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Fresno COG Policy Board

May 29, 2025 5:30 pm

COG Sequoia Conference Room | 2035 Tulare St., Suite 201, Fresno, CA

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The Fresno COG offices and restrooms are ADA accessible. Representatives or individuals with disabilities should contact Fresno COG at (559) 233-4148, at least 3 days in advance, to request auxiliary aids and/or translation services necessary to participate in the public meeting / public hearing. If Fresno COG is unable to accommodate an auxiliary aid or translation request for a publichearing, after receiving proper notice, the hearing will be continued on a specified date when accommodations are available..

THE FRESNO COG POLICY BOARD WILL TAKE PLACE IN PERSON AT THE FRESNO COG SEQUOIA CONFERENCE ROOM

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The Fresno COG Policy Board will consider all items on the agenda. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m.

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.

Action: Staff and TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve Resolution 2025-12 adopting the City of Kingsburg’s 2024-25 Transportation Development Act claims totaling $908,533.

Action: Staff and TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve Resolution 2025-16 adopting the City of Kerman’s 2024-25 Transportation Development Act claims totaling $1,248,523.

Action: Staff and TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve Resolution 2025-14 adopting the City of Orange Cove’s 2024-25 Transportation Development Act claims totaling $663,792.

Action: Staff and the TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve Resolution 2025-11 adopting the City of Firebaugh’s 2024-25 Transportation Development Act claims totaling $586,760.

Action: Staff and the TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board approve the third quarterly FY 24-25 Work Element and Financial Report.

Summary: Fresno COG provided preliminary Local Transportation Fund (LTF) estimates in February to inform member agencies’ budget processes for the upcoming year. The final estimates have been adjusted for the Department of Finance 2025 population numbers and are presented for adoption. The County of Fresno Auditor/Controller estimates 2025-26 LTF at $59 million, which is the same as last year’s estimate.

Action:  Staff and the TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board adopt Resolution 2025-17 approving the 2025-26 Local Transportation Fund Estimate.     

Summary: Fresno COG provided preliminary State Transit Assistance estimates in February to inform member agencies’ budget processes for the upcoming year. The final estimates have been adjusted for the Department of Finance 2025 population numbers and are presented for adoption.  The State Controller’s Office estimates for the 2025-26 apportionment is $12,201,511, a 15% ($2,071,523) decrease from last year.

Action:  Staff and the TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board adopt Resolution 2025-18 approving the 2025-26 State Transit Assistance Fund Estimate.   

Summary: Fresno COG provided preliminary Senate Bill 1 State of Good Repair (SGR) estimates in February to inform member agencies’ budget processes for the upcoming year. The final estimates have been adjusted for the Department of Finance 2025 population numbers and are presented for adoption. The State Controller’s Office estimate for the 2025-26 apportionment is $2,116,097, which is a $133,117 (7 percent) increase from last year.

Action: Staff and the TTC/PAC recommend the Policy Board adopt resolution 2025-19 approving the 2025-26 State of Good Repair Fund Estimate.

Summary: Measure C funding for a new, regional Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) program was identified in 2024 as potentially being derived from funds not being expended in existing programs from the 2006 Measure C Extension. Beginning in 2023, the Policy Board’s SRTS Subcommittee met to discuss and identify infrastructure investments to support educational institutions throughout the County, specifically in priority communities. The Measure C Safe Routes to School allocation aims to support transportation projects serving primary and secondary students in accessing public school facilities to: 

  • Improve safety for children walking or biking to school; 
  • Prioritize schools with significant safety concerns or risks to children bicycling or walking to school based on crash data, traffic analysis, or traffic behavior around primary and secondary schools; and 
  • Support disadvantaged and low-income communities with fewer transportation safety options to ensure all children have access to safe routes. 

In November 2024, Fresno COG’s Policy Board approved transferring $6 million in Measure C funding from the Senior Scrip, carpool/vanpool and agricultural vanpool programs into a new SRTS program for one-time funding of eligible projects on a formula, pro-rata basis.  In December 2024, the Fresno County Transportation Authority countered Fresno COG’s proposal with a recommendation to keep available funding among rural jurisdictions and the County of Fresno only, but to make the program competitive, requiring a call for projects. 

Policy Board members discussed and conceptually approved FCTA’s counterproposal at Fresno COG’s January 2025 meeting. Codifying this action requires a formal amendment to the 2006 Measure C Expenditure Plan, which must be approved by both the Fresno COG Policy Board and the FCTA. 

Following Board direction, Fresno COG and FCTA staff have developed draft SRTS guidelines and a draft application packet for the 13 eligible entities, which are attached to this staff report. Based largely on California’s Active Transportation Program, the SRTS guidelines prioritize bicycle and pedestrian-friendly projects within one-half mile of a school site and establish a project limit of $1.5 million, among other characteristics. On April 24, the SRTS Subcommittee met to review and revise the guidelines and application packet and both approved drafts have been attached to the agenda. 

Staff and the SRTS Subcommittee are recommending the Fresno COG Policy Board approve Amendment No. 9 to the 2006 Measure C Expenditure Plan, which includes reallocating $6 million in Measure C funds to the new Safe Routes to Schools program, and to be distributed following the attached guidelines and application. 

Action: Staff and the Safe Routes to Schools Subcommittee recommend the Policy Board approve Resolution 2025-15, adopting Amendment No. 9 to the 2006 Measure C Expenditure Plan, including the associated guidelines and application packet, and establishing the Safe Routes to Schools Program with $6 million in funding.

Summary: At its April 25 meeting, the Policy Board directed staff to return with information regarding what efforts would be required to consolidate two parallel Measure C renewal efforts underway in Fresno County—one directed by FCTA/COG and  the other led by Transportation For All, a coalition of community-based organizations.

Since the April COG Board meeting, there have been multiple meetings with Transportation for All representatives, Board members of the Central Valley Community Foundation, Fresno COG and FCTA staff, COG Chairwoman Alma Beltran and Vice-Chairman Victor Martinez and FCTA Chair Buddy Mendes and Vice Chair Lynne Ashbeck.

The meetings have been productive and fostered a commitment to come together to develop a single Measure C for the voters to consider in 2026.

The two groups have focused their discussions on a framework—entitled “One County, One Plan” — that acknowledges the existing work plans of each group; aligns and leverages resources when possible; brings each group together at key steps along the way to share data, insights, and recommendations; and fully engages the community and the Boards of COG and FCTA at every step.

Additional work is required to finalize this framework, with further discussion needed around several key issues:

  • Opportunities to align the public outreach efforts, including shared data, shared online survey tools, and key insights gathered from community members
  • T4All participation in the Measure C Steering Committee
  • How to more directing connect the expertise of the Measure C Technical Committee into the work of the Steering Committee, to inform those discussion in ‘real time’
  • How to ensure full and frequent communication to/from both the COG/FCTA Boards as the measure is developed, including joint meetings focused just on Measure C
  • How to effectively synthesize the work of both groups around issues such as priorities, key categories of the Measure, and allocation recommendations

Action: Direct staff, DKS consultants and COG/FCTA Board representatives to continue working with Transportation For All to finalize a “One County, One Plan” work plan and to return to the COG Board with a more specific action plan for review and approval at the June meeting.

Summary: California’s Transportation Development Act (TDA) requires the Policy Board to hold a public hearing to take comments regarding unmet public transportation needs that are reasonable to meet within the Fresno County region during the 2025-2026 fiscal year. Staff will return to the Board in June with the final Unmet Transit Needs Report, following approvals from the Social Services Technical Advisory Committee (SSTAC), TTC and PAC. To date, 32 comments have been received pertaining to transit service, three of which satisfy the definition of an unmet transit needs that is not reasonable to meet.

Action: Staff, the SSTAC, TTC and PAC recommend the Policy Board open the public hearing, receive comments, and close the public hearing. The Policy Board may provide additional direction at its discretion.

Summary:  The Measure C 2026 Steering Committee held an introductory, four-hour session on April 26th, setting the stage for regular meetings going forward on the second Thursday of each month beginning May 8 through at least the beginning of 2026. The Steering Committee membership list is attached to this report.

The first meeting covered the widest range of topics anticipated of all the gatherings, from the enabling legislation allowing for Measure C’s development under the Public Utilities Code to the current state of transportation funding and the potential for what a future Measure might look like. The Steering Committee meeting on May 8th focused on the county’s transit systems. Transit providers gave presentations offering a glimpse into their operations and funding requirements.

Separately, the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) — comprising professional transportation staff from each jurisdiction in the Fresno region, transit providers and Caltrans — held its first meeting on May 14th.  This committee will meet on a semi-monthly basis with a mission to provide technical guidance to the Steering Committee with regard to both funding needs and legal requirements.  TAC members will also provide regular presentations on a monthly basis to the Steering Committee.

In addition, the new measurec2026.com website debuted in April.  It includes an online engagement tool allowing the public to “spend” points in the four major transportation categories, as well as allocating points to other transportation-related projects or programs they may wish to specifically emphasize. The website also features a comprehensive calendar of public outreach events, “pop-up” booths at community festivals, formal presentations and other activities designed to solicit input and build awareness about Measure C.

Finally, staff assisted the Fresno County Transportation Authority with a comprehensive overhaul of the original Measure C website, measurec.com, which now includes a wide array of additional reporting on multiple programs from the current initiative, including local project highlights from each of the 16 jurisdictions in Fresno County.  Both websites are also mutually complementary, linking to each other for easier user reference.

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

About Consent Items:

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. One Voice — Washington D.C.

2. APA Award Winner – San Joaquin Valley Small Lot Planning Study

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.