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Home My WebLink About2013-52 MTSC Report 13Aug13 Communication No. 2013-52 m MASS TRANSIT Subcommittee of the PCDP C $&Qrt to PCDP Action Com m ittu Date: 8.13.13 Members- steph b., marlene h.,dan t., russell j.,jon o.,June c., sharon d.,terry d., marty m.,jerry r., mark h., hannah h. Madam chair, Mr. Brown and members of the action committee, on behalf of the MT subcommittee of the PCDP, I'm here to transmit the meeting minutes for our meeting held on July 23, 2013 at the Kea'au Com. Cent. For this meeting the minutes were recorded and written be me. They are attached for your reference. Recently, we had a leadership change and a recorder was not available in time. This vacancy should not continue very long. One of our subcommittee members suggested that they record the meeting to create a more accurate record. There were a few highlights that are relevant. 1. Attached is the report of our meeting with MTA Administrator Tiffany Kai. 2. Kristin Hashimoto from Greggor Ilagan's office attended the meeting. She was receptive to the request that the PCDP and its subcommittees be made aware of critical actions related to development matters in Puna especially concerning mass transit and its impact on the village centers. She also encouraged continuation of the collaborative model that is beginning to take shape between disparate interested community groups and leadership officials. 3. We are continuing to gather information on the current federal funding initiative for mass transit named MAP-21 on the FTA website. Rusty Jones, one of our subcommittee members is working on behalf of Mark Hinshaw's groups to develop a set of reference materials that the County of Hawaii might tap to help expand our hele-on bus service. 4. There were several operational difficulties that need to be worked out by the subcommittee. As I understand, subcommittees are not bound by the strict rules of conduct that action committee members must abide by. Since there are action committee members on our subcommittee, this creates an awkward situation with different subcommittee members having different expectations and needs. In the corning months we hope we can alleviate this discrepancy to help restore structure, efficiency and productivity. 5. Stephanie Bath requested that she step down as co-chair of the Mas Transit Subcommittee. Thanks for your time and efforts. Respectuful ly submitted. If you have any questions, I'm available at your convenience. Aloha. Mass Transit Subcommittee of the PCDP Meeting Notes/Minutes—July 23, 2013, recorded and issued by marty mimmack, chair The chair called the meeting to order at 5:45 at the kea'au com. cent. Members Present: steph b., marlene h., dan t., russell j.,jon o.,june c., sharon d.,terry d., marry m., and jerry r., Member(s) Absent: mark h.,hannah h. • kristin hashimoto was introduced. she is a legislative aide from greggor pagan's office. kristin was given 2 packets of information covering the subcommittee's recent activities, actions and findings as well as recent meeting minutes, she took notes and indicated she was there to listen. She also encouraged our efforts at collaboration and the subcommittee requested that greggor refer citizens, stakeholders, elected reps. And others to the PCDP process regarding Mass transit planning and related actions. • June Conant reported on the meeting with Tiffany Kai. Her report and follow up were submitted to the subcommittee. There was a discussion about why the bus stop,routing infrastructure and scheduling criteria was not discussed with tiffany and a motion was made(by steph. B.) and passed to follow-up by developing our own criteria because of a report by john olson that Tiffany is an interim administrator and may not aware of criteria if it exists. There was also concern raised about a plan by zendo kern to possibly locate the kea`au bus terminal mauka of hwy. 11 near the town center. • Jon olson shared extensively regarding the plans for Pahoa's bus hub,it's location, needs and federal, state and county involvement. • Rusty Jones shared about the federal transit administration's current funding programs for mass transit called map-21.Marlene Hapai suggested that it is the County's responsibility to go of er funding not our committees. • The last 30 minutes of the meeting were used to talk about various topics and certain subcommittee operational policy matters. The operational concerns involve robert's rules, meeting etiquette and when certain subjects can be discussed.No decisions were made though the chair noted them for discussion at the next meeting. ■ Steph b. submitted her verbal resignation as subcommittee co-chair. Her written resignation was submitted via email to the remaining chair on july 19, 2013. Next meeting is August 27th. The meeting was adjourned at 8:15p.m. Report of PCDP AC Subcommittee Meeting with Mass Transit,July 2, 2013 Patti Pinto, standing in for Marty Mimmack, June Conant, and Larry Brown met with Tiffany Kai, Mass Transit Administrator and Bill Brilhante, County Counsel to discuss the future of Hub N Spoke bus service in Puna. June started off with asking what possible plans the County has toward this concept and the fact that Keaau is key to any efforts. Tiffany said that Mass Transit has already been in talks with Shipman regarding the vacant lot near the Keaau Market and across from the gas station on Old Volcano Road. She said she will give us information on that negotiation. She also stated that there is money in the budget for a bus shelter to be constructed on this site. We also mentioned that Zendo Kern has some plans for a possible Keaau bus terminal on the mauka side of the highway. We all stated that it would be preferable to have the stop closer to the business area rather than across the highway. Since there will be a new HMSA call center and business building built across the street from the Keaau market, a bus stop/shelter there might not be feasible. However, the busses could loop around the market area so they are always on the right side of the road. The Puna bus drivers have been keeping tabs on the ridership in the different Puna subdivisions and she will share that information with us. Larry gave a rundown of the proposed Pahoa plans for a bus station on the Post Office Road and suggested that the Subcommittee start from the outer limits of Puna and work toward the center. Also discussed is the fact that many bus riders have expressed a desire to have some "express" busses as part of the schedule. We did not discuss MTA's criteria for establishing new routes or their efforts for federal funding. The subject of the possibility of making the drivers county employees was broached plus the need for consistency in how the drivers treat the riders and where they stop. Tiffany said they were asking the drivers to give them information regarding stops along Hwy 130 and other areas of Puna. Overall, the county seems receptive to the Hub N Spoke idea and we stated that the subcommittee is willing to do the legwork, investigate ideas and present them. From: June Conant <jumemc @yahoo.com> To: "tkai @co.hawaii.hi.us" <tkai @co.hawaii.hi.us>; "wbrilhante @co.hawaii.hi.usIf <wbrilhante @co.hawaii.hi.us> Cc: "Ibrown @co.hawaii.hi.us" <Ibrown @co.hawaii.hi.us>; "mimmackmotivational @yahoo.comIf <mimmackmotivational @yahoo.com> Sent: Thursday, July 11, 2013 10:24 AM Subject: Mass Transit meeting with PCDP Subcommittee Tiffany and Bill- first of all,thanks so much for taking the time to meet with us last week. We truly appreciate your willingness to broach the subject of possible "Hub N Spoke" Puna bus routes in the future and again express our desire to provide whatever assistance we can toward this project. Tiffany, you mentioned that you could provide some statistics on the ridership in the different Puna areas and that would be most helpful. Also, you said you could provide some documentation in regards to a Kea'au bus shelter location on Old Volcano Road and the fact that there are funds in the budget for a shelter there. Our next Subcommittee meeting is July 23 so we would appreciate it if we could have the information by that time. If it is easier to provide it to us in hard copy, I can stop by and pick it up. Thanks again. June Conant