| Operations
and Performance Roundtable Glen
Veal, Chairman Staff: Guests: Public Comment Period David Wehrly commented about the meeting summary. Wants to know the procedure used in the preparation of the minutes for the Roundtable meetings. Since the minutes are effectively of a public meeting, you can only have it one of two ways, you can either the minutes are prepared and issued by Public Works and once they are issued, comments can be made within the public forum, or all the participants have the opportunity to review and make any corrections/changes, etc. from the minutes. In this particular case the way the minutes are structured have left out two items, the most important one being the tasks which was a request on our part that the extended ferry proposal that was discussed at the last meeting and submitted to Public Works per the process that has been outlined by the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) being carried forward to the BCC from Public Works with whatever comments/recommendations Public Works might want to make. David Wehrly does not see the extended ferry proposal on the task list and per the prior meeting it was requested of Public Works to present to BCC and at the end of the meeting acknowledged that this would be put on the task list. The other part of that problem is that to have changes made to minutes outside the public process by anybody other than Public Works is probably illegal. *(Note: Public Works maintains that the Roundtable Meetings do not meet the statutory definition of “Public Meetings”. However, they are open to the public and the public’s participation is welcome.)* Discussion was held about the process of the way the meeting summaries are being handled. Per David he has not received any draft meeting summaries from previous meetings and has asked for them, Carl stated that this group is just getting started and that is probably why, David disagreed with this and stated that this group is the only group in the County that does not handle their meeting minutes properly and the group needs to adhere to the same process as other public meeting minutes. This matter referred to Steve Flude with how this will be handled. *(Note: Draft Meeting Summary will be distributed to all who request copies. However, until such time as the Board of County Commissioners officially memorializes the Roundtable, edits to the summaries will be made by/thru Public Works. Final summaries will be given to all who ask.)* Steve Flude stated that the extended ferry proposal was presented to Chal and at this time he is not going to present it to the BCC. David Wehrly stated that he wants to make sure this gets into the last meeting’s summary in terms of the request to take that forward and the fact it has been presented to Chal and at this time the decision is not to present to the BCC and that David would need to pursue this issue with Chal and the Commissioners. Steve Flude stated that regarding the public hearing nature of these meetings, his understanding is that in order for a meeting to be a Public Meeting it must to be advertised and as for these meetings, these Roundtable meetings are not public meetings but a meeting that the public is invited to. Glen Veal stated that as part of a procedural matter, he would like to suggest that if the public does attend and wishes to receive it that they do need to request it and it shouldn’t be implied that they will receive it without request, like Steve F. said is that if this was considered a Public Meeting then we should be inviting all the public to be here by notification and sending them all the meeting summaries and since this is not the case they are welcome to them but it shouldn’t be an expectation without request. Paula Tsitsiragos stated that she has great concern about the school bus/ferry issue. For 2 years now her children have been required to leave school 15-minutes early and also they arrive about 5-minutes late on the average everyday. We feel like that after 2-years everyone (i.e. School District, Transportation Garage, Public Works) to work together to have ferry that will accommodate the school children. Paula has spoken to the Superintendent, Ferry Committee, and the Ferry Manager and they assured her that the schedule will change October 1st that will accommodate the school schedule, but she is afraid that if it doesn’t begin then that they will be left behind. She refuses to continue the whole year like this because it is unfair to the children and the school. She thinks that something easily could be resolved. Glen V. responded that in the Task Force this was a big issue that was discussed and that by looking at the agenda for today’s meeting it looks like the schedule change maybe delayed due to facility accommodations for the new schedule not being complete. Also, this looks like it will be discussed during today’s meeting and can possibly come up with an alternative. Stella Tsitsiragos (Paula’s daughter) expressed that with her having to arrive late to school and leaving early it leaves her missing some studies and at the end of the day they do art, poetry and other activities which she likes and she misses them. Steve Cox asked Paula what time Stella’s school started. Paula stated that school begins at 9:00 a.m. with the bell ringing at 8:55 a.m. to bring the children into the classroom with class to begin at 9:00 a.m. Steve C. stated that the bus leaves Guemes about 8:40 – 8:45 a.m., depending on the traffic, and what does the bus do after leaving Anacortes? Paula stated that make one stop at 7th & I Ave. and then they go to Whitney’s school first and drop off Island View school second, and then Mount Erie. Usually Whitney isn’t late, Island View maybe at times late and Mount Erie always late. Dixon stated that he met with a group of parents on Thursday and discussed this issue. A suggestion would be to have an 8:20 a.m. ferry to alleviate the tardiness to school and a 3:45 p.m. ferry so the children would not have to leave school early, but this doesn’t take care of the two kids that go to Fidalgo that get out at 2:20 p.m. so additionally we would want a ferry at 3:10 p.m. At this meeting was also the bus driver to see if these ferry time changes would be feasible to do and she stated this would be good. This was a lengthy discussion that continued and the main concern is the school schedule and the ferry schedule and how to get the kids to and from school on time. Steve F. summarized what a proposed afternoon schedule would be to accommodate the children, it would be as follows:
David Wehrly advised Steve Flude to not just base the schedule decision on this input that Public Works needs to review these suggestions and take time to look at the overall schedule to see if this conflicts with anything else. Steve F. stated that he and Steve Cox do review these suggestions after the meetings and if there are any changes he notifies Glen Veal. David W. responded he wanted to make sure that it is clear Public Works is in charge. Steve
F. clarified that after the 4:10 p.m. run the schedule would then resume
on normal schedule; Steve C. replied that they would have to discuss that. Steve F. suggested moving to item #6e on the agenda which involves Paula, Stella, and Joe to receive their input since this involves them and then if they would like to leave they can do so. Steve C. began the discussion about the Student Identification Cards and how some students other than the Guemes Island children would try and ride the ferry free and with many new faces it is hard to tell which ones should be riding for free. Joe Sanders indicated that all the Guemes Island children would be taken to the Administration office on a given day and have their pictures taken and laminated onto a card for the children to use. This would also include the children on the Island that are home schooled. Steve
C. stated that he has thought about producing a newsletter with updates/changes
etc. and mail these to all the residents about any changes to keep them
informed. David Wehrly told Steve F. that he better check with John Flowers about the legality issues with using the I.D. cards and if a child doesn’t have theirs. Steve F. is well aware of this and it seems that it is agreed that this I.D. plan would be able to work. Roundtable protocols & procedures Discussion began about the status of the summary of tasks from the previous meeting. Steve F. provided a handout – Revised Roundtable Resolution with strikeouts that Steve F. felt didn’t pertain anymore and the italicized words are the words that will hopefully deal with some of the comments that Commissioner Munks has made to Steve F. over the past months, this is both in the Resolution and Attachment A. Carl Cady asked about the Deficit reimbursement report that was requested to be sent out. Steve C. stated that he has the information and will be e-mailing that out to Glen and he will forward to the appropriate people. This is also for the ferry ridership data. Item #4 – Check payment for frequent user tickets is on today’s agenda under item #9. Item #5 – Student I.D. cards have already been talked about earlier in today’s meeting. Item #6 – Schedule for facility modifications required for 20 minute ferry cycle. Carl Cady stated he wants to know if there is a schedule related to the facility modifications. Steve C. replied that a pre-construction meeting is scheduled for September 17th at 11:00 a.m. with the contractor, this is for the dolphins. The Falavolito property is in limbo and will be for awhile with the foreclosure issue going on. As for the dolphin repair on the Anacortes side, as soon as we meet with the contractor and he supplies us a work schedule we will let you all know. Again this affects the school business and about the closure of the ferry will be discussed later. Also publicized for Requests for Quote for specs, drawings, etc. for the small building to be built. Steve F. is going to discuss with the Traffic Dept. about the possible expansion of the road that goes up the hill on Guemes Island, this is a major issue that needs to help out the congestion problem. Steve C. stated he believes the Anacortes Parking Lot construction is pretty much on schedule. Offsite ticket purchases Steve C. stated this is an issue being held up by the negotiations with the Union and we have to figure out what we are going to do because we have to bargain the effects like we have discussed before. He has a Vendor Services Agreement and Request for Quote ready and will hold until we can actually put this forward. He will take it to the various stores around, he has talked to Food Pavilion, Safeway, Starbucks, Ace Hardware, Easy Street (they already handle the SKAT tickets), and Henderson’s. Dixon stated that the bowling alley also sells SKAT passes. Credit Applications are available for the public to fill out and then have to be reviewed by staff for approval, and there is a list that can be looked for these individuals/companies and make sure they have a credit application approved and on file. As of now, you can’t purchase ticket booklets through the mail. Any kind of changes need to be discussed with our labor attorney. Steve F. stated that per the County attorney, we are to wait to bring this topic up to the Union until negotiations have been taken care of; we are almost on the 2-year anniversary of no contract. Check Payment for Frequent User Tickets Marilee Fosbre stated that a couple of months ago the issue was brought up about purchasing tickets through the mail and it seems like we still do not have an answer for this issue. Steve F. pointed out that as you are aware of, Trisha Logue left Public Works and we have a new Controller, Jean Alden and has been here about a month and has been to the ferry. This is something that we are interested in doing but just haven’t had the time to meet with Jean and discuss this; Steve believes that this can happen. Marilee stated that we want an immediate solution and this is a high priority. New ticket media vs. audit requirements Glen Veal stated this is an issue that we are concerned about, we realize that what was initially talked about and what developed hasn’t necessarily been the same thing and in some situations the fares that were listed in the fare schedule haven’t been collected nor tickets been printed for them (i.e. bicycles, stowage). In general, the Committee would like a report if the County felt they could pass the audit requirement now because we realize that in a lot of cases the ticket misprinting has caused a lot of grief. Steve C. stated that all the tickets have been corrected and now reflects what is for (i.e. car/driver, adult walk-on). David Wehrly pointed out that Pierce County on their web page provide specifications in how the tickets are handled and in terms of that they can’t be torn out and those things. This information should be out on the Skagit County Web Page for the Guemes Ferry. Steve F. summarized stating a suggestion of documenting the procedure of how to handle the tickets. Also, made a note to check the resolution for the non-transferability issue per Dixon’s request. New schedule postponement Glen Veal stated that school runs has already been talked about. The question is since the new schedule has been postponed, is there a way to go back to the 3-person crew and use the new ticket media? Dixon asked what the hold up about going back to the 3-person crew? Steve F. stated that he hasn’t even thought about that. Steve F. stated that he would need to talk to the labor attorney because it is all related to the contract negotiations. The Ferry Committee believes that with this new system things haven’t gotten faster they have actually gotten slower, whether it be the new media or new transition. Steve Orsini stated that the 3-person crew is a very important issue. Steve F. stated that he has talked to Trisha Logue about the ticketing process and explained how it is handled and Trisha responded that it still wasn’t good enough and here are the reasons why. You need to have the first purser needs to make sure that the ticket books is valid, make sure there is a ticket in it, go to the next guy – the ticket must be in the booklet and that is how it got to where it is now. Steve O. said that this is the only ferry system that does not tickets on the ferry and Steve F. replied that Chal Martin has made the decision not to take tickets on the ferry for safety reasons and he doesn’t want to take the chance of an employee getting hurt. Why not have the tickets taken on the ferry while the ferry is not moving? Steve F. and Steve C. replied that is what is going to have to happen to go back to a 3-person crew, the ferry must not be moving while tickets are being taken on the ferry. David Wehrly suggested that the County look into an electronic ticketing system and Steve F. responded that the ferry terminal isn’t connected to the County main frame network; right now we have Verizon DSL there. That’s the biggest drawback is the technology isn’t as available as you would think, because there is no direct link. Ferry Outages during piling replacement/ Parking Lot Construction Steve F. stated that Steve C. gave you a rough timeline when we think we are going to have the pre-con. We won’t know exactly until we see his schedule as to what the work schedule is. The permit for the Guemes side says that either by November 1st or November 15th that the work has to be complete. One side will be done prior to the other depending on the timeframe. There is a timeframe for each side. Discussion continued on different options on how to get people on/off the islands during the piling replacement construction. These options are in the preliminary stages and still looking into them. Glen asked that after the September 17th pre-con meeting, Steve F. and Steve C. will pass on the information with the proposed work schedule etc. Discussion continued about the parking problems during outages. Suggest going back to the City of Anacortes and ask how we can set up a special policy about the Guemes Island residents being able to park on the city streets during outages. The Ferry Committee has also written a letter to the City about these parking issues. Round Table Resolution language Proposal Steve F. explained the resolution handout about which resolutions were included. Lost Propeller incident Carl Cady asked if there has been any investigation into the cause of the lost propeller and any recommendations to prevent this from happening in the future. Steve C. stated that yes there has in both cases. Steve C. reported it to the Coast Guard and has looked over the propeller and the propeller nut keeper sheared by something, what it was struck by we don’t know. The divers told Steve that the one dolphin had been hit and the barnacles etc. cleaned right off of it. Steve C. is guessing that might be what had happened and when it was hauled out you could see down along the side a skid mark. The propeller didn’t damage the shaft, it just slid right off of there, we replaced the key and it is now tighter and fits the new propeller tightly. Any recommendations to prevent it from happening in the future? This is the second time it has happened in 20-years and I have talked to other companies about this and I am not fond of this keeper. Were there any extraordinary costs associated with the Hoyland retirement? Can you reassure us that those costs will not be part of personnel expenses when it comes to setting ticket prices? Steve F. stated that it is too early to tell on the costs and the second question we have no idea. Carl Cady asked Steve C. if the repair on the bearing on the Anacortes side is a temporary or permanent fix? Steve C. replied that it is a temporary repair and we have a consultant and that contract to make a permanent repair is being looked at by the bridge engineer. The repair is perfectly fine for winter; the initial repair was a concern because you could see the bridge surging slightly and so they put a stop to that by the repair done by Dakota Creek. Meeting adjourned.
Additional
Roundtable Information
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