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Minutes 08-15-97 MINUTES OF THE CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP MEETING HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM "C", WEST WING, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 15, 1997, AT 3:30 P.M. PRESENT Jamie Titcomb Vice Mayor Matt Bradley, Commissioner. Shirley Jaskiewicz, Commissioner Kerry Willis. City Manager Sue Kruse. City Clerk Larry Roberts. Public Works Director CALL TO O~RDER Vice Mayor Titcomb called the meeting to order at 3:34 p.m., and announced that Mayor Taylor was unable to attend due [o a work conflict, The purpose of this meeting is to aiscuss the role of the Boynton Beach Transit Authority. in addition to the back-up material provided by Public Works· Commissioner Jaskiewicz distributed information that inciuOe(3 historical minutes and a newspaper article. Mr Roberts reported that Public Works has begun to "justify its existence" in almost all of ti~e decisions · ' made in that department. Mr. Roberts feels the B~ynton ·Be.ach Transit Authority requires tha..t.?re..belng~ ..... ~'~'*~, Lo ,o '° concerned about the fact that there is no re,ss,on, ~ate~e.n.~ for the jUstlnce[Ion..tVl[ r~uu~ . .._ ~--- *~,~ c~ncr~fions mav be too broadly denned. It appears [na[ uu Beach Transit Authority abe, ,nere~u~, u,~ ~- ....... particular riders have been targeted for service, n addition, Palm Tran has many services in the City of Boynton Beach. and we may be duplicating their efforts. · . - involved in the operation of the Boynton Beach Transit Authori[y. There ,s a slgmficant ~mou..nt o! mend. y^ ..... --.~:,~-, ...... will .~)end $238,794 to aery ce approximately The budget for ueoomlng fiscal year '1~11~0 'llUlU~o ~.~ ...... 20.000 ~assengers. The anticipated revenue is approximately $12.000 Therefore. our operating loss will amount to $226.794. These figures calcu ate to $11.34 per passenger. · ' 's in ut about whether or not to better target the customers we Mr. Roberts hoped to g. et the ,Cor~ml.s, slon . P .......... ,..4;~:,o concent or [~ossibly look at a re attem tin to service, reoeslgn me system ,o u~u ~,u~,y ~,,,~,~nt . ~,'_ L.'._~ ~ifferent coPncgeet that would service the majority of the peo~le who are now using ,ne uu~ When this system was originally set up, it was done so to supplement the CoTran service in Boynton Beach. At that time, the service was very limited. However. Palm Tran has added se~era~ routes to the City [hat may be competing w th the Boynton Beach Transit.Authority. Mr. Roberts reeuested direction '*om the Commission relative to moving forward with this service. Vice Mayor Titcomb questioned whether any grant revenues are still being applied to ti~is service. advised that this service s funded with gas tax momes. The grant funds were used Mr..Robe~s ..... ~-~ ~'uses were nurchased by Palm Tran, and leased back to the Ci~ty' at a cost of 51u~PU' r_cna per yea~.- ~"'as tax monies are also used for street lighting, sidewalks, street pawng, and drainage. sorter Jaskiewicz said the orig na~ intent of the gas tax .evenues was to provide 50% for Commis ' loner Jask ewicz feels [he *~nsnortation and 50% for infrastructure expenses. Furt?rmore, Comml~s.. ; ....... .~ ,~, ...... ~'~y ~s ~-~-en specific from the onset of this service that the target group is ,ne e~ue.y ¢,,~ other means of transportation Commissioner Jaskiewicz commended Mr. Roberts for the have no ............ ~-cted but she pointed out that it is not truly representative because passenge . . Y. ............. *ha when mam~ of the riders are not here. In aCdtt~on, she doe? no, wa? deOr~l~a~l~rge ~s~;'~ ~'n~'i'~'~;~tion that the I~cal bus serv ce would baa stx-day-aFweek operat,on. behev MEETING MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA AUGUST 15, 1997 Als<: a twelve-hour aay is not necessary. Although Palm Tran operates approximately five routes in the City. they do not travel the same exact Iccp as the route traveled by Boynton Beach Transit Authority. In many cases, using Palm Tran. t is necessary to transfer to get from one location to another within the City of Boynton Beach. Using a map, Mr. Roberts showed the Palm Tran routes and the Boynton Beach Transit Authority routes. He explained that Boynton Beach Transit Authority uses a circulation pattern that serves the City. The buses run along most of the routes that Palm Tran offers. Mr. Roberts introduced Joe Haigood, Transportation Crew Leader. who reported that during the season. approximately 70% of the dders are (rom the target group. During the off-season, approxi,mately 60% of the riders are from the target group. Mr. Haigood advised that although there are designated stops, Boynton Beach Transit Authority stops at other locations if someone flags the bus. If the rider cannot be serviced by the City bus. the driver will provide a transfer to Palm Tran Our transfers are interchangeable with Palm Tran. Commissioner Jask~ewicz advised that she met with Mr. Roberts recently to discuss the bus service, and there was a suggestion made about expanding the successf~ shopper hopper service into more communities within the City, or running the service more frequently or for a onger time span. Commissioner Jaskiewicz reminded the Commissioners that Boynton Lakes ana Golfi/ieW Harbour are part of the expanded service routes: however, they are not indicated on the sheets included in the back- up material. She oointed out that once a service is offered to s community, it ~s exl~remely difficult to eliminate that service. Althougn there may be only one or two pickups in Boynton Lakes at this time, it is off-season and many of the people who would use the service are not in town at this time. This service was not available during the season and. therefore, we have no way of knowing what the ridership will be. Commissioner Jaskiewicz further pointed out that through the use of the City's newsletter, we would be able to p~ olish more precise bus schedules that should assist in ~ncreas~ng ddership. At Mr. Roberts' request, Mr. Haigooa devised a shopper nopper system that will function in lieu of the existing system. (This proposal is available n Public Works Department Memorandum #97-190 datec August 13 1997.) This proposal will require two buses. Manpower aha ouses wc~uld be drastically reducea. The City would have to maintain two buses to accommodate overfill from the r~rst bus. When Commissioner Jaskiewicz :)ointed out that Bethesda Memorial Hospital was not included as one of the designahons, Mr. Ha good explained that Bethesda was not included because this proposal only includes areas where groups of people can be picked up. Commissioner Jaskiewicz feels Bethesda must be included oecause many of the riders visit doctors in this area. City Manager Willis said the City is trying to target the areas that have been using the shopper hopper successfully. We want to service areas where we car attract a group of people to go to a shopping center or another service. If the hospital is included, it will become an individual service. Mr. Roberts believes the City will benefit if it can designate this service as a shuttle. Although we have ADA equipment, those pickups are being handled by SpecTran, Jeanne Cantelmi. of Palm Tran explained that a Request for Probosals to privatize those services is current y being written. City Manager Willis repor[ea that our contract exbired on January 2. 1997. We have ar option of extending for an additional four-year period under the same conditions and annual lease fee. Mr. Roberts added that during a meeting with Palm Tran. they expressed an interest in putting together a new agreement because the current agreement is very soecific about what we do with the buses. If we 2 MEET NG MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA AUGUST '15, '1997 renew with the service we are currently providing, they would be very flexible in setting up another type of lease that would provide us with flexibility. Vice Mayor Titcomb asked what assurances we have that we would pe providing service to various communities if an expanded shopper hopper service were accepted Mr. Haigooo suggested setting up a system whereby riders n a community requesting service purchase a monthly pass up front Vice Mayor Titcomb noted that most of the destinations are commercial areas. He questioned whether any thought nas peen given to the concept of getting subsidies from the commerc al enterp'rise centers. City Manager Willis was of the opinion that no such attempt has been made. This service has always been run through a grant from the Federal government and the County (CoTran - Irving Cure). We were encouraged to participate even though not many cities participate. Commissioner Jaskiewicz explained that at one of the recent MPO meetings, there was ditscussion about the problems Pa m Tran is facing being unable to reach all of the citizens. However, it ~as noted that ridership was best in the cities where there is a feeder service. She explained that this Cerv~ce was never intended to be a revenue-producing system. Commtss~oner Bradley pointed out that it was not supposed to be subsidized to this degree either. We expected much higner ridership. Commissioner Jaskewcz agreed that t s necessary to reduce our costs, and conourred that we are operating far too many hours. She suggested that a workshop meeting be held with all of rthe people who are currently using the service in order to get their input. City Manager Willis assured the Commissioners that today's meeting was noticed as a~'e all workshop meetings. She reminded Commissoner Jaskiewicz that the proposal would not a,~versely affect the largest group of riders (shopper hopper riders). It will eliminate the fixed route whicn is duplicating the current Palm Tran routes. We would like to restructure the service to effectively utili; e ~:he funds. City Manager Willis would ike to set aside some of the funds for a street lighting standard in the neighborhoods and a sidewalk program. Vice Mayor Titcomb asked Ms. Cantelmi to explain how dropping our fixed route would ~ffect Palm Tran. Ms. Cantelmi explained that when the City of Boymon Beach originally put together th,~ system, it was to supplement CoTran It was always believed that the system would be a feeder to Pain T~'an. As long as the City's routes go to the Mall and Bethesda. they will connect to Palm Tran Palm i'ran, as a County system, cannot go into all of the communities. If the City maintains its fixed route is a duplication of Palm Tran's efforts. Commissioner Bradley realizes that we will not be able [o please everyone, in his opinion, when you consider the overa benefit to the taxpayers of the City we will not be considered goQd stewards of the City's funds by running this type of service. Although it will upset some people by deing away with the fixed route, he feels we shou d go to the expanded shopper hopper route. We must have some way of assessing what we are accomplishing and have a mechanism by which we eliminate groups if they are not utilizing the service. This might be able to be used in connection with a voucher sy&tem. Mr. Roberts feels that by expanding the shopper hopper route, we will gain flexibility we do not have with the fixed route criteria. MEETING MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA AUGUST t5, t997 Arthur Rowe is a -esident of Nautica. He is a past rider of LiftTran ana is a daily rider of Palm Tran. Prior to the implementation of Palm Tran service, Mr. Rowe was a dally dder of the Boynton Beach Transit Authority. Mr. Rowe ~s the District ~11 representative for the Palm Tran Access Advisory Board. This board was formed in April. and there have peen ongoing discussions about SpecTran Mr. Rowe advised that he was the only LiftTran rider in the City of Boynton Beach for one and one-half years Mr. Rowe explained that there are five senior citizen developments n western Boynton Beach on Lawrence Road that have no access to service either from Boynton 3each Transit Authority or Palm Tran. Palm Tran provides service to communities along Lawrence Road north of Gateway; however there is no service on Lawrence Road south of Gateway Boulevard. Mr. Rowe explained that he was responsible for getting [wo developers on Lawrence Road to install two concrete slabs for bus stops. It is his opinion that any developer building a community in Boynton Beach should be required to install a concrete slab for a bus stop. He also pointed out that there is no transportation on Woolbright Road. Vice Mayor Titcomb explained that most of the areas Mr. Rowe mentioned are outside the jurisdiction of Boynton Beach Transit Authority. Mr. Rowe repot[ed that Palm Tran and Boynton Beach Transit duplicate service on several occasions. Ne said Palm Tran has three Buses that service Tri-Rai]. and Boynton Beach Transit Authority has two ouses servicing Tri-Rail. However none of the five buses meet any of the trains that arrive at Tri-Raii. In addition, the Palm Tran BUS that traveled through the downtown area of Boynton Beaich has now ~een discontinued to the northwest part of the City. In order for Mr. Rowe to get to downtown Boynton Beach. he will have to take two Buses. Ms. Cantelmi agreed that Pa m Tran has made some route changes that will Become effective on Sunday. Some of the Boynton Beach routes have been changed, but most of the chhn~es involve trip cuts at the end of the day because of iow ddership. No changes have been made in the east City of Boynton Beach area. Route 72 has been changed to service Bethesda Health City on Boynton Beach and Jo Road Ms Cantelmi exo a ned that every three months Palm Trar~ addresses public Boulevard g . . concerns about the routes She is certa n that as Lawrence Road builds up, Palm Tran w II receive many requests from the 9ublic for service. At that time Pa m Tran will look at r dership, and where ridersh p s poor the routes will be changed. Commissioner Jaskiewicz agreed that th s s the most appropriate way of responding to this situation. She recommended that the City consider an all-inclusive route on Tuesday, Thursday, an~l Saturday and a fixed route on Wednesday and Friday. She recommended that there be no more thad three runs per day. Mr. Roberts felt this suggestion would create confusion with the public. In addition City Manager Willis reiterated that we are [wing to go in one direction or another. Fixed routes require responsibilities regarding ADA and the number of buses required. Vice Mayor Titcomb referred to staff's recommendation to go to an improved and expanded shopper nopper shuttle service Mr. Roberts confirmed his belief that a shuttle-type service would Be better than a fixed-route type of service If that plan does not work. we can have the flexibility to change it. Vice Mayor Titcomb ~nqu~red as to whether or not we should anticipate a problem running this type of service where There is a perception that public dollars are funding it. but certain communities are receiving the bulk of the service He further questioned whether having a miss[on statement that specifically targets the elderly and those without transportation will help us escape those problems. MEETING MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA AUGUST 15, 1997 Mr. Roberts advised that in an effort to move the City away from those criticisms areas have been included in the proposal that were not included in the prewous service. In addition, City Manager Willis pointed out thai condos are population centers. However. we are attempting to deterr~ine where other popu ation centers are outside of the condo classification. Vice Mayor Titcomb said he would support the st'afl position on this issue in trying to develop a shuttle service system that will serve the people. He wants to make certain there is a mechanism for feedback and the flexibility to move the routes, Mr. Roberts offered to generate a report that will show where the riders are coming from. Vice Mayor Titcomb fee~s we need to identify the City's role in providing service for the few difficult cases where we will not get the numbers of riders. Commissioner Bradley suggested that staff provide the Commission with some scenarios demonstrating cost savings involved in eliminating some of the buses and personnel, That information should be brought back at the Seotember 2 C~ty Commission meebng. Vice Mayor Titcomb also recommends that staff provide announcements in advance of losing the fixed routes and provide a forum for feedback. Commissioner Jaskiewicz would not oppose variations in the routes, but she wants all areas currently being serviced included in any future plans. This service is being provided too frequently each day, and we do not qeed the service six days per week or 12 hours per day. In addition the destinations must be broadened to include Bethesda Memorial Hospital. In response to Commissioner Jaskiewicz' question about the liming of this new service Mr. Roberts explained that a couple of the bus drivers have left the City's employ. No replacements have been hired. If direction is provided by the Commission to go forward. Mr. Roberts will begin the hiring process. City Manager Willis confirmed that the direction of the Commission is to bring this issue back on the September 2 City Commission meeting for adoption of a formal recommendation and set the time frame as October 1 to do away with fixed routes. We will work with Palm Tran on a new agreement for whatever type of service the Commission decides on, and we will revise the budget numbers. City Manager Wi is wou c ~ke to earmark approx mately $50.000 of gas tax funds for s~reet rght'ng and $50.000 of gas tax funds for a sidewalk program. When Commissioner Jaskiewicz questioned why the 12 hours of operation per day h~ave not yet been reduced, Mr. Roberts exp a ned that the interlocal agreement with Palm Beach County requires public hearings when changing the schedules. We r~ave not felt we had the flexibility t~ arbitrarily make changes in the system. Comm ss~oner Jaskiewicz reported that a $1 million grant wi be going to Lake Worth for their bus system. She asked if we could apply for a similar grant. City Manager Willis explained that this grant is to replace their roiling STOCK. The agreement with Palm Tran does that for us. SUMMARY Vice Mayor Titcomb summarized that the Commission would like to see some proposals made based on the staff recommendation for changing our current shopper hopper/fixed route system into a more efficient shopoer hopper system that still services all of the current demographics and geographies. This information will be brought forward to the September 2na City Commission meeting. These proposals will include cost esbmates of the savings in comparison to the service evel and provide for public input regarding the changes, Public notices are to be sent to the larger neighborhood associations, 5 MEETING MINUTES CITY COMMISSION WORKSHOP BOYNTON BEACH. FLORIDA AUGUST 15, 1997 Commissioner Bradley recommended that ti~e destinations be changed to include Bethesda Memodal Hospital and grocery shopping for VRG, Mr. Roberts will prepare draft mission statements for rewew by the Commission. He will also prepare a map showing the shopper hopper loops. City Manager Willis questioned whether the Commission would ue interested in considering a system that would accommodate a monthly or annual pass. In addition she pointed out that the City is making only $12,000 on this service. She inquired as to whether or not the Commission would be interested in subsidizing this service completely. Commissioner Bradley recommended that Mr. Roberts include these possibilities in the prQposals. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before [fie Commission. the meeting properly adjourned at 4:46 p.m. ATTEST: CityCOlerk CITY OF BOYNTON BEACH Vice,,~Cayo r / Commissioner Commissioner 6