Transit District

NORWALK TRANSIT DISTRICT COMMISSIONER’S MEETING MINUTES AUGUST 26, 2021, AT 10:00 AM – NORWALK TRANSIT DISTRICT CONDUCTED VIA TEAMS MEETING ATTENDING Norwalk Transit District Commissioners: David Jaeger, Jr., Teams Participant Alice McQuaid, Esq., Teams Participant Norwalk Transit District Staff: Kimberlee Morton, CEO, Teams Participant Matt Pentz, CFO, Teams Participant Leslie Grattan, HR Consultant Jennifer Flores, HR Generalist – Teams Participant Andrew Gallagher, Manager of Safety and Security Katherine Hebert, Consultant Lori Hammill, Chief Logistics Officer Volod Zharay, Director Information Technology Public: There was no public representation. The meeting was called to order at 10:15 a.m. via Microsoft Teams. PUBLIC COMMENT Members of the public who wished to address the Commissioners were asked to do so. There were no other public participants in attendance. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA FOR THE AUGUST 26, 2021 Ms. Morton requested consideration of the addition of the agenda item pertaining to the extension of the existing Special Project Consultant contract. Commissioners Norwalk Transit District Commissioners’ Meeting Regular Meeting August 26, 2021 Page 1 McQuaid and Jaeger unanimously approved the adoption of the agenda with the addition. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF JULY 22, 2021 The minutes of the July 22, 2021, meeting of the Commissioners was unanimously approved as presented by Commissioners McQuaid and Jaeger. NTD Commissioners' Meeting Minutes 07222021.doc FINANCE UPDATE – MATT PENTZ Audit Update – FY 21 Mr. Pentz mentioned that the NTD year-end audit is moving along and that the workers comp audit results were received this week. He noted that outstanding items remain, and the external auditors are expected back on-site towards the end of September. HUMAN RESOURCES UPDATE Ms. Grattan provided the following HR Updates: Covid Update  64% of the NTD workforce is fully vaccinated with 9% having one dose completed. NTD will reach a 73% vaccination rate very soon. 27% of the workforce remains unvaccinated.  NTD experienced 3 Positive cases since the July 22nd meeting, all of which were unrelated. 2 employees were recovering and 1 has returned to work. Ms. Grattan stated that thankfully, no workplace spread has been identified.  On August 4th, Dr. Jason Orlinick and Nurse Barbara Spielman from Norwalk Hospital came to the NTD office to give a presentation with opportunity for questions for the vaccine hesitant. A dozen employees attended, the session was recorded for those who could not attend, and a few employees signed up for vaccines afterward.  8 hours of PTO was awarded to vaccinated employees with a sincere thanks from senior management.  A prize drawing will be held on September 30th IF the current 80% workforce vaccination goal is achieved by then.  HR has communicated with the Norwalk Health Department to advertise the local vaccine clinics in efforts to keep the community safe. Norwalk Transit District Commissioners’ Meeting Regular Meeting August 26, 2021 Page 2   On Tuesday August 31st HR will be presenting an overview of the CDC recommendations to managers in effort to increase understanding of the latest CDC recommendations. Staffing Update  A staffing agency has been retained to assist in filling the COO position.  Shop Manager resigned on Friday, August 20, 2021.  Mechanic B resigned on Monday August 23, 2021.  1 Mechanic has been offered a position, and another Mechanic offer is pending.  Transit Supervisor has been filled. Start date is September 13, 2021.  New Financial Analyst begins on Monday, August 30th  New money room counter started on August 23rd  Procurement Specialist has been identified and vetting process will begin.  A 2nd driver trainee class began on August 16th with 1 FT and 2 PT drivers. All together 4 FT and 3 PT drivers have been hired this summer, and 3 PT drivers have been promoted to FT.  HR is continuing driver recruitment efforts. Other HR Initiatives  A two-year contract for a digital employee communication system has been signed with Alert Media.  HR Personnel are continuing policy and procedural review, ongoing recruitment efforts and employee relations matters. Ms. Morton noted that many of the newly opened positions were a result of promotional opportunities and the result of drivers to lost CTTRANSIT operating divisions as they are currently undergoing a new hire campaign for service program enhancements. Commissioner Jaeger discussed the need to continue to focus our efforts on driver retention programs. Commissioner McQuaid stated that she was glad to hear about the increase in the vaccination rates and appreciated staff’s efforts on the COVID front. PROCUREMENT Ms. Hammill reported the following: Award Recommendation for Genfare Annual Software Support Agreement. Request concurrence in awarding a sole source procurement in the amount of $35,390.81 to Genfare a Division of SPX Corporation for the Software Support Agreement Gold Plan for period September 1, 2021, through August 31, 2024. Norwalk Transit District Commissioners’ Meeting Regular Meeting August 26, 2021 Page 3 Award Recommendation for Security Gate Repair Request concurrence in awarding a procurement in the amount of $47,756.08 to BPM Construction Inc. for the Security Gate Repair. The gates and controllers have met their useful life. Award Recommendation to Exercise the Option to extend the Bus Shelter Advertising Contract. Request concurrence to exercise the one-time option to renew the existing Bus Shelter Advertising Contract with Insite Street Media for a period of five years (August 29, 2021 – August 28, 2026). In consideration for said agreement, Insite Street Media shall pay to the District a fee of $500 per year per shelter or twenty percent (20%) of the Quarterly net advertising receipts, whichever is greater. A motion to approve the presented procurement related transactions was made by Commissioner Jaeger and seconded by Commissioner McQuaid, passes unanimously. FACILITY REHABILITATION PROJECT UPDATE Ms. Morton reported that CTDOT has directed the A & E Firm (Wendel) to prepare our facility for the operation of a 100% battery electric fleet per Governor Lamont’s statewide directive. The total cost of the project now sits at $28,257,111. Current funding shortfall is $952,736. This does not include the funding for the electric charging equipment needed for electrification nor does it include relocation costs and expenses. Increased costs due to short term operating expenses due to offsite operations and long-term electric expenses remain points of considerable concern to the NTD. Ms. Morton indicated she is not moving forward until such time the State provides its consent for full funding of all incremental costs affiliated with this project including the increased long term operating expenses. SAFETY AND SECURITY An Act Requiring Drivers of Paratransit Vehicle to Report Suspected Abuse, Neglect, Exploitation, or Abandonment of Elderly Persons Ms. Morton reported the newly passed statutory requirement places full responsibility on our paratransit operators to serve as mandatory reporters. This is similar to the requirement for schoolteachers in child abuse cases. Mr. Gallagher explained the details regarding the requirement for Elder Abuse reporting by paratransit drivers. He explained there is an online training component that will provide a certificate after successfully passing a test at the end of the course. The course is estimated to take at least one hour per driver but is taught at such a level that Norwalk Transit District Commissioners’ Meeting Regular Meeting August 26, 2021 Page 4 there are concerns for English as a second language for some of our drivers. CT Department of Social Services state they are aware, and translation is on their radar. EXTENSION OF THE SPECIAL PROJECT CONSULTANT CONTRACT Ms. Morton requested consideration of the extension of the existing contract held by TPM Connect for an additional six months through March 30, 2022, with no increase to the existing PO amount. Commissioners Jaeger and McQuaid unanimously agreed to the contract extension term. CEO UPDATE Hurricane Henri Ms. Morton provided an update of the handling of the recent hurricane threat. She advised the District moved all vehicles on Saturday evening to high ground at the Norwalk Community College overflow parking lot. This has been a long-standing agreement between the parties as the District offices are in the flood plain. As an additional precautionary measure security was obtained to protect our vehicles under constant surveillance due to the threat of catalytic convertor theft. On Sunday late evening we brought back enough vehicles to handle the first round of early morning pullout. We had an overnight team on Sunday evening consisting of maintenance, drivers, and administration. Beginning at 4:00 am we strategically brought back several more vehicles and had drivers in the second round of pullout pickup their vehicles at the community college and start the day from that remote location. This proved to be an opportunity for a real emergency exercise. We made pullout with only one late run! Ms. Morton applauded the efforts of the team members that went beyond the call of duty to ensure that our assets were fully protected during the two-day event. She additionally shared a copy of the appreciation note from the Union regarding the District’s handling of the situation. We had a tremendous support from all divisions of the District including maintenance, operations, and administration. Miscellaneous Items Ms. Morton addressed the following items: Oyster Festival to be held September 10-12 at Veteran’s Park and NTD will be a participant using the opportunity as a recruitment opportunity and a promotional event for our Wheels 2U service. APTA Transform Conference and Expo will be held November 7-10 in Orlando, Florida. She encouraged the Commissioners to consider attending as the District would receive Norwalk Transit District Commissioners’ Meeting Regular Meeting August 26, 2021 Page 5 the 2020 APTA AD Wheel award that was postponed from last year due to COVID. She also advised there are many educational sessions specifically for board members. Ms. Morton discussed the need to be more sensitive to the posting of minutes and meeting changes to ensure we are compliant with the FOI statutory meeting requirement notification process. Ms. Morton advised she would seek the assistance of a court reporting service to assist. ANY OTHER BUSINESS PROPERLY BROUGHT BEFORE THE BOARD No other business was noted. NEXT MEETING SEPTEMBER 23, 2021, 2021 AT 1:45 PM The next regularly scheduled meeting is scheduled for Thursday, September 23, 2021, at 1:45 PM. The Commissioners’ discussed canceling the meeting unless there is business that cannot wait until the next regularly scheduled meeting to be held on October 28, 2021, at 1:45 PM. At such time if it is determined that a meeting is needed it will be publicly noticed. ADJOURNMENT A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Commissioner Jaeger. Seconded by Commissioner McQuaid. Passes unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:58 AM. Respectfully submitted, Kimberlee A. Morton CEO Norwalk Transit District Commissioners’ Meeting Regular Meeting August 26, 2021 Page 6