HomeMy WebLinkAboutTBMinutes_2010_05_18S:\Cityhall\Bonnie\Citizen Advisory Boards\Transportation\TBMinutes_2010_05_18.doc 1
Transportation Board
Brookings, South Dakota
May 18, 2010
OFFICIAL MINUTES
The Brookings Transportation Board was called to order by Chairperson
Terrell Spence on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at 2:00 PM in the City Hall Meeting Room.
Members present were Art Conners, Nancy Hartenhoff-Crooks, Rob Jones, Dean
Kattelmann, Jerry Raabe, Deanna Santema, Jeff Weldon, and Spence. Teresa
McKnight, Roger DeGroot, Michael Forgy, Robb Rasmussen, and Jared Ellefson
were absent. Also present were Brenda Schweitzer and Mike Mullaney - Brookings
Area Transit Authority (BATA), Tom Aulner - Brookings Taxi, Shawn Enfield – Boji Taxi,
and City Engineer Jackie Lanning.
Item #2 – (Kattelmann/Weldon) Motion to approve the minutes from the March 16,
2010, meeting. All present voted aye. MOTION CARRIED.
Item #3 – (Weldon/Kattelmann) Motion to approve the agenda. All present voted
aye. MOTION CARRIED.
Item #4 – Project Updates – City Engineer, Jackie Lanning, reported on three
current projects all located east of Interstate 29. The bike trail is being built by
Rounds Construction which will connect to the current trail. Grading will be done
and a retaining wall will be constructed at the south end enabling bicyclist and
pedestrian to cross under Interstate 29. There will be a push button control at 32nd
Avenue allowing pedestrians and bicyclists to cross Hwy 14. Completion date is
September. The second project is the 32nd Avenue/6thStreet traffic signal. The
signal will be located in the north bound off-ramp at US Hwy 14 and I-29. All the
traffic signals on 6th Street will now be coordinated. Lanning said this will help many
problems but won’t alleviate them all . The third project is the 34th Avenue Project
from US Hwy #14 to Prince Drive. This road is now gravel, but will be paved and be
41 feet wide when finished. The street will be heavy duty for the truck traffic in the
area. Curb and cutter will also be included. The SD Dept. of Transportation will be
bidding the project on June 1st. Lanning said that these three projects will be a
great improvement to the east corridor area of Brookings. Lanning also mentioned
the on-going Way Finding Signage project. She said the Engineering Department
has a full-time intern for the summer months. The intern has started to work on this
project. It will be completed this summer. Lanning also said that there is a
transportation study going on in the entire city and east corridor area. It will
include vehicle, pedestrian, and bicycle traffic statistics. It will be shared with the
Transportation Board when the information is available.
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Item #5 – Transportation Provider Updates –
A. – Boji Rides – Shawn Enfield said his main office is located in Okoboji, Iowa. He
has been in the taxi business for seven years. He operates in four states and 11
cities. Enfield says he moves approximately 176,000 people a year operating 12
months a year. He charges $5 per person which includes all taxes. He will rent a
vehicle for $50 an hour. Taxi rides are $3.75 each when purchasing a 12 ride card.
Most of his business activity takes place in the summer months in the Okoboji area.
The business operates Monday through Saturday from 6:00 PM until 3:00 AM. In
Brookings, he operates two vehicles. That will change to one after the school year
ends. He is working on handicapped accessibility. He added that his business is
growing, and as that happens, he plans to adjust his hours accordingly. Raabe
asked how many drivers the business employs. Enfield said 18 drivers with 3 of them
in Brookings. His business phone number is 695-2700.
B. – Brookings Taxi - Tom Aulner said he operates seven days a week from 6:00 AM
to 2:30 AM. He will go later if needed. Aulner said he would like to expand but that
depends on whether or not he gets a subsidy from the city. He said the Police
Chief would not approve one of his drivers because of a 15 year old DUI. Conners
said he thought those records only went back 10 years. Enfield said that insurance
carriers will not always approve a driver with a DUI. Enfield added that drug
charges can also keep a person from being approved. However, a sex offender
will never be approved to drive. Mike Mullaney, BATA, asked Enfield if there were
any special endorsements he needed to obtain in South Dakota for his taxi drivers.
Enfield said no. Weldon asked the taxi providers how they handled dispatch.
Aulner said sometimes the dispatcher rides with the driver so the driver doesn’t
have to be on the phone while driving. Enfield said his calls go straight to a cell
phone number. When two vehicles are working, the unoccupied one answers the
call.
C. BATA – Brenda Schweitzer had a handout with graphs showing comparisons in
BATA’s ridership during the last nine years. She said even with losing the Boys and
Girl’s Club riders, their numbers have still stayed very close to the same. She said
she is now working on the 2010-2011 budget, but even with the available federal
funds, she must have a local match to receive the funding. She added that her
demand does not decrease as the funding does. She said BATA operates from
5:00 AM to 10:00 PM on weekdays, 7:00 AM - 10:00 PM on Saturdays, and 7:00 AM
top 6:00 PM on Sundays. She hopes a new building is still in BATA’s future, but it will
only be possible with 20% matching funds. She said that if a driver, with a
commercial CDL license, is texting while driving, that will put the driver in jeopardy.
She said drivers use cell phones (work, not personal) on the weekend, and the
vehicles have screens and manifests available in their buses.
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Item #6 – A Review of City Laws and Ordinances Regarding Taxicabs – City
Manager Jeff Weldon said most of the work on these regulations was last updated
in 1996. His staff is trying to sort out and decide out how to handle limousine
services as they had not been previously included. Aulner said they should run on
the same rules that the taxis must follow. Aulner asked if the limousine services
were required to have insurance and background checks on employees. Weldon
said he was not sure, but it is being looked in to. Enfield said it has been his
experience that taxi and limousine services are both handled in the same way
with the same rules and regulations. Santema said she felt it was a good time to
do another update of the regulations. Enfield said many people like to start a new
business in an area where there are very little rules. He also felt that taxis and
limousines should be treated the same and city buses should be included also.
Aulner added that he has heard that areas like Sioux Falls are cracking down on
rules for public transportation.
Item #7 – Transportation Summit Meeting – Brenda Schweitzer and Terrell Spence
attended the Transportation Summit in Bismarck, ND in April. This was the second
summit with 94 people attending. He said representatives from various areas of
transit were presenters. It was stressed that federal dollars are available if entities
operate and work with each other. Schweitzer said it can be quite a challenge to
get the paperwork together when many entities are involved.
Item #8 – Review of Board Priority List – Spence said the Board’s priorities were set
quite some time ago and have possibly changed. He wondered if the committee
should go through the process again to identify priorities. Jones felt a readjustment
should be done. Schweitzer added that the committee has a better knowledge
base now of the transportation concerns within the city.
The next meeting will be June 15, 2010 at 2:00 PM in the City Hall Meeting
Room.
The meeting was adjourned.
____________________________ __________________________
Diane M. Spencer, Secretary Terrell Spence, Chairperson