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:  Fresno COG's threshold for capitalizing equipment has long been $5,000.  Beginning in 2022-23, new federal accounting standards impose significant reporting requirements and financial statement disclosures on software leases and licensing.  The software industry has changed its business model to annual licensing through the Internet, which means that within the existing threshold, Fresno COG would be required to capitalize and depreciate routine software licenses. This requirement significantly increases the time external auditors and staff must spend analyzing a host of miscellaneous software licenses, such as the subscription to Microsoft Office, which to all extents and purposes are immaterial to our financial statements.

The solution is to increase the threshold for what defines a capital asset. This does not increase the small purchase threshold, which is $10,000. It merely increases the threshold by which staff will capitalize and depreciate a capital item. This will have no effect on cash flow or financial conditions.

Recommendation:  Staff and TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board authorize Resolution 2023-31, increasing the threshold for capitalizing equipment and leases with a useful life of one year or more to $10,000.

Summary: Staff proposes to extend the original contract between Fresno Council of Governments and Replica Inc., executed in December 2022 for the activity-based model's (ABM) update and data needs. The platform subscription agreement on the extension or renewal contract will remain the same as in the original contract.

Replica is an online, subscription-based big data platform and next-generation urban planning tool that can help a region answer key transportation and land use questions. It is a synthetically generated representation of the activities and movement of residents, visitors, and commercial vehicle fleets in a region for a particular week during a given season. Replica represents movement by combining data from three primary sources: public use population census data; proprietary locational data from telecommunications, and other IT infrastructure in the region, and; field observation data from public agencies (ground truth).

Replica has been primarily used as a replacement to the statewide model to determine the interregional trips within Fresno County region. With the outdated statewide model, Fresno COG’s ABM had been inaccurately estimating the trips that are linked with places outside the Fresno County boundary. Along with resolving this issue, Replica has been used as a supplement to the calibration and validation of the ABM. As the base year update of ABM is expected to be completed by spring 2024, extending the  contract by six months with an option to further extend beyond that term seems a reasonable approach. The budget for this extension is $24,000.

Action: Staff and TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board authorize the executive director to extend the original contract with Replica by six months for an amount not to exceed $24,000.

Summary:  The certified public accounting firm Price Paige and Company has provided Fresno COG's 2022-23 Financial and Compliance audit.  The report details that COG managed is operations according to funding covenants, within budget and reported no findings of non-compliance.  The report satisfies requirements of federal and state funding agencies.  Total revenues were $15,705,725 against total expenses of $14,985,422, resulting in an increase in fund balance of $740,303. Total fund balance at year end is $3,753,824.

Action:  Receive and file Fresno COG’s 2022-23 Financial and Compliance Audit.

Summary:  A round-up of upcoming Federal and State grant opportunities of potential interest to local governments.

Electric Vehicle Charger Reliability and Accessibility Accelerator Grant

Focuses on repairing or replacing broken or non-operational EV chargers to improve existing EV charging structure reliability. This first round of approximately $100 million in funding will provide a targeted and cost-effective mechanism to rapidly increase the number of available chargers in parallel to larger-scale deployments funded by the NEVI Formula Program, the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program, and other State, local, and private investments.  The application deadline is Nov. 13.  Find the NOFO at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=350190

Caltrans Sustainable Communities Planning Grant Program

The California Department of Transportation has released the 2024-25 Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant application guide and call for applications.  A total of $53.4 million is available for transportation planning projects statewide.

The Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant Program includes:

• Sustainable Communities Grants ($29.5 million) to encourage local and regional planning that supports state goals, implements Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) Sustainable Communities Strategies (SCS) (where applicable), and to ultimately achieve the State’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target of 40 and 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 2050, respectively. 

• NEW! Climate Adaptation Planning Grants ($31.9 million) support local and regional identifying transportation-related climate vulnerabilities through climate adaptation plans, as well as project-level adaptation planning to identify adaptation projects and strategies for transportation infrastructure. 

• Strategic Partnerships Grants ($4.5 million) to identify and address statewide, interregional, or regional transportation deficiencies on the State highway system in partnership with Caltrans. A subcategory funds transit-focused planning projects that address multimodal transportation deficiencies.

Applications are due by Jan. 18, 2024.

For more information, see the website at https://dot.ca.gov/programs/transportation-planning/division-of-transportation-planning/regional-and-community-planning/sustainable-transportation-planning-grants

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

Summary: In June 2023, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) issued guidelines and fund balance estimates for the 2024 State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The STIP is an important five-year transportation funding program that provides the Fresno region $8-10 million a year for major transportation improvements. The CTC conducts biennial calls for projects, adding two years each cycle. The STIP includes a regional component directed to the regional transportation planning agencies known as the Regional Transportation Improvement Program (RTIP), and a statewide component Caltrans administers known as the Interregional Transportation Improvement Program (ITIP). 

In previous STIP cycles, $64.1 million was programmed in the Fresno region, including $59.34 million in the 2022 RTIP and $4.76 million in COVID funding during a mid-STIP cycle. In August, staff advised the Policy Board that the funding strategy was to coordinate with Caltrans to include the American Avenue interchange as the primary candidate for the 2024 RTIP target. 

Prior-adopted RTIP

$64.1 million in projects are carried forward from previous STIP cycles.

SR 41 Excelsior gap closure                                       $12,000,000

North Cedar Interchange                                          $45,346,000

Planning, Programming & Monitoring (PPM) funds     $1,995,000

Total RTIP                                                                  $59,341,000

Mid STIP COVID

American Avenue Interchange                                  $4,760,000 

2024 RTIP Target

There is $43.44 million in the 2024 RTIP target available for the 2024/25 – 2028/29 cycle, bringing the total to $114.8 million. 

American Avenue                                                   $42,353,000

PPM (2027/28 & 2028/29)                                     $1,090,000

Total                                                                      $107,544,000

The North Cedar and  American Avenue interchanges were environmentally cleared in the same document. In the 2020 STIP cycle, Fresno COG programmed $42.34 million in Regional Improvement Program funds against the North Cedar Interchange for construction in 2023-24.  However, a lawsuit against the environmental document has created delays for both projects.

The City of Fresno has hired a consultant to address issues related to the lawsuit and is hopeful the issues can be resolved. City staff have placed a freeway service agreement  with Caltrans for North Cedar on the Dec. 7, 2023 council agenda. When this agreement is in place, Caltrans can begin acquiring right of way.

The freeway agreement for American is already in place, so Caltrans can begin acquiring right of way now;  however, considering the complications from the lawsuit, it is appropriate to program construction funding for both North Cedar and American in 2025/26.

Recommendation: Staff and the TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board adopt Resolution 2023-36 programming a $107.5 million 2024 Regional Transportation Improvement Program request and submitting it to the California Transportation Commission.

Summary: Beginning in August 2023, Fresno COG staff has been reaching out to and meeting with rural and urban school districts in Fresno County, per the direction of the Policy Board. Fresno COG has been collecting an inventory of Safe Routes to Schools' needs for all the school districts in the county through an interactive map survey. This inventory of needs will be incorporated into our Regional Active Transportation Plan update. Documented in the chart below is the list of which school districts staff has met with, which school districts have responded to the map survey, and which school districts staff has not yet reached.

Staff has reached out to all the school districts through multiple emails, a letter, and phone calls, and have  met with 25 of 32 school districts; however, there are still a few districts that have not responded.

Fresno COG plans to start reaching out to local jurisdictions this month to discuss overlaps between their ATP projects and the SRTS inventory submitted by school districts. Once SRTS projects are incorporated into the regional ATP update, member agencies can apply for funding through COG (ATP funds, Measure C, etc.). The intent is that school districts and local jurisdictions will work together and share resources for the local match requirement to guarantee project development.

This project comes in response to the Measure C renewal process. Voters who were opposed to the measure felt that Measure C has not adequately supported safe routes to schools within the region. Staff's goal is that this cross-jurisdictional (transportation-education) regional planning process will help ensure that safe routes to schools are implemented in our communities.

*have not met with Fresno COG

Action: Information/Discussion. The Board may provide additional direction at its discretion. 

Summary: Fresno Council of Governments and Placeworks consultants are requesting an amendment to the Fresno County Multijurisdictional Housing Element (MJHE) contract. The housing element is the only general plan element that requires State Housing and Community Development Department (HCD) approval before being adopted. The general plan covers the planning period from 2023-2031. Each jurisdiction is responsible for completing their own housing element as an appendix to the Fresno County Multi-Jurisdictional Housing Element.

As a result of state requirements, each jurisdiction has faced its own set of obstacles, and has required additional resources to complete their housing element by the Dec. 31, 2023 deadline.

The initial April 29, 2022 agreement included a budget of $1,895,000. Placeworks is proposing a contract change order for additional funding to remaining tasks, including additional housing element land inventory analyses, more time to address new HCD requirements, and additional project administration costs, all totaling $210,125.

Due to HCD requirements new to this cycle, participating jurisdictions have needed additional time and resources to meet the Dec. 31, 2023, deadline. Fresno COG proposes to amend the contract  to avoid future sanctions for the region. For example, several federal, state, and regional funding programs consider housing element compliance as an eligibility or ranking criteria. To ensure future funding, it is crucial that the multi-jurisdictional Housing element follows HCD requirements by the deadline.

All participating jurisdictions will require additional funding to complete the public review draft documents for various reasons, including: staff turnover and/or additional modifications such as sites inventories, GIS maps, etc. 

Up to $1 million in funding for the MJHE and this amendment will come from Fresno COG's share of the Regional Early Action Planning (REAP) program; however, each jurisdiction may be responsible for its own expenses incurred for any work that is required beyond this amendment.

Action: Staff and the TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board authorize the executive director to approve a contract amendment with Placeworks for the multijurisdictional housing element in an amount not to exceed $210,125.

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: Staff annually provides a listing of all anticipated Policy Board and committee meetings, as well as office holidays, for the coming calendar year.

Action: Staff and PAC recommend the Policy Board adopt the 2024 Fresno COG meeting calendar.

Summary:  Fresno COG's One Voice D.C. trip is scheduled for March 17-21, 2024, including travel days. For many of the previous trips, Fresno COG has contracted with Simon and Company to provide representation at the federal level, advocate before the Executive and Legislative branches and serve as our liaisons to the Administration, members of Congress, and other stakeholders in Washington, DC. 

In operation since 1987, Simon and Company, Inc. is a boutique intergovernmental affairs firm based in D.C. that specializes in federal representation for local government including cities, counties, and other public agencies. The firm provides expertise across public policy areas.

Simon and Company's primary responsibility for the One Voice trip will be to support the mission of Fresno COG by working to advance legislative, regulatory, and funding priorities identified and approved by the “One Voice” delegation, working in partnership with the Administration and our Congressional delegation. In that regard, they have the responsibility to undertake the following activities on our behalf:

1. Developing a Federal agenda
2. Enhancing intergovernmental relationships
3. Advocating for legislative interests
4. Identifying Federal funding
5. Monitoring regulatory actions

At Fresno COG's request, Simon and Company has proposed a professional services agreement of $15,000 to perform the scope of work outlined above.  This is a proposed as a sole-source contract due to the short timeline and the fact the contract is not subject to Federal procurement rules.

Action:  Staff and PAC recommend the Policy Board authorize the executive director to approve a contract  with Simon and Company for One Voice D.C. trip planning and implementation services not to exceed $15,000.

Summary:  In October 2023, Board members voted to appoint Deputy Director Robert Phipps as Fresno COG's interim executive director -- contingent upon reaching an agreement on compensation -- beginning Dec. 23, 2023.  The Board also voted to hire a consulting firm to conduct a search for a permanent replacement.

Negotiations resulted in a contract that is substantially identical to the existing executive director's contract, with a 10 percent increase in Mr. Phipps' salary.  The only other changes include adjusted language to reduce the contract term from three years to no more than one year, and to eliminate the requirement for 10 weeks' severance pay in the event of contract termination.

Action: Approve and authorize the Chairwoman to execute a contract with Robert Phipps to serve as interim executive director for up to a one-year term beginning Dec. 23, 2023 at an annual salary of $187,959.

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.