All items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine and non-controversial by COG staff and will be approved by one motion if no member of the Committee or public wishes to comment or ask questions.  If comment or discussion is desired by anyone, the item will be removed from the consent agenda and will be considered in the listed sequence with an opportunity for any member of the public to address the Committee concerning the item before action is taken.

Summary:  The County Auditor-Controller initially estimated the 2020-21 Local Transportation Fund (LTF) apportionment at $39,607,568. This number has been circulated among transit operators and member agencies since January to assist in preparing budget and claims. However, this number is pre-COVID-19. The Fresno County Transportation Authority’s financial advisor Doug Montague has advised FCTA that sales tax collections could be reduced by 8.6 percent. Applied to the LTF estimate could result in an estimated apportionment of $37,536,240.  The Department of Finance projects tax receipts may be impacted lower by 27.5 percent.  In such a climate, it is hard to predict what receipts will be. Staff recommends adopting the original number, considering it has been available for four months, and budgets and claims have already been prepared on that basis. However, this number will likely be revised downward significantly when the depth and breadth of the COVID-19 reduction in tax revenues become clearer.  Please use caution when preparing internal budgets.

Action:  Adopt Resolution 2020-13 approving the 2020-21 LTF apportionment at $39,607,568.

Summary:  The State Controller’s Office has estimated the 2020-21 State Transit Assistance (STA) apportionment at $9,856,944.  This is reduced $1,793,426 (15 percent) from last year, and reflects the SB 878 methodology requiring the State Controller’s Office to distribute STA.  A spreadsheet distributing the funding to member agencies is provided for budgeting purposes.  This number will likely be revised downward significantly when the depth and breadth of the COVID-19 reduction in tax revenues becomes clearer.

Action:  Adopt Resolution 2020-14 approving the 2020-21 STA apportionment at $9,856,944.

Summary:  The State Controller’s Office has estimated the 2020-21 State of Good Repair (SGR) apportionment at $1,576,906. This is reduced $46,141 (3 percent) from last year, and reflects the SB 878 methodology requiring the State Controller’s Office to distribute STA.  A spreadsheet distributing the funding to transit operators is provided for budgeting purposes.  This number will likely be revised downward significantly when the depth and breadth of the COVID-19 reduction in tax revenues becomes clearer.

Action:  Adopt Resolution 2020-15 approving the 2020-21 State of Good Repair apportionment at $1,576,906.

Approve Resolution 2020-23 Adopting the 2020-21 Transportation Development Act Claims for the City of Parlier in the amount of $889,772.

Approve Resolution 2020-17 adopting Fresno County Rural Transit Agency (FCRTA)/Fresno County Equal Opportunity Commission's (FCEOC) rural Consolidated Transportation Services Agency (CTSA) 2020-21 Transportation Development Act claims totaling $576,069.

Approve Resolution 2020-18 adopting FCEOC's (urban CTSA) 2020-21 Transportation Development Act claims totaling $1,124,408.

Approve Resolution 2020-16 adopting the 2020-21 Transportation Development Act Claims for the Fresno County Rural Transit Agency in the amount of $8,405,091.

Summary: Fresno County Rural Transit Agency's budget has been prepared to reflect Fresno COG's Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) and the Short-Range Transit Plan (SRTP) for the rural Fresno County area 2020-2024.

The document recommends programmed capital improvements and continuing existing intra-city and fixed route services. This year's budget has been developed to include continued review, comment and action during its 45-day review period that will culminate on June 25, 2020 with the scheduled FCRTA Board meeting, following a public hearing. The dollar amounts in the budget are subject to refinement following service contract negotiations, an opportunity for public presentations and a public presentation before the Board of Directors. The budget, which may require periodic amendments during the fiscal year, is available at fresnocog.org and www.ruraltransit.org.

Action: Staff requests that the TTC/PAC recommend the Fresno County Rural Transit Agency approve Resolution No. 2020-06, adopting the fiscal year 2020-21 Fresno County Rural Transit Agency budget.

Summary:  Fresno COG’s Policy Board formed the Social Services Transportation Advisory Committee (SSTAC) in May 1988 to: respond to State legislation and to coordinate social service transportation, assist the Board in identifying transit needs throughout Fresno County, review and recommend action for Fresno COG to address at its unmet transit needs hearing, and advise Fresno COG on any other transit issues.  The Board appoints SSTAC members for three-year terms.

New member appointments to the Council are:

Matthew Gilliam,
Chenier Derrick,

Existing member reappointments to the Council are:

Vidal Medina,
Monty Cox,
Amy Hance,
Yonas Paulos,

Article III, Section 99238 of the Transportation Development Act requires a minimum number of SSTAC members in specific categories.  There is no maximum number of members specified in the TDA, and in the interest of diversity, staff is seeking additional nominations.  Specifically, staff is seeking members who represent minority groups, social service providers for seniors and potential transit users.  A complete list of SSTAC members is included in the agenda package.

Action:  Staff requests that the TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve reappointing four existing members and appointing two new members to SSTAC.

Summary: The Clovis Consolidated Transportation Service Agency’s (CTSA) Operations Program and Budget (OPB) FY 2020-21 for the Clovis Urban Area is available at fresnocog.org.  It provides an overview of how and in what manner the Clovis Consolidated Transportation Services Agency will provide service over the next fiscal year.  The OPB 45-day review process began on May 12, 2020, and was approved by the Social Services Transportation Advisory Committee (SSTAC) on May 19, 2020

Action: Staff and SSTAC request the TTC/PAC recommend that the Fresno COG Board adopt Resolution 2020-21.

Summary:  The Consolidated Transportation Service Agencies' (CTSA) Operations Program and Budget (OPB), fiscal year 2020-21 for the Fresno urban and rural CTSA is available at fresnocog.org.  The document is designed to provide an overview of how and what manner the Consolidated Transportation Service Agencies will be providing service over the next fiscal year.  The OPB’s 45-day review process began on May 12, 2020, and the Social Services Transportation Advisory Council (SSTAC) approved the document on May 19, 2020.

Action:  Staff and the SSTAC request that the TTC/PAC recommend the Fresno COG Board approve Resolution 2020-20 for the rural CTSA, and Resolution 2020-22 for the urban CTSA, adopting the Urban and Rural Consolidated Transportation Service Agencies' Operations Programs and Budgets.

1.

2022 RTP/SCS Kick-off and Update (Kristine Cai) [INFORMATION]

2.

Fresno COG’s Draft 2020 Public Participation Plan Adoption (Brenda Veenendaal) [ACTION]

3.

Environmental Justice Subcommittee-Fresno County Position (Trai Her-Cole) [APPROVE]

Summary:  Measure C's Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) program was designed to boost transit ridership and encourage transit-supportive land uses, such as high-density residential and mixed-use development. The program is estimated to generate $850,000 annually. The eighth cycle has $1,015,750 available with rollovers from the previous years. The funding level is forecast to be lower for the next cycle due to the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The TOD program provides funding for capital projects and planning programs, as well as incentives for TOD-compatible housing projects. To ensure that quality projects are funded, the TOD guidelines require that projects receive an average of 70 points or more. Different density levels have been established for both urban and rural projects to ensure fair opportunities for all communities. 

The cities of Fresno, Clovis, Reedley and Selma submitted applications in the eighth cycle. The scoring committee recommends three projects for funding:

1. City of Fresno: Merced Street Reconnection Project

Fresno requested $1.6 million over four years to re-establish Merced street between H Street and Congo Alley, and extend Broadway northerly to intersect with Merced Street. Approximately $495,000 was recommended for the eighth cycle. Due to revenue uncertainties over the next couple of years, the rest of the project's funding will be considered in the upcoming 2021 cycle. 

2. City of Clovis: Peach Avenue Bus Stop

Clovis staff requested $200,000 to construct a bus stop at Peach Avenue, adjacent to the Fresno County Department of Social Services building. Full funding was recommended for this project.

3. City of Reedley: Mixed-use Student and Workforce Housing Project

Reedley officials requested $300,000 to offset development impact fees for the Reedley Student and Workforce Housing project. Full funding was recommended for this project.

Action: Staff requests that TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve funding for cities of Fresno, Clovis and Reedley as recommended by the TOD Scoring Committee.

Summary: On September 28, 2019, the Fresno COG Policy Board Issued a formal call-for-projects for the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) regional bid program. The available funding for this round was $20,416,768. Staff received 51 applications, representing more than $47 million in funding. The CMAQ scoring committee convened virtually over a video conferencing platform on May 6 and 7, 2020 to score projects and deliberate on the recommended funding of projects. The scoring committee comprised the following representatives: Clovis representing the Fresno-Clovis metro area, Fresno County, east side cities, west side cities, Caltrans, Fresno COG, FCRTA (representing transit) and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

The attachments in the meeting packets are as follows:

• Scoring committee project recommendations (which includes the contingency list)
• CMAQ regional bid agency results
• CMAQ soft-target results
• Total CMAQ funding results for this cycle, including Lifeline
• Total CMAQ and STBG funding results for this cycle, including Lifeline

The CMAQ scoring committee is recommending the following projects, in ranked order:

Action: Staff requests that the TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve the scoring committee’s project recommendations for the 2019-20 CMAQ regional bid program.

Summary:  Fresno COG, in partnership with Madera County Transportation Commission, is conducting a study to determine the future transportation needs of the SR 41 corridor in the City of Fresno and the southern segment of SR 41 in Madera County. In addition, the study will analyze the future transportation needs of the Avenue 9 corridor in Madera County between SR 41 and SR 99.

The study will identify existing and future issues along the two corridors related to safety, mobility, congestion, etc., and recommend sustainable improvements that will address the transportation needs of the residents in both counties through multi-modal approaches. Issues to be addressed include: mobility, access, safety, and connectivity for all modes of travel including automobiles, transit, walking, and bicycling. Ultimately, transportation projects the study identifies could potentially serve as candidate projects in both counties’ transportation sales tax measure expenditure plans, as well as Fresno COG’s and Madera CTC’s 2022 Regional Transportation Plan(s). The scope of work is attached.

Fresno COG released a request for proposals on April 20, 2020 for consultant services and received five proposals. A consultant selection committee comprising representatives from Fresno COG, Madera CTC, City of Fresno, and Caltrans interviewed their top three consultants and unanimously chose IBI Group (along with sub-consultants RSG and BluePoint Planning). The IBI Group team will bring combined expertise in performance-based sustainable corridor planning, transportation and civil engineering, traffic modeling, public outreach, and economic development. 

Action: Staff requests that TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board authorize the Executive Director to enter into a contract with IBI Group for an amount not to exceed $399,747.

Summary: In June 2018, Fresno COG received its first apportionment of $2,438,180 in Highway Infrastructure Program (HIP) funds. (HIP funding Fact Sheet attached for reference). In October 2018, Fresno COG's Policy Board approved allocations to projects on the contingency list from the 2017/18 Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) Program call-for-projects. The original list of projects is attached. In summary, the 2018 HIP funding was allocated to eight additional projects, seven of which were awarded funding for their preliminary engineering (PE) phases only.

In 2019 and 2020, Fresno COG received additional apportionments of HIP funds totaling $4,432,559. To assure delivery of the projects that received HIP funding in the first round, staff recommends the additional HIP funding be allocated to five of the seven projects that previously received PE-only HIP funds. The two remaining projects were recently awarded Surface Transportation Block Grant (STBG) funding in the 2019/2020 STBG call-for-projects and do not require additional funds. Funding the five remaining projects amounts to $4,032,395, leaving $400,164 available for additional award.  For the remaining balance, staff recommends allocation to the first project on the 2019/2020 STBG contingency list. That project is the City of Clovis’ Fowler Ave Rehabilitation Project. A spreadsheet is included with this agenda item detailing how staff proposes to allocate the additional HIP funding.

As implemented previously, staff will attempt to limit the number of projects with programmed HIP funding to make it easier to track obligation and expending deadlines. The RSTP/STBG regional bid funding discharged from any project and programmed with HIP would then be allocated to the projects on the proposed HIP funding list.

If approved, staff will program these project changes in the next appropriate 2019 FTIP amendment.

Action: Staff requests that the TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve allocating 2019 and 2020 HIP funding to 2017/2018 RSTP/STBG regional bid projects as presented.

Summary:  Under California's Transportation Development Act, Fresno COG's Policy Board must determine that public transportation needs within Fresno County will be reasonably met in fiscal year 2020-21 prior to approving Local Transportation Fund claims for streets and roads. The Fresno COG Social Service Transportation Advisory Council (SSTAC) is responsible for evaluating unmet transit needs. 

Each year the SSTAC begins soliciting comments by sending approximately 400 letters to agencies and individuals interested in providing feedback on their public transportation needs within Fresno County. The request for comments letters, in English and Spanish, were sent in February 2020.

In addition to the request for written comments, SSTAC held six formal meetings split evenly, with four in the Fresno-Clovis metropolitan area and two in rural communities (Kerman and Fowler).  To facilitate participation in the rural meetings, FCRTA provided transportation to and from the meetings scheduled for the west side and east side of Fresno County.

The unmet transit needs meeting schedule was publicized in Fresno COG’s e-newsletter; via public notices in the Fresno Bee and Vida En La Valle newspapers; and posted on Fresno COG’s social media channels.  The meetings were also publicized in the Fresno Area Express’ e-newsletter, reaching more than 300 subscribers. 

Attendance ranged from zero to around 20 people. 

After a thorough review of all comments and issues, the Social Services Transportation Advisory Council (SSTAC) found there to be no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet in Fresno County at its meeting on May 19, 2020.

Action:  Staff and SSTAC request the TTC/PAC recommend that Fresno COG's Board approve Resolution 2020-19, and find that there are no unmet transit needs that are reasonable to meet in Fresno County.

Summary: Fresno COG's Circuit Planner and Engineer Program is wrapping up its contract with Rincon Consultants, Inc. and subconsultants. Fresno COG staff, management, and Rincon's project manager met in May to discuss the FY 2020-21 contract's goals and priorities. One proposal centered on designing a template for a model zoning ordinance that all jurisdictions could use because many of the member agencies have outdated zoning ordinances. Attached with this item is a copy of the draft model zoning ordinance Rincon developed.

Additionally, below is the update on tasks underway that will roll-over into the new contract:

Circuit Planning & Engineering

• Reedley Manning/Buttonwillow Master Plan Assistance – VSCE will provide updated drafts based on City and Rincon's comments.

Circuit Planning

• Selma Downtown Multi-Use Overlay Zone – Rincon has confirmed the zone boundary with the City. The next step is to provide an outline/summary, including the Overlay Zone's purpose and goals, to present to the Planning Commission and/or City Council for their input before June 30, 2020. Based on that input, the project would move forward in the next FY contract.

Circuit Engineering

Conducting active transportation counts have been put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fresno COG and Rincon staff are available to answer any questions there might be about the model zoning ordinance proposal and/or the current tasks underway.

Action: Information. The Committee may provide additional direction at its discretion.

All items on the consent agenda are considered to be routine and non-controversial by COG staff and will be approved by one motion if no member of the Committee or public wishes to comment or ask questions.  If comment or discussion is desired by anyone, the item will be removed from the consent agenda and will be considered in the listed sequence with an opportunity for any member of the public to address the Committee concerning the item before action is taken.

1.

WSP On-Call Contract for Regional Transportation Mitigation Fee Services (Les Beshears) [APPROVE]

2.

LSA Contract Extension (Kristine Cai) [APPROVE]

3.

Circuit Planner and Engineer Program Contract Renewal / Extension (Meg Prince / Braden Duran) [APPROVE]

4.

Walker Consultants Contract Extension (Jennifer Soliz) [APPROVE]

5.

2019 FTA Section 5310, Enhanced Mobility of Seniors and Individuals with Disabilities Program Contracts (Peggy Arnest) [APPROVE]

6.

Ecointeractive Contract (Suzanne Martinez) [APPROVE]

7.

Regional Transportation Planning Agencies Valleywide Coordinator (Robert Phipps) [APPROVE]

Summary:  The Clearinghouse Calendar contains “Project Notification and Review Reports” for grant proposals.

Action:  Forward any comment(s) received or any Committee/Board comment(s) generated as a result of this informational item to the appropriate agency.

Summary: The House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee released the INVEST in America Act. This measure is the proposed successor to the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act of 2015. FAST Act authorization (P.L. 114-94) expires on September 30, 2020. 

The House reauthorization proposal provides $494 billion for the national surface transportation system over five years. This includes $319 billion for federal-aid highways, $105 billion for transit, and $60 billion for rail. It also provides $4.6 billion for highway safety and $5.3 billion for motor carrier safety. The Highway Trust Fund (HTF) would be authorized to provide $411 billion over five years for highway, transit, safety, and research programs. This represents an overall increase of 46 percent above current investment levels.

The Committee highlighted the following objectives:

• Tackling the massive backlog of roads, bridges, and transit systems in need of repair and replacement;
• Building resilient infrastructure that will withstand the impacts of climate change and extreme weather;
• Designing streets that are safer for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists;
• Putting the U.S. on a path toward zero emissions from the transportation sector by prioritizing carbon pollution reduction, investing in public transit and the national rail network, building out fueling infrastructure for low- and zero-emission vehicles, and deploying technology and innovative materials;
• Sharply increasing funding for public transit options in urban, suburban and rural areas in order to integrate technology and increase routes and reliability with tools such as bus-only lanes and priority signaling;
• Making transformational investments in Amtrak to create a robust, reliable rail system and to address long-neglected maintenance needs in the Northeast Corridor and throughout the country, while also enhancing rail worker and passenger safety and helping communities address grade crossing issues; and
• Improving access to Federal funding to help communities around the country undertake transformative projects that are smarter, safer, and made to last.

For more information, see the Bill Text, Bill Summary, Section-by-Section Summary, or Fact Sheet provided by the House T&I Committee. Key provisions are included in the attached memo for reference.

Action: Information. The Committee may provide additional direction at its discretion.

Summary:  The San Joaquin Valley Multi-Agency Working Group for Regional Early Action Planning (REAP)  designated Fresno COG as its Valleywide fiscal agent for the state-sponsored grant program. 

REAP funds are intented as an incentive for local jurisdictions and regions to undertake the early planning work necessary to prepare for the sixth cycle Regional Housing Needs Assessment, which is expected to yield anywhere from one-and-a-half to three times the number of housing units required by the State for permitting as in previous cycles.

Under the fiscal agent designation, Fresno COG staff submitted a REAP application for $4,743,830, representing the first 25 percent of available funds Valleywide. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) approved that application in May, but requires grantees to adopt a resolution authorizing an official to sign agreements. The grant is included in the adopted 2020-21 Overall Work Program and budget.

Action:  Adopt Resolution 2020-24 authorizing Fresno COG's executive director to sign agreements with the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) to receive funding and administer the San Joaquin Valley Regional Early Action Planning program.

This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the Committee on items within its jurisdiction but not on this agenda.  Note:  Prior to action by the Committee on any item on this agenda, the public may comment on that item.  Unscheduled comments may be limited to three minutes.