I'm going to call the transit committee meeting to order. We have no quorum, so we cannot take any official action, but we can go through the agenda and we can uh hear what's going on and be advised
of that. Um, that's really the best we can do today. So, let us rise for a pledge to the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. >> So, roll call. Jezach Lambert Neville >> here >> and uh Mary and she called
>> co >> yeah she did I am here okay u approval of the agenda um again we are not really official without a quorum but I would suggest
that we simply go through the agenda without action if that's agreeable with Jan. >> Yes. Let's if we can make a if I could make a request. >> Oh, please. Please. >> Could we on our agenda? Could we have pledge of allegiance put on our agenda? >> Thank you.
>> Good idea. >> Okay. >> Yes. Let's go ahead and >> Okay. Financial reports and those are the tax financials. So, who's going to take that >> staff? We can review that and I'm going
to defer to Crystal. >> Okay. >> The financials are just for viewing. Uh do you have any questions, Mary, that I could answer for you? And we have some red numbers. Would you address those?
>> Yes. The red numbers are a bit um it's bit hard to explain. The that account, the 9,000 account, the transit funds account is actually not used. So, actually, if you go to the first page, it's the 00 accounts that
are used. So, it's a bit deceiving. um there actually are no negatives and right now our revenue is exceeding expenditures. So if you do flip to the last page and go to uh total function
unclassified, our expected was about 73,970 left at that time for revenue and right now we're looking at 304,000. So we are 411%
above our re expected revenue. There's three months still to go in the year and then we're also still two months behind in uh some of our invoicing. >> Okay. Any questions, Jan?
>> No, no questions. Okay. What happens if money's left over at the end of the year? >> Grant money. >> Yes. >> We would have to return that. Oh, >> typically they it's calculated where they don't overpay us. So that doesn't
have to that typically doesn't happen. >> Okay. >> Revenue dollars if they're above they go into our reserve account and are used for other transit purposes if necessary. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Okay. Um
let's see. Where are we? Financials approval of the minutes. We can't take any action. Can't take action. New business. Um approval of the 2026 T committee meeting. Again, we
can't take action, but we can make a recommendation. >> I'll make the I'm okay with these these uh dates. >> Madam President, could I speak? >> Pardon me. Go ahead.
>> Thank you. I would just regarding the dates for uh 2026 there are we have those dates there. Another idea another option is that we are going to be working on our business model and our business model we may want to have that
sooner than later and so we may want to go January April and it just is a recommendation thought that I had this morning that we go in January. we should have our business model uh completed and
um and and then so that's just one idea that we have and then Crystal has another option that she would like to speak on to. >> Sure. Go ahead. >> January is is is good. uh May is the
other thought because that gives the finance director time to prepare the 2025 finances to present them to TAC because the transit's budget does not come to the end until the end of March. So it
does give the director some time to put that together for presentation. >> So So what are we looking at here? We would ask for meetings in January, May,
July, October, or November. >> Is there consensus between Jan and me that that's acceptable? I would like to uh include are at the discretion of the
manager and or a tack member >> if that's okay. >> I that's okay with me. >> It's okay with me. So >> consider it. Okay. >> Okay. What we could do, what staff could do is put this information together and send it in an email to the rest of the
TAC members and take a poll on what works for the rest of the individuals. >> Sounds good. >> Sounds reasonable. or what we may have to do is indicate in January. We'll let's meet in January and then we will approve the rest of the dates when we do
have a quorum and then we can make that official. >> Okay. Either way works. >> Great. Thank you. >> I think we're already down to public forum. Uh is there any member of the public who would like to speak
>> hearing? None. Uh I wonder if we could have, it's not really on the agenda, but a little discussion uh how the bus system is working, if we have uh routes that are satisfactory, how is the new
financial schedule working out? Uh what are we hearing from Baxter? Can you kind of and the county kind of go over it? Yeah, I'll start at a high level and then I'm going to uh refer back to Crystal on the very details of that. So
overall, we've uh we sent an email out to Baxter indicating for 24 all the the excess revenue and then they wanted to have that available to them. We still have those funds. um they have not
requested those, but we've indicated that they this dollar amount is available to them. In the future, we may want to request and change our agreement with them so that we just keep those because those funds need to be used exclusively for transit. So that may be
something in the future that that we discuss with them. So that is that portion of that. And then the other high level thing that I wanted to talk about is just our our business model. We are going through I've been meeting with uh all the different departments that are
involved with uh transportation IT, HR, finance and so forth. And we've got uh we I have the information from IT, I have the information from HR and now we are just waiting for that last piece and that is the financial information from
our finance uh uh department. And so after we get all of that, we'll compile a good business model with some narrative in there. It's not going to be a very overall, you know, 20 30 pages. It's going to be the first few pages are just going to be regarding the actual
financial information. That's going to be the biggest part of this report is where is it going to be financially and how would we pay for this and what other departments uh right now it we do not uh help
fund it for their support what they do with with transportation that is something that we're looking at and because we do that with finance we do that with HR and we'll most likely have that component in the business model to have a true picture and Then it'll be up
to the TAC and city council if they want to whatever they want to do regarding that information. We just want to provide it to them and then they make that executive decision to move forward. >> Do we know what we're allocation from the state will be for the next year?
>> Yes, it was 1.5 Crystal. >> How much increase if any? It was a I think a three 3.5% increase from 2025. So it we were
approved for 1.7. Uh there is obviously a local share. So we receive 1.5 leaving us with I believe our local share is 150,000 something along those lines
would be our requirement to to cover that portion of the costs. I can look it up, Crystal, if you'd like. >> Yes. Yes. This is Tina MDOT project manager is is on. Yes, Tina. That'd be
helpful. Thank you. >> It Yeah, the increase was 5% over last year. >> Five >> and you will the total requested is 1 uh1,72,700. Revenue amount will be $159,180. Okay.
>> Have there been any changes in the routes either with the county or back here? >> Not since 2023 when the when the county reduced service and Pine River. >> I wonder if it would be a good idea to
have a joint meeting with them just to hear what they have to say. and um there's some changes with it going in house all of that. It might be a um a good idea to hear from them. What do you what I don't know what do
you think? >> I think it would be a good idea. I have a question on have we discussed with Baxter their fee if there's a surplus are they considering maybe reducing their their fair? >> We have reached out to them and they
have not responded yet. and then uh Nick will be responding at his level and hopefully we'll get some type of response um to have a meeting and discuss that. >> They're probably in the process of doing their budget the same as the city is. So, yeah.
>> Okay. I do you think it'd be a good idea to have a joint meeting with them? >> I think it would be >> bankster and the county. >> It would be very nice to have some communication. Why don't we put that on the agenda for our next meeting? Invite them. If they don't come, they don't
come. Okay. >> But I think it would be good to have everybody at the table and, you know, have some good discussion. >> Very good. Yes, we'll do that. >> Okay. The other thing that I wanted to bring
up is we have KPIs and that's our key performance indicators and Aaron has been doing a great job indicating they're just very um high level. There are five indicators and it just shows how transit is operating um at a high
level and right now a lot of those measures are with a third-party um contractor and some are good some are are need to be worked on and but those key indicators are something that I love to see and and work on and so anyway that's something that we could also add
to the agenda for the future just to give you a high level how the performance is is operating And then the other thing that I want before I turn it over to Crystal is our our new software has been really operating really well. Aaron put
together a little PowerPoint and maybe let's add that to the next uh agenda too. It's just a highle review of how the that operation is is moving. And it's a PowerPoint that just shows the operation and how staff can track the
buses. And if one bus is lagging behind on their schedule, it shows it in yellow and then goes to red. That's a concern. And then other the program will actually reassess and then give another route to
another driver. so that that bus that's behind schedule will get caught back up. So, it really has been a huge success from what I can see, but I um just wanted to bring that to the board to review. >> It doesn't actually go in house though
till the first of the year. >> No, it's been in operation. >> It is now >> correct. >> No, the software you're talking about? >> Yes. >> Yeah. Okay. But I'm talking about the operation of the system in house coming
in house. >> No, we're not. We're not operating. We're the third party contractor Blue Sky is still operating our buses, but this software helps our dispatch. >> Okay. >> Pick individuals up and schedule the routes accordingly with all the buses. >> Now, does it go in-house the first of
the year? >> No. Not until the city council directs us to bring it in-house. Well, what happens? Isn't the contract up with the third party? >> No, not till 27, right? >> Oh, okay. Well, that gives us a lot of time.
>> Yes. >> To plan, >> right? >> I I just Mary. >> Yeah. >> There's I just like to make a comment. I have talked to people that are travel use the bus and they really appreciate >> the uh the new program that they software. They said it's nice to know
when the the bus is coming and so it's very positive feedback. >> Are we we aren't getting comments on the cost or anything the price of the tickets >> staff Crystal Erin? >> We actually with the new software writers can leave a review. So in all
the reviews they they have the choice of obviously saying what they want to say but a lot of the reviews have said that the cost is effective and affordable. So obviously Baxter and the county have different fairs, but as for City of Brainard side of things, our our cost
continues to be reasonable. >> Anything else? Anything from staff? >> Aaron, you want anything to add? KPI stuff? Erin has been really champion that whole KPI thing. It's really that's one thing that I want that I'm doing
with every work unit that I have is some type of KPI measures and uh recreation is working on participation numbers and engineering is doing you know regarding all of our construction project and tracking all those. So every division is working on some type of performance if
you will. So with transit Aaron did a great job with that KPI. It just is a great you know quick look on performance. you know, green is doing great. Yellow, we got some improvements. Red, we need really need to look at that. And so, it's been really helpful.
>> I'll share some updates from the information that Erin's been able to pull. Uh, some of the updates are in the packet and that's that we've been showing a 10 and a half% growth over the last couple years. Since we last met with TAC, we did have again 10% growth
in passengers. So, we're looking at about 160 or so passengers a day currently. With those reviews, 96% of the reviews are positive reviews that we've been getting. So, that's amazing to see. Uh just some other things staff
has been doing on ongoing training and certifications. Um we've been doing different dispatch tactics, uh well-being and transit. We attended a state TAC meeting down in Shoreview and I recently attended our quarterly
regional um meeting with agencies in this region along with my Mindot uh TPM. And uh what else is good? We have a new bus that's now into service. It has a new style bike rack on it for fat tire
bikes. So, we're hoping to partner with some things in Crosby maybe this summer and be able to transport some fat tire bikes and riders up there, making that more accessible for them. And Mike shared the updates on the new software that's going well. And we have some
future meetings with different community leaders like Crowing County Community Services, uh, Region 5 RTCC and, uh, Lakes Area Food Shelf, just to name a few, just to continue our partnerships with people in the community and keep our stability and
strength good. Thank you. >> Thank you. Uh, is there anything else uh to come before us? got kind of a short meeting here today, but we're kind of short on members.
>> No, the big thing that we're that we're working on is our that business model, and that is our biggest thing. The software is really keeping staff uh busy with with making sure that that's operational. Um, and Blue Sky has a new uh supervisor and he's been his name is
Gary and working closely with staff with that. And the big thing is we also you want to speak of the van the we >> we >> submitting another for another van. >> We received the final approval for the
grant for the van that we submitted the application in 2024 for. So we just received that notice recently that we've been approved for that grant. Um, I don't believe we've received the final word to go ahead and order it or have it built and order it,
but I'm hoping that to see that very first van in our fleet by spring summer of 2026. And then we did receive the first of the approval on the application for another van, but we wouldn't see that one until 2027, I believe, or 2028.
So, that's exciting. I think when we invite the county and Baxter, we need to put together a very thorough agenda that will show them not just their wrership but increase, decrease,
whatever it is. Uh uh you know how our finances work out with them. I think it should be a really good kind of a working session. Um what do you think? Mhm. >> You agree? Okay. And we maybe uh you
could put something together, a proposed agenda, and get it to the committee in advance and we can look it over. >> I don't think we've ever had a meeting with those with our partners, a joint meeting. Have we?
>> Not since there was the joint TAC and >> it's been a long time. Even at that time it was only a resident of Baxter on one of the committees. >> Right. >> And so on that report will indicate that
that wrership um numbers for Crowing County for Baxter wrership numbers and we can do some uh analysis on that. That would be good. >> Well, it just seems like it might be a good not just for PR but for actual information. So,
>> no, good idea. >> We do annually uh analyze Baxter's fairs and ridership obviously because they have a percentage share and the same with Crowing County. So, this would be good for all of us to meet and review that information once the analysis is
complete. Uh just for recommendation, it's good to have a year's worth. So, 24s was already studied, projections given out, recommendations. So if we could have all of 2025, so maybe in the January February time frame would be
appropriate to give staff uh Sure. >> time to analyze 25. >> Sounds good. Sure. >> And is the city council have any advice for us? >> They followed suit with that business
model and so we are uh following their direction also and we are working on our business model. >> Okay. And uh there is no proposed levy for the for this. >> Correct. No >> for the bus. >> Correct. >> I think >> as you can see with our financial numbers were pretty healthy with our
revenue and um just want to commend staff for really doing a great job working with a third party contractor is is uh you know when you're talking about writership. we have no we have very little uh control where with regarding
our customer service when it comes to the drivers and so forth. So it's it's at times been a challenge also it's been uh great. Um there's always those pros and cons but uh as you can see with our numbers financial numbers we're pretty strong with that. So it's it's really um
good job. >> Oh thank you. >> Anything further to come before us? We got an awful short meeting and kind of a small group here today. So, anything else? Anybody? >> Nope. It just that business model is a
big uh is is our biggest thing and that is a um something that is going to help provide some direction whether we go forth inhouse or keep with our third party. That business model will help us really look at the true picture of
transit and really the true cost and uh the impact and the involvement of other departments within the city. So it'll really be good and like you're indicating uh Mary you know having our partners here Baxter and Crowing it'll be helpful to bring them in and bring
them in the loop. It'll be good. >> Yes. I think when we have Baxter and Crowing County here, we need to really finesse the agenda so they have opportunity to speak, to advise us, whatever, whatever. So, I don't think
we've had a joint meeting for a long, long time with them and it seems like it's probably time we do that. So, we'll leave it up to you to take care of that part of it. Okay. >> Staff will follow through. Thank you. Is there anything else that should come
before us today? >> Nope, that's it. >> Nope. >> Anybody else? Any member of the public want to speak? >> Nick doesn't want to speak. >> If not, we are ajourned. >> Thank you.