1. Home
2. About
3. Advisory Board
4. Meeting Minutes
5. Advisory Board Meeting - June 29, 2017

APPROVED Advisory Board Meeting Minutes

Thursday, June 29, 2017

The MetroWest Regional Transit Authority (MWRTA) Advisory Board met on Thursday, June 29, 2017 at 11:00 am, at 15 Blandin Avenue, Framingham, MA, at the call of Joseph Nolan, Advisory Board Chair/Wayland.

In attendance were:Edward Carr/Administrator, Joseph Nolan/Wayland/Chair, Ed Burman/ Ashland/Clerk, Cheryl Tully Stoll/Framingham, Brian Herr/Hopkinton, Jack Hunter/Hudson, Nick Milano/Marlborough, Harold Rhodes/ Milford – Alternate, James Errickson/Natick, Kathleen Bartolini/ Southborough, Debra Galloway/Sudbury.

Not in Attendance: Patrick Moynihan/General Counsel, Jay Marsden/Holliston/Vice Chair, James Gorman/Sherborn, William Kingkade (Buckley)/Milford, Susan Stocker/Disabled Community, Craig Hughes/ Dover, Ellen Gibbs/Wellesley, Weston.

MWRTA Consultant/CFO: John Glynn.

MWRTA Staff:Eva Willens/Deputy Administrator, Carl Damigella/Outreach Coordinator,

Sara White/Director of Marketing/Communications & Intermodal Operations, Ieshia Price and

Joy Glynn/Administrative Assistants.

Kiessling Transit, Inc.:Chuck Curran.

Additional Attendees: 3

Chairman Joe Nolan, presiding, declared a quorum was present. A roll call of members present was conducted and the meeting was called to order at 11:02 am.

Minutes of the previous meeting:

A motion was made by Joe Nolan: Approval of minutes from the last Advisory Board Meeting of April 18, 2017.

Second.The vote was unanimous

Public Questions/Comments:

A request was made by Joe Nolan for any public comments from the audience. With no comments being expressed, the meeting continued.

Administrator’s Report:

Invites for ribbon cutting on June 30 were changed to July 20th at the request of Lt. Governor Polito and Secretary Pollack will be in attendance, the invite list of 2,000+ have been notified.

Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) Project is coming to fruition, first pump will hopefully be this summer.

Solar Canopies Project will be our next project at the Blandin Ave Facility then possibly for the Framingham Intermodal, this project will be similar to the MBTA Solar Canopies.

Board Comments:

Line up the press coverage for the first CNG pump!

MWRTA Revised Budget 2017, Preliminary Budget 2018, Financial Management Written Policies & Procedures:

MWRTA CFO John Glynn, presented the Budget work paper along with discussion of FY17 budget analysis over the current fiscal year, indicating pursuant to our auditors request requires advisory board approval and/or revisions. He stated that in the initial 2017 Budget approved 6/20/16, Weston decided not to participate. The Revised 2017 Budget column represents what actually transpired during the course of the year. The Proposed 2018 Budget is based on anticipated Federal and State funding. The MWRTA is requesting Board approval of the Revised 2017 Budget and the Proposed 2018 Budget.

Q:Does the fuel increase coincide with transportation revenue?

A:Yes

Q:Would you explain the Interest Expense line item?

A:The line of credit has been accessed to acquire the East Street property. The increase in interest expense is the result of utilizing the line of credit.

Q:Why the increase in Administrative line item?

A:This is a result of our obligation to Framingham Retirement Board.FY17 $197k vs FY18 $312k.

Q:Would you explain Fuel Tax Rebate/Other line item?

A:The initial budget did not reflect actual increases in advertising revenue, maintenance revenue, and parking receipts.

Administrator: Framingham Downtown Renaissance (FDR) parking revenues is an enterprise fund, it will not be reflected in next year’s budget. We are not expected to make money on that, we are guaranteed to be held harmless.

Q: Why the decrease in ADA from $3.2 to $2.9 ?

A:$3.2 included Weston as part of the mix, but they chose not to not participate.

Q:Why did the 5307 budget increase?

A:MWRTA received $2.6M of 5307 Federal Formula Funds for Operating and Capital which is based on ridership. If the FTA allocation for Operating Revenue should change, the assessments could potentially be a challenge.Therefore, we have to plan accordingly.

Board Comment:We all have to tune in to what is happening in DC.

Q:Will there be additional Wellesley and Westborough JARC funding?

A:No.

Motion to approve the revised 2017 budget.

A motion was made by Brian Herr: MWRTA Advisory Board Approval of the Revised 2017 Budget as presented.

Second.The vote was unanimous.

Q:Are there any significant deviations to the Proposed 2018 Budget before we vote?

A:No, we do not have a number because the state has not passed the budget.

Comment:These numbers are a great reflection of the work being performed at the MWRTA.

Q:Can you provide us with a list of what the annual assessment would be vs. what they are here?

A:We can provide you with audited work statements.

Motion to approve the 2018 proposed budget.

A motion was made by Brian Herr: MWRTA Advisory Board Approval of the Proposed 2018 Budget as presented.

Second.The vote was unanimous.

CFO requested approval by the Advisory Board of the MWRTA Financial Management Written Policies & Procedures, which is required for audits and various grant applications.

Q:Is there anything within this document that MWRTA is not currently doing?

A:No.MWRTA is held to 4 audits: triennial, external, state, internal audit.

Q:What version of QuickBooks (QB) are you using?

A:We update QB every year with premiere software and have found it to be very user friendly.

Motion to approve the MWRTA Financial Management Written Policies and Procedures.

A motion was made by Joe Nolan: MWRTA Advisory Board Approval of the MWRTA Financial Management Written Policies and Procedures as presented.

Second. The vote was unanimous.

Board Comments:

Milford is very happy and pleased with the MWRTA transportation.MWRTA has been extremely responsive to the many requests.There was no vote taken as a separate article for the service, it has been incorporated into the Town’s Budget/Programs.Thank you for getting Milford involved!

The Chair acknowledged the MWRTA Staff is a great team.

Courtney Thraen, Director of the Framingham Downtown Renaissance, reported an 85% drop in crime recently in downtown Framingham.

Cheryl Tully Stoll/Framingham: There is currently a bill/legislation to put a 5 cent

deposit on nip bottles, this would take care of a lot of the litter issues.Framingham will share

this bill/legislation information with the Advisory Board.

Administrator:You will be receiving a letter with regard to a project Ed Burman and I are working on related to Councils on Aging (COA) vehicles.There is and has been a lot of activity here at Blandin Ave. and the Framingham Intermodal. We are spending funds before the June 30^th fiscal year end.The structure at 22 East Street came down this week and the parking lots at both locations are being paved.

Motion made by Joe Nolan: To adjourn the meeting.

Second: The vote was unanimous.

The meeting was adjourned at 11:31 am.Next meeting will be scheduled for September 2017.

Certificate

The undersigned being the duly qualified clerk of the MetroWest Regional Transit Authority Advisory Board, acknowledges that the foregoing minutes accurately reflect the actions

taken at a legally convened meeting of the Advisory Board held on June 29, 2017.

________________

Ed Burman, Clerk

Quick Links