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MINUTES OF THE APRIL 3, 2008 - 9:00 A.M..
Mr. Nothenberg stated that a quorum was present and called the meeting to order at 9:15 a.m. Present:
Absent:
Also Present:
2. Introduction of Sonali Bose., CFO of SFMTA Ms. Bose introduced herself and noted that she has been working with Rudy Nothenberg on the Revenue Panel and was very excited that SFMRIC was reconvening and hoped it would start meeting on a regular basis. 3. Public Comment No public comment was received. 4. Approval of minutes of the Board meeting of September 29, 2006 On motion to approve the minutes of the September27, 2006 meeting: Unanimously approved subject to any corrections and errors that any member wishes to call to Joanne Carr’s attention after having read them. Mr. Scott Emblidge pointed out that Mr. Jamie Slaughter was elected to the Board at the last meeting and that he is not listed as a member. Mr. Slaughter was notified of today’s meeting but was unable to attend. (Ozan, Moylan, Slauter-absent). 5. Trustees Report Andrew Fung of US Bank stated that the trust account balance is approximately 3.5 million dollars. Victor Ume stated that as of now all funds are uninvested. Rates have been going down. Recommends short term investments – 6 months to 1 year. When rates go up funds can be invested in longer term. Money market rates at this time are 1.5 - .9%. Construction fund has $945,000; Operations has $56,000, and Equipment has $2,865,000. Recommendation to invest in short term – six months. Or half invested for six months and half invested for 1 year. Tom Escher asked what would happen to the money if US Bank failed. Nancy Lenvin requested that General Counsel take a look at the agency’s contract to determine how the funds are held. This would confirm that the funds would not be the assets of a “bankrupt” estate. Rudy Nothenberg asked if the City’s Controller could hold these funds rather than having them held by a third party and pay fees for that since the amount is now much less than it has been in the past. A request was made to receive a letter from the trustees with answers to the following questions: 1. How are funds held? 2. In whose name are they held? 3. How secure are the funds in the event of a bank failure? If the letter answering these questions cannot be delivered by April 15 then a letter explaining that, should be. Rudy Nothenberg said that the Board is not concerned with the investment policy of the bank but with the security and access in the event something happens to the bank. In the meantime, Rudy asked if the money should be invested. He asked how the money would be invested, The response was the money would be invested in 6 month government agency notes at 2%. Sonali Bose asked what the yield would be for 90 days, the response was under 2% and for 1 year, maybe 2.3%. Rudy said while waiting for the letters asked for above, invest 3.5 million for 6 months. Let Scott Emblidge know what it is invested in. Sonali asked if a document will be sent to the agency. Scott Emblidge gets a monthly statement. Sonali requested a copy of the monthly statement. 6. Financial Statements Accepted without objection. Eloida Leonardo – 5 projects that SFMRIC has committed funds to. Data in documents is as of December 2007. Rudy Nothenberg – absence any new commitments, outstanding obligations of 2.464 million and available cash of 3.8 million. Rudy Nothenberg is concerned that the existing commitments, made years ago, have not had any action in 2 or more years. Before any new commitments are made the SFMRIC Board would like to hear the status of the projects. Sonali introduced Shahnam Farhangi, Acting Deputy Director of Transit Development. SFMRIC Grant 54 – Islais Creek Coach Operating and Maintenance Facility. This has been challenging issues with access, the land is owned by CalTrans. Recently SFMTA has acquired a “Right of Entry” to the area which has allowed them to move forward with the permitting process. SFMTA is negotiating with CalTrans regarding ownership. Eminent domain has been explored. There have been several redesigns of the facility to accommodate new technology and buses including hybrids and double decker buses. Current schedule allows negotiation for design changes rapidly. Design will not be completed until next February, once the design is completed the work will go out to bid immediately and contract will be awarded by September 2009. Final completion expected in 2012. Original date of completion was 2010. Rudy Nothenberg stated that the balance of commitment for Grant 54 is $654,000 Nancy Lenvin is concerned with the rate of inflation the funding will fall short to complete construction. Shahnam Farhangi replied that they are currently seeking other funding to complete the project. SFMRIC Grant 56 – Accessible Vans Paratransit Debit Card Program RFP issued 2 years ago. Original contractor had financial problems. Taxi companies wanted to choose their own equipment. Contract was terminated about 1 year ago. A new contract being negotiated in taxi equipment. Paratransit broker is going to supply equipment. Completion date June 2009. Is the 1.3 million already spent (SFMRIC funds) not recoverable. Is the balance of 3.3 million enough to get the program going? Rudy Nothenberg asked what assurances can be given that the same thing won’t happen again. Shahnam Farhangi responded that all concerns have been addressed. Nancy Lenvin feels the cab companies will be motivated to stay in the program, it provides income for them. James Ludwig stated that he needed to leave in 5 minutes. Sonali Bose introduced Margurite Fuller to give an overview of the projects that Muni would like to request funds for. Civic Center Decorative Pole – no discussion; will wait until a later meeting Operator Restrooms Phase IV – money requested is for design. If request for funds was postponed, how would the project be affected? Jim Walsh, Project Manager, said it would just delay the project for a short time. Fall Protection System – were already to go to contract; need funding ASAP Central Control Facility – certain elements of Central Control System; majority of funding has been spent in the past few months. Patty DeVleig described the project as 3 different projects. Improvements to the existing facility – half of SFMFRIC funds allocated and matching funds have been spent. A new request for a major initiative to build a new facility and an interim facility while the new facility is being built. Goal is to have this facility completed before the Central Subway is completed in 2015. This is also a systems improvement project being pursued under a separate contract. 300K seed money requested for these projects. Rudy Nothenberg stated that he had a problem with approving 300K for mostly in-house staff. He asked if there was a way to space the approvals so that funds could be allocated as work is completed. Motion was revised to fund 150K for the Central Control Project subject to getting a detailed plan for the expenditure that satisfies the SFMRIC Board prior to the release of any funds. At this point there was no longer a quorum and the rest of the meeting was for information only. Geneva Canopy Project – first time a design/build project was attempted by Muni. RFP issued in November 2006 – only one proposal was received and it was way over budget. Muni negotiated with contractor and has been successful in getting a lower bid. Historical Streetcar Project – presented by Elson Hao. Funds were allocated for Streetcar #1. RFP issued in October 2006; 2 bids received in Jan/Feb 2007. Next meeting should be scheduled in June.
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