About Presentations:

Action: Review and approve, or approve with edits, the August 11, 2016 Oversight Committee minutes.

Summary:  The Measure "C" New Tech Steering Committee met for the first time in January of 2015 to begin discussion of this new Measure C Program.  From this first committee meeting, a subcommittee was formed that met approximately ten times over the course of a year to develop:

• Program goals
• Program scope
• Criteria for solicitation
• Timeline for the distribution of funds
• Project selection process

During this process, FCOG staff and the subcommittee developed a grant application for the New Technology Program which was then presented to the entire Steering Committee for review, revision and recommendation.  The final draft of this grant application and scoring criteria was approved by the Fresno COG Policy Board in December 2015 and the FCTA Board in March 2016.  The COG Policy Board also gave direction to staff to develop a Multidisciplinary Advisory Group (MAG) to include 12 positions whose purpose was to review, evaluate, and recommending applications for funding.  A Transportation Technical Committee subcommittee reviewed the submitted applications for the MAG and recommended the following membership:

FCOG received six New Technology Funding applications (see the attached Application sample) asking for a total of $19,334,581 with $10,000,000 in funding available.  On July 21st, 2016 the MAG met to interview the applicants and discuss their grant applications. See the attached list of the MAG recommendations for funding.

Action: Staff recommends the Measure C Citizen Advisory Committee recommend that the Fresno COG Policy Board approve the New Technology MAG recommendations for funding and authorize the Fresno COG Executive Director to enter into contracts with the applicants in the amounts recommended by the New Technology MAG.

Summary:  The City of Fresno has officially requested (see attachment) that Fresno COG initiate a Measure “C” Plan Amendment to  allocate $450,000 to be used to purchase two-year purchase option contracts needed to secure and control approximately 190 acres at the proposed Heavy Maintenance Facility (HMF)  site as identified by the Fresno Works group (see attached exhibit).  In addition to the $450,000 to purchase option contracts, an additional $150,000 in funding is being requested to be used to conduct environmental, historical, and geo-technical studies on the properties should they be needed, to ensure that the site is ready in advance of construction. The two combined components would total $600,000.   The two- year land sale options will allow for the control of the site, allow for any unforeseen potential delays on the exercise of the options, and are assignable to the California High Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) or whatever entity the CHSRA designates to build the HMF.

In terms of process, in order for Measure “C” to be amended, it requires approval by both the Fresno Council of Governments Policy Board and the Fresno County Transportation Authority (FCTA) Board.  This Measure “C” Amendment request hereafter known as Amendment #3 will technically be an amendment to Measure “C” Amendment #1 (attached) which originally set aside the $25 million for the High Speed Rail Heavy Maintenance Facility.  The need for an amendment to Amendment #1 is because Amendment #1 states specifically that no Measure “C” funding can be expended “prior”   to Fresno County being awarded the HSR Heavy Maintenance Facility.  That being the case, in order for Fresno to access those funds “before” the CHSRA makes its decision on the Heavy Maintenance Facility, a new amendment is required.

As stated in the City of Fresno’s letter, several months ago they hired Continental Field Services (CFS), the right-of-way land acquisition specialists used by the CHSRA to acquire right-of-way and to negotiate land purchases and option contracts.  The proposed site under consideration contains a total of twelve (12) privately owned parcels that are held by nine (9) different owners.  Fresno states that CFS has met with all of the property owners and is finalizing the price for two-year purchase option contracts for all of the properties. Fresno anticipates that the total cost for land sale options on the entire site is estimated to be no more than $450,000 and would position the Fresno region to be highly competitive when compared to other sites under consideration.

As addressed in Fresno’s request letter to Fresno COG, of the sites competing for the HMF, it appears that six (6) sites are owned by a single property owner or developer and of those six (6) sites at least four (4) have indicated that the owner would donate the site or have the capacity to give the CHSRA the total property in an effort to bring the HMF to their location. From a competitive standpoint, single property ownership and/or the potential for the land to be donated give those sites a great advantage in terms of the CHSRA HMF selection process.   Fresno’s letter also cites earlier discussions with CHSRA representatives and open discussion with the CHSRA Board of Directors where gaining control of the site was deemed imperative in terms of Fresno ultimately being chosen for the HMF.

Pursuant to its role under Measure “C”, Fresno COG staff is in the process of scheduling public meetings to gain public input on the proposed amendment as well.

Information/Action: Fresno COG staff is soliciting the Citizen Oversight Committee's input on the proposed amendment. Policy Board approval of Measure “C” Amendment #3 will require the approval of Resolution 2016-34. 

Summary:  The Oversight Committee requested that Fresno COG staff give an overview of the funding and timeline issues currently surrounding the Measure C Regional Program's Tier One and Tier Two Projects. Fresno COG's Finance Director, Les Beshears, will report to the Committee as requested. 

Action:  Information Item. Action may be taken at the discretion of the Measure C Citizen Oversight Committee.

Summary: The Measure C Citizen Oversight Committee is charged with annually developing an report to the public. Attached is the draft COC 2015-16 report, finalized September 2, 2016 by subcommittee members David Van Pelt, Kevin Hamilton, Sam Molina, and Stephenie Frederick. It was reviewed by Fresno COG staff member Brenda Veenendaal and edited for consistency. Please review the attached report and prepare for discussion of its contents.

Action:  Approve the attached COC Annual Report to the Public as attached or as revised.

Summary:  M. Green and Company LLP, the Certified Public Accounting firm retained by the Authority to perform their fiscal year 2014-2015 audit of finances, has recently completed their analysis and submitted the final report, which is included in the agenda package.  In the summary, the firm found no material weakness concerning internal control over financial reporting and no instances of noncompliance with laws, regulations, contracts or grant agreements. Also included in the agenda package are the financial restatements for fiscal years 2012-2013 and 2013-2014.  These financial restatements are due to the action taken by the Authority Board in December 2014 meeting to adopt the update to the Measure C Extension Regional Transportation Mitigation Fee (RTMF) Nexus Study.

Action:  Receive, review and comment.

Summary:  Oversight Committee member Stephenie Frederick requested that an agenda item be added for a discussion of where or how the COC may become more informed about current matters that affect Measure C funding.

Action:  Information Item. Action may be taken at the direction of the committee.

A.  Future tentative COC meeting dates to calendar:

• October 13, 2016
• November 10, 2016
• December 8, 2016

B.  Items for next agenda

C.  Upcoming Meetings of other related Boards/Committees:

• Fresno COG Transportation Technical Committee - Friday, September 9 at 8:30 am 
• Fresno COG Policy Advisory Committee - Friday, September 9 at 10:00 am
• Fresno County Transportation Authority - Wednesday, September 21 at 9:00 am
• Fresno COG Policy Board - Thursday, September 29 at 5:30 pm