT A KEY ATTRIBUTE TO CAPITAL PROJECTS IS MULTI-YEAR APPROPRIATIONS.
UM, AND GENERALLY WHAT THAT MEANS IS NOT ONLY IS THE BUDGET AVAILABLE OVER THE LIFE OF THE PROJECT, BUT ALSO THAT THE TOTAL PROJECT IS BUDGETED UPFRONT.
UM, AND THIS HELPS TO ENSURE THAT LIKE LARGE CONTRACTS WITH THAT SPAN, UM, MULTIPLE FISCAL YEARS CAN BE FULLY ENCUMBERED.
SO, HOWEVER, FOR FY 22, WE'RE ONLY GONNA BE REQUESTING APPROPRIATIONS EQUAL TO THE AMOUNT THAT WE PLAN ON SPENDING NEXT YEAR.
AND THIS IS SIMPLY BECAUSE WE ARE STILL IN THE DESIGN PHASE FOR THE BULK OF OUR PROJECTS.
UM, SO, YOU KNOW, WE LACK SUFFICIENT INFORMATION FOR WHICH TO BUDGET THE ENTIRE PROJECT COST AT THIS TIME.
UM, I DO EXPECT THAT THE BUDGET THAT YOU RECEIVE NEXT YEAR WILL INCLUDE CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS MUCH CLOSER TO THE TOTAL PROJECT COSTS, AND THEREFORE NEXT YEAR'S CAPITAL BUDGET WILL BE SIGNIFICANTLY LARGER.
SO OF OUR TOTAL CAPITAL BUDGET, 57% IS GOING TO BE FOR THE ORANGE AND THE BLUE LINES, $92.8 MILLION AND $82.8 MILLION RESPECTIVELY.
UM, THE, UH, AS, AS BOTH RANDY AND DAVE HAVE MENTIONED, YOU KNOW, WE'VE OFFICIALLY BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE PROJECT DEVELOPMENT.
SO THAT MEANS THAT THESE FUNDS NOW WILL BE TRACKING AND OUR, UM, CAN POTENTIALLY BE REIMBURSED, OR A PORTION OF THEM CAN BE POTENTIALLY REIMBURSED ONCE WE, UH, RECEIVE A FULL FUNDING GRANT AGREEMENT.
THE BUDGET ALSO INCLUDES $13.5 MILLION FOR THE RED LINES MCCULLOUGH STATION AND THE FUNDING FOR THE BROADMOOR STATION.
AND THE LEANDER LAKELINE TRACKING IS INCLUDED IN CAPITAL METRO'S BUDGET.
SO THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T SEE THEM LISTED HERE.
UH, THE $42 MILLION FOR THE METRO RAPID LINES, THAT REPRESENTS THE LOCAL FUNDED NEEDED LOCAL FUNDING NEEDED IN FY 22.
FOR THESE PROJECTS, WE DO PLAN ON GETTING THE FULL FUNDING GRANT AGREEMENTS AWARDED FOR THE PLEASANT VALLEY AND EXPOS LINES TO COVER THE REMAINING FY 22 COSTS.
UM, AND THEN THE REMAINING $35.5 MILLION, UM, IN OUR CAPITAL BUDGET WILL BE USED FOR DESIGN WORK ON PARK AND RIDES, DESIGNING AND BUILDING, UH, DESIGNING AND BEGINNING THE BUILD OUT OF THE ELECTRIFICATION INFRASTRUCTURE AND THEN DEVELOPING THE FACILITIES PLAN.
SO THE FINAL PIECE OF ATP'S BUDGET IS THE ANTI DISPLACEMENT FUNDS.
UM, IN ORDER TO PROVIDE MAXIMUM TRANSPARENCY, WE'RE TRACKING THESE FUNDS SEPARATELY.
UM, WHAT'S SHOWN HERE IS, IS THE FUND SUMMARY FOR, FOR THOSE, UM, FUNDS.
SO PROCEDURALLY WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN IS THAT THE FUNDS ARE GONNA BE DEPOSITED INTO OUR OPERATING FUND, AND THEN WE'RE GONNA BE TRANSFERRING, UM, A, A SEPARATELY INTO THIS FUND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE ILA THAT WE HAVE WITH THE CITY.
AND JUST AS A REMINDER, UM, THAT ILA SET FORTH A 13 YEAR PAYMENT SCHEDULE, UM, WHICH WAS IN ALIGNMENT WITH OUR SEQUENCING PLAN.
SO IT WAS, UH, 23 MILLION THIS YEAR, 42, NEXT 35, AND FY 23, AND THEN $20 MILLION ANNUALLY FOR THE SUBSEQUENT 10 YEARS.
AND SO PAYMENTS, WHICH ARE BASED ON ACTUAL EXPENDITURES, WILL THEN BE MADE OUT OF THIS FUND TO THE CITY.
SO IN FY 21, UM, OUR BUDGET SHOWED THAT WE WERE GOING TO EXPAND ALL $23 MILLION.
UM, HOWEVER, THE CITY HAS SAID THAT IT'S NOT GOING TO EXPEND ANY OF THIS YEAR'S ALLOTMENT OF FUNDS.
SO I'VE UPDATED OUR ENDING BALANCE FOR 21, AND NOW THOSE FUNDS BECOME AVAILABLE FOR USE IN FY 22.
SO THE CITY WILL HAVE AVAILABLE TO IT, NOT ONLY THIS YEAR'S ALLOTMENT, BUT IT'LL ALSO HAVE THE $42 MILLION AVAILABLE TO IT NEXT YEAR, BRINGING THE TOTAL FUNDING TO $65 MILLION.
UM, AND I HAVE CHECKED WITH THE CITY, AND THESE FUNDS HAVE BEEN INCLUDED IN THEIR APPROVED BUDGET.
I PLEASE, MOVING ON TO THE FINANCIAL POLICIES INCLUDED IN THE BUDGET DOCUMENT IN THE APPENDIX SECTION IS A SET OF 20 FINANCIAL POLICIES COVERING ACCOUNTING AND BUDGETING, PURCHASING, UM, INVESTMENTS AND DEBT MANAGEMENT.
UM, ADOPTION OF THE BUDGET WILL ALSO INCLUDE ADOPTION OF THESE
[02:45:01]
POLICIES.I I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT EVERY YEAR THESE POLICIES WILL BE EVALUATED AND UPDATED TO ENSURE THAT THEY REMAIN RELEVANT, CONSISTENT WITH BEST PRACTICES AND CONSISTENT WITH ATP'S GROWTH.
UM, IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT FINANCIAL POLICIES ARE NOT JUST A BEST PRACTICE, AND THEY'RE NOT JUST CORE TO SOLID FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT.
THEY'RE ALSO AN IMPORTANT DETERMINANT IN OUR CREDIT RATING AND DEBT WORTHINESS, AND THEREFORE, THEY CAN HAVE A DIRECT IMPACT ON THE AMOUNT OF INTEREST WE PAY AS WE SERVICE OUR DEBT.
FINALLY, I WANNA REVISIT OUR TIMELINE.
UM, TODAY MARKS YOUR THIRD OFFICIAL BUDGET TOUCHPOINT.
UH, THE FOURTH AND FINAL OFFICIAL STEP WILL BE WHEN YOU APPROVE THE BUDGET, HOPEFULLY, UM, ON, UH, SEPTEMBER 15TH NEXT MONTH.
HOWEVER, BETWEEN NOW AND THEN, UM, I WILL BE AVAILABLE FOR ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE, AND PLEASE DON'T HESITATE TO REACH OUT TO ME.
ALSO, IN THE MEANTIME, I'LL BE SHARING THE SAME INFORMATION WITH THE FINANCE AND RISK ADVISORY COMMITTEE, UM, MEETING, UH, COMMITTEE AT TOMORROW'S INAUGURAL MEETING.
AND, UM, STAFF WILL BEGIN THE PROCESS OF PREPARING OUR FINANCIAL SYSTEM FOR GO LIVE ON OCTOBER 1ST, NEXT SLIDE.
SO YOU ALL HAVE RECEIVED A COPY OF OUR BUDGET DOCUMENT AND THE PUBLIC CAN ACCESS IT VIA OUR WEBSITE AT THIS LOCATION.
AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHARING SOME OF YOUR TIME WITH ME THIS AFTERNOON.
DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS FOR ME? THANK YOU SO MUCH MS. SEILER, FOR A GREAT PRESENTATION, AND, UM, I'M SURE THERE'LL BE SOME QUESTIONS.
WHO WANTS TO START
UM, THANK YOU VERY MUCH DIANE AND GREG FOR THAT PRESENTATION.
I KNOW WE'RE GONNA GO THROUGH THAT IN TOMORROW'S FINANCIAL AND RISK COMMITTEE, UH, INAUGURAL MEETING.
SO WE'LL GO THROUGH THAT IN MORE DETAIL AND THEN NEXT MONTH THE BOARD WILL APPROVE THE BUDGET.
UM, ONE THING THAT I, I DO THINK IS IMPORTANT AND, AND OBVIOUSLY I, I'M SURE YOU FOLKS DO, AND I HAVEN'T READ THE PROPOSED BUDGET THAT YOU SENT, BUT I'LL TAKE A LOOK AT IT, IS, IS QUARTERLY UPDATES, QUARTERLY BUDGET TO ACTUAL UPDATES TO THE BOARD.
SO I'M SURE THAT THAT'S PLANNING TO BE DONE, BUT I I DO MENTION THAT AS SOMETHING THAT, UH, THE BOARD WILL BE LOOKING TO RECEIVE EVERY QUARTER TO MAKE SURE THAT WE'RE, WE'RE ON TRACK.
AND OBVIOUSLY THERE'LL BE DEVIATIONS IN THE BUDGET TO BE EXPECTED, BUT, UH, YOU KNOW, AS LONG AS WE UNDERSTAND WHY, I'M SURE THAT'LL BE COOL.
BUT, UH, YEAH, LOOK FORWARD TO TOMORROW NIGHT'S MEETING.
AND, UM, TO YOUR POINT, WHEN YOU DO READ THE BUDGET DOCUMENT, IT'S GOING TO BE ONE OF THE FINANCIAL POLICIES IN THERE IS A, IS OUR QUARTERLY, UH, REPORTS TO THE BOARD.
I THINK IT'S FIRST THREE QUARTERS, 45 DAYS AFTER MONTH CLOSE.
AND THEN THE LAST ONE IS A, UH, BECAUSE IT'S THE, THE END OF THE YEAR, IT'S, UH, A 60 DAY WINDOW IF I, IF I RECALL IT CORRECTLY.
ANY MORE QUESTIONS? SO WE HAVE ONE MORE, UM, TUNNEL DISCUSSION ITEM, AND I WANTED TO ASK THE BOARD IF WE CAN POSTPONE THIS FOR THE NEXT BOARD MEETING RELATED TO VEHICLE SYSTEMS. UM, OUR COLLEAGUE, UH, DR. BURNETT HAD TO GIVE A PRESENTATION FOR HER STUDENTS AS TODAY'S MOVING DAY FOR HOUSTON TILLSON.
AND I THINK THAT ALL OF THIS TECHNICAL UPDATES FROM STAFF, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY, THEY WORK SO HARD IN PREPARING THESE PRESENTATIONS, I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE THE ENTIRE BOARD PRESENT.
SO WHAT DO Y'ALL THINK? CAN WE MOVE THIS LAST, UM, ITEM FOR THE NEXT MEETING? WHAT, YEAH, I I'M IN FAVOR OF IT 'CAUSE I HAVE TO DROP OFF IN TWO MINUTES MYSELF.
YEAH, NO ACTION ITEMS. THAT'S FINE WITH ME.
WE'RE GOOD WITH, WE'RE GOOD WITH THAT.
WELL, IF MR. ACHE IS DAVE KOVICH, UH, ALLOWING US TO GIVE HIM A LITTLE BIT OF A BREAK,
SO, UM, WITH THAT, UH, IF THERE'S NO ANY FURTHER QUESTIONS, DISCUSSION ITEMS, I'D LIKE TO THANK EVERYONE FOR YOUR ATTENTION AND FOR ALL OF YOUR EFFORTS AS WE MOVE THIS PROGRAM FORWARD AND, AND FOR ALL OF THE COMMUNITY THAT HAS TUNED IN AND WATCH.
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR BEING SO INTERESTED IN THE SUCCESS OF THIS PROGRAM.
[Additional Item]
COMMENTS[02:50:01]
OR ANYTHING THAT WE WOULD LIKE TO DISCUSS AT OUR NEXT BOARD MEETING? YES, CHAIR.UH, I JUST WANTED TO QUICKLY THANK THE, UH, THE, THE CTM TEAM OR THE, THE TECHNOLOGY TEAM THERE AT, AT A TP.
I KNOW I HAD A FEW GLITCHES GETTING ON AT THE START OF THE MEETING.
UH, BUT THEY ARE TERRIFIC AND, AND THEY HAVE, THEY HANDLE EVERYTHING THAT, THAT WE NEED AND MAKE US, UH, TRANSPARENT FOR THE PUBLIC AS WELL.
I WOULD JUST, UH, MENTION A, UH, AS I MENTIONED EARLIER, THERE'D BE AN OPEN HOUSE IN SEPTEMBER.
WE'LL GET AN INVITE OUT TO YOU ALL.
UM, OBVIOUSLY WE'RE WATCHING COVID, BUT ALSO WHEN WE CAN HAVE THE OPEN HOUSE AT, AT THE, THE NEW PROJECT CONNECT OFFICE.
AND SECOND, OBVIOUSLY WE'LL BE KEEPING AN EYE ON COVID, UH, DETERMINE HOPEFULLY WE'LL BE ABLE TO DO THIS MEET IN PERSON NEXT TIME.
UH, THIS WAS A GOOD, UH, FIX OBVIOUSLY FOR RIGHT NOW.
HOPEFULLY WE CAN ALL STAY SAFE AS COMMUNITY AND GET BACK TO MEETING IN PERSON NEXT MONTH AND WE'LL BE IN CONTACT ABOUT, UH, THE, HOW, THE RISK AND ALSO IF WE'RE EVEN LEGALLY BASED ON THE GOVERNOR'S ORDER.
SO, UH, WITH THAT I JUST REALLY, AGAIN, THANK THE BOARD FOR ALL YOUR SUPPORT AND ATTENTION TO THIS INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT PROGRAM.
AND, UH, THANK THE STAFF AS USUAL.
THEY, AND I REALLY, REALLY SINCERELY, UM, APPRECIATE THESE, THE BOARD MEMBERS RECOGNIZING THE WORK OF THE STAFF.
THEY, UH, AGAIN, I JUST GET TO SIT HERE AND TALK.
THEY ARE DOING A FANTASTIC JOB.
I, I, CONCURRENT THANK YOU FOR ALL OF THE STAFF, UM, BOARD MEMBER STRATTON, DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY? NO, YOU'RE JUST GIVING CHEERS TO THE STAFF.
AND I KNOW PROBABLY MAYOR ADLER WILL TUNE IT BACK IN, UH, WHEN WE'RE ADJOURNED THIS MEETING.
BUT, UM, THIS CONCLUDES THE MEETING OF THE LC.
WE'RE ABOUT TO CLOSE THE MEETING AND WE'RE, WE HAVE POSTPONED ONE OF THE ITEMS REGARDING THE, THE VEHICLE SYSTEMS FROM MR. UH, WITH DAVE
EVERYONE CAN BE PRESENT AND I APPRECIATE EVERYONE'S TIME.