--------- We're back. Sorry for a couple minutes late. Mister Payne, could you please read us back in in closed session? Yes. I move that this council certified by a reported vote that to the best of each council member's knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the opening meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the motion convening the closed session were heard, discussed, or considered in the closed session. Is there a second? Second. Okay. Please cast your votes. Is everyone logged in to be able to do that? Not yet. We can do a voice vote. Voice vote?
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. We will begin the business meeting with a moment of silence. Okay. Thank you. Are there any announcements? I have one from Paige Hill. Okay. This is an announcement from Paige Hills, a committee member of CHAAMBA. If possible, can you please make this announcement, please? The African American Cultural Arts Festival will take place this Saturday, July 26 at Jackson P. Burley Middle School from 10AM to 6PM. There's a phone number and a, I'll just give the email address, seedsofculture@gmail.com.
Okay? Any other announcements? Beyond announcements, board commission. Oh, yes, please. Two appointments to make to the CRHA board. Lisa Clavel please. Sorry? Speak up. We can hear you. Sorry. My apologies. For boards and commissions appointments, appointing Lisa Clavel in Gillette Rosenblith to the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority board. Do we need to vote on that? We need to vote on that. I don't think so. No. Yes. Well, that's a that's a motion. So it's a motion. And then we need to vote on it. Second. Second. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. And is this do we are we logged in?
Voice. Okay. Yes. Yes. Yes. Motion passes. Motion passes. Thank you. Okay. As I mentioned earlier, the mayor is out, so I'm, here in his place. And then we have, councilor Snook is with us remotely, obviously. We're at the point of community matters. There are five preregistered speakers leaving slots for 11 additional speakers on community matters. Each speaker will have up to three minutes to speak. I'll now open the floor to preregistered speakers as our first speaker available.
Kim Bassil Wood. I'm not home, but, I'll go first. Okay. It'll mess up the mess her up if if if I don't. Anyway, my name is Gordon Hare. I run a foundation, Ben Hare, Just Swim For Life. The last time I was here was about, I guess, seven years ago with the same plea, trying to offer learn to swim and improve the, the drowning problems in
Charlottesville. For the YMCA, we were successful really has addressed the demographics that I tend to attract, and ACAC allows me to have some attract, and ACAC allows me to have
some swim lessons at their pool for the same reasons. My demographic is leans heavily towards, non white and low income kids, probably 82% now is a non white demographics. I just recently signed a contract with the YMCA to teach all of the second
graders in Charlottesville, Albemarle, Louisa, and Greene County how to swim, but it's a five lesson, forty minutes each lesson, and what it'll really do is given the orientation or a beginning to learn to swim, but will probably not teach a second grader how to swim, but it will increase the membership to the y and will create an
interest for many people to learn how to swim. And that's the legacy that I wanted to leave, was to be able to offer swim lessons, have been have been with, Charlottesville parks and rec. When Erica Sims ran the parks and rec, she gave me 300 children in the
summer to teach how to swim. We ran several years. The fifth graders at Walkersville came down and we taught them how to swim. And I used to, anytime I could find no one at the pool, parks and rec would let me use the pool to teach kids how to swim. I presented this to Rob Hutchins in March. It was actually February and March that Charlottesville does not do a good job of
teaching children how to swim. Okay. You're you're Have my three minutes up? Yes, sir. Okay. Well, I got another person. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. Maybe. Are you My name is Kim. So I am Kim Basile Wood, and I am part of the Ben Hair Just Swim for Life Foundation. It is imperative as over six children have already drowned in Central Virginia this year, this summer, that we continue to teach children how to swim.
It is a real big thing that the city could do because we have 131 children who are learning how to swim in the Frye Spring Pool right now. People of color, people of different nationalities, people of all sorts of backgrounds, and to be frank, there are 20 pools in Charlottesville, Virginia. 17 are privately owned.
So, none of these children will learn how to swim without Ben Hair Just Swim for Life. The three pools that are of public would cost a family of five over $25 or $30 just to go on a daily basis. So what we're trying to do right now is potentially go with the Crow Pool. The Crow Pool is your pool. We would like to rent the pool.
And when we rented the pool last year, it was at an exorbitant rate. We'd also love to buy the pool, but we would decline that. So what we're trying to do is just ask you all to help us help the children of Charlottesville. We're we are teaching lessons to the boys and girls club. We are teaching lessons to Southwood. We are to we are teaching lessons to everyone, but we are not getting the support that we feel like we could from the community if we just came forward
and said we need your help. And that's really what we're doing today is we're coming forward to say, these children are not going to learn how to swim. These children are going to potentially be drowning victims. These children and their lives and their families deserve I teach mommy and me every Sunday and Saturday mornings. It shouldn't just be the pretentious white people that I'm teaching these lessons. It should be to everyone in the community.
Everyone should be afforded the opportunity for this. And so that's why we're coming today, to ask you to please rent the pool to us at a reduced rate or even sell the pool to us, and we will raise the funds if we have to. But what we want to do is teach the children how to swim. Great. Thank you so much. Thank you. Okay. Next up I'm sorry. Next up is Alicia Lanahan. Thank you. My name is Alicia Lenahan. I'm a county resident. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I'd like to start by thanking counselor Payne for his presence and remarks at the
Good Trouble Lives On event last Thursday. There are approximately 11,000,000 undocumented immigrants in The US. Undocumented immigrants are generally not eligible for Medicaid or CHIP. However, those who meet other eligibility requirements like income can receive coverage for emergency medical services. In March 2025, over 78,000,000 people in The US were enrolled in Medicaid. Of that number, nearly 50% constituted child enrollment. Why are those numbers, 89,000,000, important?
Last Monday, the government gave ICE access to the records of all the people on Medicaid, allegedly to enable ICE to find undocumented immigrants who aren't even eligible for the program. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services signed an agreement that enables ICE to access Medicaid recipients' name, ethnicity and race, birth date, home address, and Social Security number. The administration deportation efforts.
That laser like focus is going to be turned on more and more of us. In the Charlottesville Metropolitan area, just over 22,000 people are covered by Medicaid. ICE now knows who and where they are. We are deeply concerned about the aggressive, cruel overreach demonstrated by the federal administration on a daily basis. Our immigrant and refugee neighbors are the most vulnerable. However, numerous reports and video evidence show that U. S. Citizens and immigrants with lawful status have been detained, questioned, or targeted, exacerbating distrust and
public safety risks. We are offering a resolution modeled after the one passed by Huntington Park, California, that condemns nontransparent federal immigration enforcement tactics and affirms our community safety principles. You each have a copy. Use this resolution to state unequivocally that the city council believes that non cooperation must not be confused with inaction, and that Charlottesville Police and city staff will proactively work within legal bounds to document, verify, and safeguard against federal overreach.
Use this resolution to state unequivocally that the city of Charlottesville is committed to the rule of law, civil rights, and the safety and dignity of all its residents regardless of immigration status. We're also circulating a petition that members of the audience can sign in support of this Fry Springs neighborhood on stolen Monacan land.
I'm Fry Springs neighborhood on stolen Monacan land. I'm here to say that the people of Charlottesville are paying attention and that we will not condone complicity with ICE or with the Trump regime in any form. The Legal Aid Justice Center warns on its website that many local governments, even including many who are otherwise pro immigrant, go above and beyond to make it easier for ICE to detain and deport immigrants. This is unconscionable, and Charlottesville must not go in that direction.
It is good that police chief Kopchas has said that CPD will not cooperate with ICE, and it is essential that this policy remain in place. But I want to see the city take an even more decisive stand against ICE. Approving the resolution that was presented tonight would be one such action you could take. Other cities have passed similar resolutions and can serve as a model for what those those actions might look like. On Tuesday, July 15, the King County Council in Washington issued a resolution barring county
officials from sharing civilian data with ice and specifying the types of signage that must be posted in county buildings in order to clarify public versus private areas. Last Friday, City Council in Long Beach, California started an emergency fund to raise money for immigrant families and businesses. It has already raised over $100,000 In Paramount, California, where some of the first major ice raids took place, the city council took similar action and put $60,000 of their
own funds into that emergency funds. These are just a few examples of what is possible if the city of Charlottesville were to truly live out the values it so proudly professes. I know there are myriad complications and factors to consider, but I also know that this city can make things happen very quickly when there is enough pressure on it to do so. And this pressure will inevitably come from the governor and from the federal government as they continue to turn up the heat. But if the forced removal of Jim Ryan shows us anything, it is that compromising
with fascists won't save you. King County Council Member Teresa Mosquito observed that local jurisdictions must in this moment be the last line of defense. And I call on the Charlottesville City Council to put up those defenses to approve the no collusion with ice resolution and to invest as many resources as possible into the systems of support that already exist within this community. Another world is possible if we are brave enough to build it. Malva Menigan. Hi. I am here with the Ben Hair Foundation as well.
I am one of the instructors, for Ben Hair, and I've worked with them for about three years now. And I want to kind of reinforce what we've been talking about, the Ben Hair Foundation. I teach safety to, adults and teenagers that go from being terrified of being in the water to having the ability to be in the deep end and grab a wall if they are in trouble.
I'm also teaching parents and teenagers how to enjoy the water safely, showing them different games that we can play, showing them how to stay safe, how deep is it too deep to be, and also reinforcing a skill, something that maybe someone already knows how to do, how can we improve it and make it better. I have seen a a teen go from not barely doing the doggy paddle to doing a triathlon, in the course of a year and a half or less.
I think it's an important skill. I I didn't grow up in this town, but I did grow up around the sport of swimming. I was fortunate enough to grow up in a team that, looked like me, and it was plus 30 individuals. And I think that it's important to have the sport of swimming in the life of children that are surrounded by so many lakes, creeks, and pools in this town. I'll also say, it it opens the doors for, a career path in some in
some ways. There are many jobs that go without being taken in all the different pools in this town, for lifeguards, pool managers, and, instructors. And also is a path for academic growth because you can develop your academics with a scholarship in a in a sport of swimming. I don't have anything else to say. Thank you so much. Okay. So we have a space for 11 more people to speak.
If you'd like to speak, please raise your hand. Mister Cox? Kevin Cox. I live at 311 Fairway Avenue. After I used spray chalk to put a crosswalk down, a protest crosswalk down on Elliot Avenue, the city came and painted over the chalk with some kind of black paint. A couple days later, it rained. Well, the city had claimed that that was white paint and the black paint probably would have bonded to it but it was chalk.
When it rained, the black paint that was on top of the chalk and had not bonded washed off revealing the chalk lines underneath it which have now washed away completely. All that's left is of my work. It didn't work. It didn't work. It didn't work. It didn't work. It didn't work. It didn't work. It didn't work. It didn't work. It didn't work. It didn't work. It They're kinda ghost blinds of my work. It didn't work. The paint didn't work. But I am being charged $607 for the paint that didn't work.
Here's the money. There's a receipt in the envelope. You can sign it now and mail it to me. Thank you. Who's next? Reverend Joiner. Hi, counselors. I'm, Alex Joyner. I'm pastor of Charlottesville First United Methodist Church, and a regular rider on the five, seven, and 11 buses, and co president of Impact, which is an interfaith organizing group representing resident of the county who works downtown. I wanna thank the members of the city council for your continuing to identify transportation
as one of your top priorities in the city budget. I know priorities, and I heard councilor Pruitt say at this afternoon's session how the current needs of the bus transit system may force you to decide about whether to make it a higher priority in order to meet the lowest thresholds of goals in the SOP that was presented by city transit director Garland Williams this afternoon. Here's what I've learned as a transit rider and as a pastoral leader listening to
a lot of stories from people who depend upon the CAT system. A bus system is one part of a larger transportation network, but it is the backbone of our transit system. It is little d democratic in the people of all types of income, ages, and physical abilities can access it. It is an investment in our common good. It improves our common quality of life, affordability, traffic conditions, and our overall economy. It's essential to a good community. Second thing I've learned is that an underdeveloped, under resourced bus system is a tragic
waste of money. Garland Williams noted that the reliability of buses leads to increased ridership and he went on to note that Cat's current on time performance is about 68%. A figure that he himself called abysmal. What it means in human terms is that real people miss doctor's appointments, are late for work, they stand at bus stops with refrigerated groceries and produce going bad and just get getting just generally get ticked off. Your options and situations like that are to spend money you may not have on
an alternative like Uber or to give up on the system altogether. What that means is that empty seats could go by that could have been filled by willing commuters, and that is a waste. What we heard this afternoon is that our system needs 90 drivers to get to the level of service identified in the 2022 SOP. It needs a 108 to get to thirty minute wait times, expanded hours, and Sunday service. All when we have still not gotten to the pre pandemic levels of service. I get that we're a long way from where we need to be and that we have a lot of hard choices to make as a community, and you have
a lot of hard choices. But I wanna urge you to continue to make transportation and bus transit in particular a real priority for the lives of real people. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Who's next? Yes, please. Good evening. My name is Allison Webb. I live in Albemarle County. I am a retired public health professional, and I am, here today to call your attention to some important public benefits, which have previous previously been available to undocumented immigrants
and which will no longer be so. This will impact the health and well-being of many individuals and families in the community, and I'd like to call your attention to it. On July 10, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced a change in a law from 1996 saying that the law had been misinterpreted since then and that, the the law had previously allowed illegal aliens to access programs Congress intended only for the American people. With that update, HHS says that undocumented immigrants will no longer be eligible for these
public benefits. I'm gonna list off those public benefits. It's going to feel tedious because there's, it's a long list. Head Start, mental health and substance use disorder treatment, prevention and recovery support programs, Title IV E Educational and Training Voucher Program, Title IV E Kinship Guardianship Assistance Program, Title IV E Prevention Services, and Title X Family Planning Program. Organiza, organizations and programs, that serve undocumented immigrants will also be impacted.
Those are certified community behavioral health clinics, community mental health services block grant, community services block grant, health center program, health workforce program, Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness Grant, Substance Use Prevention, Treatment and Recovery Services Block Grant. The list is not complete. HHS, HHS says it will continue adding to it. To make matters worse, the USDA, which is governed by a different statute, has issued a similar notice about benefits, and here they are.
So this means that undocumented immigrants will no longer have access to Emergency Food Assistance Program, Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women and Infants and Children, that's WIC, WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program, Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program, national lunch, school lunch program, school breakfast program, child and adult care food programs, fresh fruit and vegetable programs, special milk program, and the summer food services. Obviously, excluding undocumented immigrants from this incredibly long list of benefits will have a tremendous
impact on our community, particularly in the areas of childhood education and nutrition. I urge you to spend some time working with local agencies that understand these changes and understand the services to figure out how the city is going to address the needs of those people who now are losing those services. Thank you so much. Who's next? Yep. Come on up. Good afternoon, council. My name is Rory Stolzenberg. I'm a planning commissioner speaking in my individual capacity, and I'm a resident of Water Street. I'm here to discuss the presentation you received in your 04:00 session.
It's widely acknowledged in transit planning, that the fifteen minute frequency interval, is an important threshold in a transit service. It's where taking the bus becomes a viable alternative, to taking the car or other means of transportation, where you can go to a bus stop and expect a relatively short wait without having to plan your entire schedule around when the bus comes and enduring, long waits if you miss a bus. As you know, during COVID, we slashed service, including all of our high frequency routes.
And predictably, as this chart shows, ridership plummeted. Cat became a system of last resort, that you only ride if you have no other alternative. Now our consultants and our transit director would have us believe that civil rights law requires that we restore every route, to the lowest common denominator service that still is mediocre and does not provide a viable alternative to cars in order to satisfy our title one obligations. It's simply not true. For one, this transit strategic plan that you all should recognize, you adopted just a
year ago, has a title six review included and does not have better than sixty minute service on all lines. That's justifiable, because we know that our higher frequency routes serve more disadvantaged areas of the community, including on Georgetown Road and up 29 and in the core of the city. And we know based on Katz' own ridership surveys from before the ridership plummeting that even when ridership is higher, that riders of CAT are more disadvantaged than the population at large. And so if we continue with this this line of reasoning, we'll make a massive
investment into improving cap frequencies on every route to merely okay, to not be a viable alternative. We won't recover the ridership that we had before. And one thing that was mentioned in all of that funding discussion is that state revenue or state, operating assistance is dependent on ridership. That that state funding is not exogenous to what you decide, but rather as ridership increases on a three year rolling delay, your funding increases.
And so the making a choice of spending a lot of money without getting ridership will mean that our funding will continue to decline, in particular, because Europe is currently updating its funding formula so that ridership is more emphasized and spending money without gaining ridership is punished. So you'll be spending more and more money over time just to keep the same mediocre service. Whereas if you start with high ridership routes, you'll get more money from DRPT and be able to use that to improve other line service later.
I urge you to send the plans, the scenarios back to the drawing board and come up with a reasonably effective transit system. Thanks. Okay. Who else would like to speak? Anyone else? Okay. Well, that closes community matters for now. There will be a chance at the end of the meeting, to speak again if you'd like. Okay. We're now at the consent agenda. Miss Thomas, would you please read the consent agenda? Consent agenda number two, resolution to appropriate Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services Victims of Crime Grant Crime Act Grant in the amount of $123,600.
Second reading. Number three, ordinance regarding an easement to Dominion Energy for undergrounding of electrical equipment at Penn Park And Quarry Road. Second reading. Number four, resolution to appropriate additional funds for an Emmett Street corridor streetscape project. $1,436,519 First of two readings. Thank you. Is there a motion to adopt the consent agenda? So moved. To adopt the consent agenda. Okay. Second.
Thank you very much. Please cast your votes. My voice. My voice. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Motion approved. Motion carries. Motion passes to adopt the consent agenda. Mr. Sanders, is there a report from the city manager's office? Yes. This evening we have, Inez Gonzalez and James Watson. I'm not sure. Who's presenting? Walker. Yes. We're doing, Walker, presenting the, Police Civilian Oversight Board annual report. Sorry about that. I gave you in your last name, James. Sorry. Yeah. That's true. That's where I mix it up.
Good evening, councilors, mister city manager, distinguished members of the lead team, as well as the community. My name is Inez Gonzalez. I'm the executive director of police civilian oversight. To my left is our management analyst, mister James Walker. We are here tonight representing the PCLB and presenting to you the annual report. The annual report this year is significantly more the annual report this year is significantly more comprehensive than last year's report. And as such, I'd like to have mister Walker explain to you as he is the architect of this wonderful document, the, because of its size. It's about a 120 pages total, about a 112 pages of actual text.
And because of the volume of the annual, we decided to break it down into four different components, which I'd like mister Walker to discuss with you now, if you'd allow it. Good evening. Again, I'm James Walker, the management analyst for the Office of Police Civilian Oversight. I think I can control let's see here. Just wanted to go to the table of contents if possible. There we go. Okay. Perfect. So oh, I went too far. So the table of contents of the report lays out the basic structure. It is broken into four main sections. There is a section that focuses on the work of the board, the efforts of
the board, professional development, summaries from board meetings, as well as attendance and, policy revisions and recommendations that the board itself made. Each section also ends, you'll see, with an overcoming challenges portion. This lays out some of the challenges faced, how those have been addressed, and recommendations to move forward, from those challenges. The second section is the office of the executive director. This focuses on our work internally in the office, including some of the priorities and strategic, initiatives that we have had as well as, professional development that we have completed,
and systems and processes that we use to conduct oversight. There is also a breakdown of the PCOB's budget and how funds have been spent, as well as some trends over three years or actually five years, I believe. And then finally, again, you see the overcoming challenges section. We tried to organize those challenges as it related to the themes in the report of the four different sections. The largest section is the next one that focuses on oversight of the police department. In this in this section, it talks a lot about the internal affairs, complaints and cases, ones that we received, came through the PCOB, and the full broad spectrum of
all the ones that went through internal affairs directly. A big portion of this are visuals and breakdowns of trends and statistics related to complaints, the allegations, the findings, and the outcomes of those. Additionally, we dive deep into the police department budget, lay out some trends over the past three years, and look at, how some of those trends we ask questions about them. We don't make any assumptions or statements. We just say, here's what we see in the data. And then lastly, again, that that finishes with with the overcoming challenges. Challenges. And then finally, we have a section on outreach and community engagement.
There is quite a substantial amount in that as well. It includes everything from events that we have participated in, whether as we were invited to speak or hosted an event, everything to, going to community events and going to, speak at UVA or answer questions of students at UVA. That that has occurred, I believe, once. And so, also there is media coverage of the PCOB. So we just document any media coverage locally that specifically spoke to the PCOB or about the PCOB directly.
And then as well, we also document all the internal department, collaboration that we do with, for example, the Office of Human Rights as well as with the police department and others. And again, there's an overcoming challenges section there as well. This report is posted on our website, and it there is gonna be a digital, appendix. It it is in production. It will be posted this week. We're just trying to finalize those documents. And so please use the the table of contents as a guide to walk yourselves through this document, and we hope that it it is enlightening and it fully displays the work of the board as well as the office.
Thank you. And that was one of the things that we were most proud of as far as this document is because, again, and this is the reason why I specifically hired mister Walker. There was a method to my madness. He has made incredible improvements not only to, transparency as it pertains to our website, he's actually upgraded the website significantly. And as far as the contents of the annual report, the whole purpose of the digital, index is for you to be able to click on the link for a document that we we make reference to in our annual and be able to go directly to that document. He also, again, like I said, something that we did this year that we didn't
do last year was to be able to get into granular granular levels of, analysis as it pertains to data. Our own data, as well as the police department's data. Again, as he said, we don't make any assumptions, but we provide enough information so that the reader could look at it and ask questions. It should actually prompt you to be asking additional questions. In addition to that, he is very careful when he provides you with the graphs to the various sections that he's discussing to tell the reader exactly he provides you with the legend and tells you exactly how to understand what it is you're looking
at. And so and as he said, the most important thing, which is I was primarily responsible for, so I take full responsibility for that, was the overcoming challenges section because I've been here long enough to know what works, what doesn't, why it doesn't, and I make very, I think, considerate recommendations as to how it is we can improve our existing situation. And that's all we have if you have any questions. Thank you. Questions, anyone? Lloyd? No. I don't questions. I don't know if I have they're necessarily questions or maybe thoughts, and I know we're not going to solve this tonight.
But to me, you know, speaking of overcoming challenges, I think one of the elephants in the room is that the PCOB is not in, you know, an ideal place right now in terms of council has not been able to recruit a quorum of applicants. There's currently not a quorum. You know, I think well, I remember when we were looking at case studies of PCOBs around the country, a lot of them had that moment of kind of activist pressure to create it, and then they struggled for multiple years to figure things out. And there was an inflection point in some of them where they either gave up on the idea or they were able to figure it out and and get you
know, stick with it. And I feel like we're in that inflection point moment to me. I don't know if you're seeing that in terms of the scale overcoming challenges. But all of that to say, I wonder if we need a work session between city council, you, and the PCOB at some point to really try to hash all these things out. Because to me, there are a lot of big questions about how we systematically recruit board members, but also how the PCOB is going to operate going forward and being
able to incorporate the expertise you've gained in terms of seeing what is working, what isn't working, and how do we work that into, like, actually changing the ordinance at the city council level. I don't know if that makes sense, but that's It makes absolute sense, and you've actually made an old lady's day by saying that because I think that's something that's long overdue, is having that, open conversation with the members of the board, members of the community, but the practitioners. Because I can tell you this, we need look no further than the staff that you currently have to bring to you solutions for how to address this issue. I've been doing this long enough to know what will what I believe will work
and what why it doesn't work right now. And so in order for me to get you all to understand, there has to be that opportunity for either myself or mister Walker to be able to bring that to your attention. I do address that and I I turn the frown upside down. It's not all negatives in there. We talk about, again, looking forward to how it is we can make this better. But there are some very specific recommendations to things that we saw as a problem, but actually having that open dialogue directly with the city council, I think is a badly needed, sort of response to what these issues have been.
And, you know, again recruiting the right people because here's a problem, the community, the board, and I can say this again having done it for over two years now, they don't know what they're asking for. They don't know what to ask for. The things that they want are not necessarily doable under the current structure, but they are still doable under a different structure that makes more sense. And so that's what I was hoping to relate to all of you through this annual report. If you actually take the time to read it, you'll see that there's a lot of recommendations to, again, almost immediately improve the situation.
Right. And and I appreciate that. And I would humbly request of the city manager. I'm not saying, you know, when it needs to happen, but I do think we need a work session with city council, PCOB staff, and PCOB board members to figure out on the city council side how are we actually gonna operational implement various recommendations that you all have put forward. Because I think until we do that, I think the conversations are just so in-depth that I just don't feel like city council is gonna get there in terms of
making changes at our level until we're able to have an interpretation of where things are at. And I do think and I appreciate you putting this forward. I I don't know I don't know if you agree or disagree, but I feel like it's just coming to us in a moment where the PCOB really is at an inflection point in terms of what what's gonna happen going forward. Absolutely. Again, there are there are things that I can clarify. I know that there has been some conversation, where a lot of folks are under
the impression that some of the, some of the challenges that we're bringing forward are hypothetical in scope, but I assure you that they are not. One of the things or one of the the the, I guess, actions that drive my recommendations are I looked at every aspect of the ordinance. So for example, as it pertains to subpoenas, I'm not saying that we can or cannot do subpoenas basically because it's my opinion. I went to the chief justice of the city of Charlottesville and had a conversation with with him, provided him with a copy of the ordinance and specific questions in advance of that meeting to say, hey, this is what the ordinance says we can
do. These are the questions that we have. How do you feel about it? And we walked away with more questions than we had answered. And that's problematic all by itself because what we think we can do may not necessarily be what we can do. And I think a lot of what transpired was that which you're right. I you know, there was a a sort of pressure put on the city council to get this thing done, to get it done quickly. And a lot of the actions that are stated in both both the ordinance of the operating procedures that say that there are certain things that we can do with the expectation that the other parties will cooperate, but that's not necessarily the case. So there are things that there for example, it says that the PCOB can make
recommendations to the chief of police for discipline. We now know that that's not the case because the chief will not accept recommendations for discipline unless there's an internal affairs investigation. But there's a very good reason for that. And you know, to coin something something that the chief of police says all the time and I use this quote all the time, process matters. So it's important for us to do that before us to incorporate all of the parties that are going to be involved in this entire process to make sure everybody's on the same page with the same understanding of what it is our responsibilities are. So I thank you for that. I really do. Yeah. And and again, I would just underline, I think, my big takeaway is just the
need for that kind of meeting for council to be able to figure out and really get into the weeds and finally come to, you know, collective decision on what we're gonna do. And two, that it's really vital that we do that because I think the existence being able to figure this out and make it work is gonna be very important to have a permanent institution. And I think the mere existence of it will change behavior. And I think we can't I'm certainly not ready at all to give up on it because I think it plays a vital role, in the long term. You know, if we can figure this out and and get it as a long
lasting permanent institution, the value there is immense. So Thank you you for saying that. I think there are a lot of people in the community who would agree with you and appreciate that you said that. Thank you all very much. Do we have any other questions? No. But thank you. Thank you all for having us. Alright. You all take care now. So I, wanna take a couple minutes to, add a little bit of context to the 04:00 session for, members of the public who were not able to, tune in, to the transit scenarios conversation presented by the transit director and our consultant, Nelson Nygaard.
I wanted to, because we ran out of time, just make sure that I frame for council really what our next steps are. The conversation or the the presentation this afternoon was really meant to spark, conversation, for all of you to begin thinking about how to balance the big items that are on your list. I think you you got a good taste of what presentation that was made this evening. We are going to, take our next step to prepare a presentation, for going another
layer deeper, for the finance committee to hear further analysis on this particular subject of transit investment. The goal would be for you to have that information. And with two of you being on the council, you'll be able to dive in a little bit deeper, and then we'll help bring the other three members of council up to speed. The plan is for that feedback to frame a little bit more of where we're headed, what really the picture looks like, but to also inform the conversation that will occur at your August council retreat. That retreat is framed around three priority areas as you all have identified them for
staff of housing, transportation, and schools. There's some big tickets related to all three of those categories, which is why I am more or less putting them before you saying, are these your three big items for the f y twenty seven budget so that we can doing the work to prioritize making, certain investments to meet your expectations. The goal will be in that conversation to then be able to designate those as priority outcome areas that you would like to see reflected in the proposed budget that I will bring you in March.
And I will always do my job of requiring that you hear me, at least hear that I said there's a balancing act to all of it. There's there's a lot of a lot of obligation in decisions that you all are making that we need to make sure that we never lose sight of. And when you think about the presentation this after this evening about transit, we didn't just talk about drivers, although that has consumed much of the conversation. We did hear that there are additional supports that are needed in the ways of other staff to support the fact that drivers and buses more drivers and buses are
on the street. We have a need for shelter amenities across our network to protect those individuals as they're waiting for a bus. We have climate action that you all have made a decision that we will invest in and invest heavily in. That now becomes a bit more challenging when you think about the loss of federal support and how we're going to deliver on that big, bold, innovative decision. So there's some questions there. We have paratransit enhancements that are needed. The entire time that I have been here, I've heard complaints about JAUNT, while I've heard praise and and support for JAUNT.
And I think there's additional work that we may need to do with them to identify what else we can do to improve, that service, and that's gonna come at a cost because those funds pass through us. There was as the transit director pointed out, continuation of fare free, that's a cost. We have to eat that cost if that is our priority. There are capital projects expansions that are required for a lot of the things that we're talking about in the climate space specifically that have to be paid for and also reminded that today city pays for that only, not anyone else. We have to make sure that we, continue the conversation with our co payer and
that is Albemarle County for any changes that we plan to make. We're not a one go, one decision made, by this body alone. We have to take the county along with us. We have engaged them in conversations recently to make sure that they understand where things are going because I would appreciate them not being surprised the same as I do not enjoy a surprise. And then we are having to also wrestle with capturing the regional opportunity just beyond our current network because where opportunity lies is an opportunity to increase ridership and bring more funds to us.
All of that is what we have to do in reconciling what is really going on with the priority areas that we have. And again, we're spending a lot in housing. We're talking about spending more in transportation, and we have a school's request that is much bigger than it's ever been and will continue to grow. So with all of that, we can not, lose sight of the fact that state and federal funding, it will be interrupted. It's It's happening already. The state has to then learn what the impacts are gonna be and then what they're gonna pass on to us in the way of additional cost. So I think it's important for us to make sure that we don't lose sight
of this is tonight was a beginning conversation of where we're headed with transit, but then we're going to add the additional factors to that as a party retreat. And that day and a half will be fully packed. We just settled on what that agenda is gonna look like. We did that last week, and I promise you, you will work for a day and a half to get through, the volume of things that we have for you. So I just wanted to make sure I give you that context as to what's ahead and what's next. We'll see that agenda soon, I guess. Yes. Plan to release that by the end of the week. And one of the things that's important about doing all of this ahead of time
is that we're able to incorporate it into our budget, like you said, bring our county partner involved in. Along the way. Right. So it's not something we amend at the end, and it all falls on us like we did last year. Yeah. We gave you the affordable housing update, the annual affordable housing update in April. You got the transit update this evening, and you're going to have a Session with the school board on the fourth. You'll hear about school facilities specifically because that's the big ticket item that I want you to be aware of. So all three of those things, we are leading you to the retreat where we're gonna go deeper, we're gonna ask you to think long and hard, and we're gonna
ask you to make decisions. That's what I like to do. Will the discussion about housing include a component about the unhoused? It'll be touched on, but we're not focusing there. We're focusing globally on what it is that we put as our outlay to housing, and then you can get to talk about shifts care. Alright. Anything else? That is it. Okay. Oh, quick question first just for the public's awareness. Can you share the dates of the retreat and how people can access it? Yeah. So the retreat will be held at the wool factory, August.
It's a all day on the fifteenth, half a day on the sixteenth. We will be recording that event and then posting limited number of chairs available if the public would like to attend because it is considered a public meeting as you'll be, convened with a quorum. But again, it's an action packed day of writing on big giant sheets of posted paper and posted notes all over the place. And will it be live streamed as well? I don't know if we're we're working to see if we can get to that point. But if not, it'll actually be report it'll be recorded and then posted. Okay. Thank you.
Alright. Thank you very much. We're now at the action items. The first one we have here is a public hearing and resolution authorizing the issuance and sale of general obligation public improvement bonds of the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, and an aggregate principal amount not to exceed $38,000,000. This is a public hearing and a resolution. Miss Hamill, you're gonna present? Yes, sir. Great. Good evening, council. Chrissy Hamill, city budget director. As, was mentioned, this is a resolution and a public hearing for our upcoming bond
sale. We are requesting that you give, the city manager authorization, to sell up to $38,000,000 in new bonds. In addition, as we work with our financial advisors, we always look for refunding opportunities. We're asking for up to $25,000,000 for that. Quite frankly, that's not looking as positive now as it was at one point, but we still are requesting the authorization so that when we go to market, if the opportunity presents itself, we'll be able to act appropriately.
All of the bonds that we're, asking you to sell are have been part of the CIP plan, over multiple years. As you know from prior discussions, we basically sell on a cash needed basis. So that means that the project, has either started and we'll be reimbursing ourselves for expenses that have already been incurred, or we anticipate that all the expenses, related to this bond will, so that the bond proceeds will be spent within twenty four months of the sale. That's a requirement through the IRS, to prevent us from having to pay interest or
what's known as arbitrage. So in this memo, we've noted sort of the areas where we will be funding, the the projects or using the bonds to fund projects. Again these are not limited to this. So in other words if we have identified a project and there's a delay or there's something that happens we're able to quickly switch and move the proceeds to another bond that you have previously approved as part of the CIP. And so with that, we also each bond has to be rated.
As you know, we're triple a bond rated. We met with S and P today. We'll be meeting with Moody's next week, and we don't anticipate any troubles with our triple a bond rating. We've not gotten any questions so far. And so with that, I'll leave it with any questions you might have, or for the public hearing. Okay. Any clarifying questions? Lloyd? Okay. Alright. I will now open the public hearing. Is there anyone who would like to speak on this item? Okay. With no speakers, the public hearing is now closed.
Council, was there any discussion? Just very briefly, I know this is procedural, but just for the community to highlight that, you know, this represents, you know, over $12,000,000 of investments in our city schools as well as over $6,000,000 in investments in transportation projects. So I know this is procedural, but it's in representing very significant investments we've made in schools, parks and rec, public transportation, and I think that's just worth highlighting. Thank you. I agree. Is there a motion to adopt this resolution? So moved. Second. Okay. Please cast your votes.
Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Okay. The motion passes four to zero. Thank you very much, miss Hamill. Thank you. Your request passes four to zero inches is too AI government now. Sorry. New phone. Item number six, resolution appropriating funds for federal transit operations and capital grants, $6,666,809. This is one of two readings. Mister Williams will present. Good afternoon again.
Garland Williams, director of Charles Rohrer Transit. What I have for you is a resolution. This is one of two readings. Public hearing will happen on the second reading, on August 4. Fourth. August 4. What you have before you is a acceptance and appropriation of capital funds, in the amount of $3,145,636 and operating assistance federal operating assistance in amount of 2,640,880, which combined, represent 600 6,666,000, $8.00
9. The capital funding will be used to purchase, vehicles, six diesel buses, and the, operating funds will be a split 75% to, cat, and 25% to John for operating assistance. We're asking that you, at the public hearing, we're asking that the the funding be accepted, and we'd be able to appropriate it. Great. Are there any clarifying questions? When will the buses be delivered? The buses the last one just pulled on, put on our lot, last Thursday.
We are only awaiting on, a head sign for that one. There was a issue with it, so they're gonna ship us a new one. A new sign, not a new A new head sign. New head sign. But all of the, infrastructure to support the vehicles, are being installed next week. Great. Thank you very much. Okay. So the idea would be for us to move this to the action agenda for next meeting. So you're gonna have any concerns with that? Okay. So we'll move this to the action agenda for the next meeting where we'll have a public hearing and then the vote.
Thank you very much, Mr. Williams. All right. Next item on the agenda, a resolution initiating amendment and referring adoption of the 2024 development code, zoning, and subdivision ordinance to the planning commission for review and recommendation. Mister Matt Affeli will present. Thank you, city council. Matt Affeli, development planning manager with NDS. With me tonight is Kelly Brown, the director of NDS two. On 06/30/2025, the Charlottesville Circuit Court granted a default judgment in the White versus Charlottesville
case involving the city's current development code due to a procedural error. While the city awaits the written order from the judge in the case and pursues legal recourse, staff recommends initiating initiating readoption of the development code. By adopting this resolution before you tonight, that process can begin by referring the matter to the city's planning commission for recommendation and review. Once the initiate initiation resolution is adopted, no immediate action is required from either the planning commission or city council, but initiation ensures city staff and elected officials can respond
swiftly to readopt the development code if the need arises. Per state regulation, the planning commission will have one hundred hundred days to review the development code and hold a public hearing. With that, I can answer any questions. Any clarifying questions? No, Lloyd. No questions. No. Well, I guess one question. So we had been in a process of doing, you know, kind of the annual review of looking at what's working, what's not working, making tweaks. I think that's obviously a very important thing that needs to happen. We need to be taking in new information, seeing what's matching our goals, what isn't,
and be willing to adjust. I take it that process is basically on hold until we have certainty about where things are. The I would say the public facing process is on hold. Staff is still doing that work so that when we can pick back up the last, the item we were kinda interrupted on was having a listening session with the building community, with planning commission. So we are still we're still wanting to do that, but we're just doing the back end work so we can pick up once we have clarity. Right. So things are slowed down but not paralyzed because of the uncertainty.
Correct. We're we're able to do some work on our end, still gathering, you know, that information, looking what's working, what's not, making our internal recommendations on some, amendments to the code. So, yeah, we're still continuing to do that work. We're just pausing, moving anything to the public facing side till we get some clarification. Understand. Sounds like everyone's in agreement. It's very important to to to get there and accomplish that. But, again, I understand, you know, we need just certainty, and this is just a first procedural step. Yes. Okay. Any other clarifying questions? Is there a motion to adopt this resolution?
I make a motion to adopt the attached resolution referring the 2024 development code zoning and subdivision ordinances to the planning commission for review and recommendation. Is there a second? Okay. Any further discussion? Alright. Please cast your vote. We'll do that, by verbal vote. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Alright. The motion passes four to zero. Thank you, sir. All right. The next and final item on the action agenda denied is a resolution amending the FY 2026 budget ordinance to provide the city manager authority to reallocate funds appropriated for
the office of Community Solutions. Mister Sanders will present. So councilors, effective July 1, made the decision to, close the office of Community Solutions and redistribute the team members across multiple offices and departments, in an effort to right size, right fit, and reorganize, in a desire for the most effective set of operations. Multiple staff members, in that office have now all been reassigned and have joined their team. I should say all of them have joined their new teams.
We have, made a change to the budget office, renaming it the office of budget and grants management because we provided additional staff for that particular focus to align with the work that miss Hammel was already doing, and it actually now gives her a more robust team. So she's not up there talking to herself. She has other people to talk to. And then in addition to that, we have created a housing division within the neighborhood development services team, specifically looking at our housing work to better analyze and connect to the ongoing big things that we are doing in bold ways.
Our economic development office has an additional staff member to focus on Downtown Mall specifically, and the city manager's office is taking on a position to focus on planning, performance management, and projects. With all of that, the the goal was to do what we could to ensure that we are operating more optimally, so the changes were necessary in order to pull that forward. But we had already adopted a budget. You had already adopted a budget that allocated a little over a million dollars in resources to that particular office. We have since engaged in the work to split that money up according to these
various individual staff members who made up that team, And the goal is to now transfer those funds with them to their new team so that the work that they were going to do as this one unit are now gonna get spread out over five or six different units. So because the budget was adopted and the budget is now live as effective, July 1, then we're asking you to approve the reallocation of those funds. So it's not gonna cost us anything more. It's just putting it in the right buckets. Got it. Any questions? One, the, you know, the role of a downtown mall strategy manager is obviously, you
know, fundamentally different than a redevelopment manager in the role they played. Is anyone fulfilling what that old role of the redevelopment manager was at this point? I'll say that the redevelopment manager role was never really lived out as it was created. Part of what we hope to do is we'll focus some attention on the downtown mall specifically in the redevelopment space. But I know that we have probably four or five different individuals today that are touching on the various components to what a redevelopment manager would have done if we
had actually fully operationalized it. If we find ourselves in need of that position specifically to do more, I'll I'll look at bringing it back. But at the moment, I would say that we actually never fully deployed that role the way it may have been originally envisioned, because we actually occupied most of the time of the person in the housing space alone. So there's there's still a little more work to be done, I would say, in that in that space. I don't believe we're losing anything is what I'm saying. Right. Okay. Yeah. See the wheels in motion over there. Anything else? I see it too.
I'm I'm good. I'm good for now. We could talk more. Sasha? Is, how do is this a a single boat? Do we carry this to to the next? I think it's a single vote. Yeah. It's a single vote. Because the budget's already been adopted, so we're just moving it. Okay. So So moved. Yeah. So, so there's motion to amend the FY twenty six budget ordinance to provide the city manager authority to relocate reallocate funds appropriate for the office of Community Solutions.
So moved. Moved. Second? Second. K. Please, cast your vote, verbally. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Motion passes four to zero. Great. Alright. There the next two items are written reports. Counselors, do you have any questions or need follow-up? This is the Ravenna Authority's quarterly report and the sister cities commission, annual report. I don't I don't know if it was even in the report irrelevant, but just a very brief is there any I thought, you know, the recent warning system that you was highlighted recently was just a positive thing to just make the community aware
of, that's correct to At the Sugar Hollow Dam? Correct. Yeah. I don't know if anyone has any update on what it is or Wants to go into more detail. My intention was to include it in the next city management report so that therefore it would be available for more. But ideally, what we have talked about, in the Ravenna meetings was trying to make sure that we, look at emergency management, alignments, better improvements, and and being able to notify the community when something happens. There's a bladder that runs across the top of the Sugar Hollow Dam that, was
compromised at one point. It allowed more water to cross over. It alarmed people who live nearby because they hadn't been notified that there was a issue. This will actually now make it possible that if something were like that were to happen again, while it wasn't a catastrophic failure, it was enough of a failure that an alert would actually come and allay any fears. And then if there were a catastrophic failure, there's a chance for us to be able to do better in getting that information out. Yeah. I think it's just a clear, example of there being proactive planning, preparing for, you know, extreme rain, extreme flooding events.
We have also talked in in with Ravenna about making sure that they are plugged in with the city and the county as well because their infrastructure is in our footprints, and they support things that could happen to our various residents and constituents. So the goal is to make sure that from an emergency management standpoint, we're sharing information collaboratively, cooperatively as well. But that was it. Thank you. Anything with respect to the Sister Cities Commission annual report? K. I'm I know that if we have follow-up questions, we can just Mhmm.
Answer ask those directly to the to the relevant, folks. I would say we probably should, congratulate the Sister Cities team for their recent hosting of the Yeah. The group from France, who were here. Ongoing, by the way. Yeah. It's not over. Yeah. I think they have a couple more days. How did you get a chance to to use your French from years ago, boys? I did indeed. Okay. You know, from fifty years ago plus Google Translate. Okay. I did great. Alright. I I should say, I think there's a concert or a performance of some sort
tomorrow by the gospel choir from Bizalcon. And if folks have not heard them, they're they're really very entertaining. Okay. Fantastic. Thank you. And my French my former French lessons failed me. So Okay. We are now at the final speaking opportunity for members of the public. Individuals may raise your hand to speak and be recognized. Each speaker will be given up to three minutes. Is there anyone who would like to speak? Okay. Come on up. Good evening, counsel. Again, Roy Stilzenberg, resident of Water Street. I just wanted to, expand a little bit of my comments earlier.
I feel like I may have been a little harsh. The work that, the transit team and, the consultants have done so far is very valuable in planning. That said, I believe what you guys need to ask for is a menu of different options, for f y 27 service, including high frequency routes even if, a baseline of thirty minutes on every route, given the budget constraints available, is not achievable. I think there's certainly a Title Six justification, for pursuing that route, and any presentation
where you can only see that as a baseline and high frequency options, in addition to that baseline, don't give you an accurate picture of, what the options available to you are. So I hope you'll seek that, and be able to weigh it, as you proceed in considering your trans options. Thank you. So much. Anyone else? Alright. With no further business, is there a motion to adjourn? So moved. So moved. Second then. Okay. Please cast your vote. Yes. Yes. Yes. Alright. Thank you very much. Thank you, mister city manager and madam clerk for, an excellent meeting. Part: 2
Councelor Smith, we're waiting on council invite you into the meeting. Okay. This is clear. We can present the Make sure
There he is. You need a second to get logged in. Uh, you can start. Okay. The July 21st, 2025 Charlottesville City Council meeting will come to order. Miss Thomas, will you call the role, please?
Councelor Ashin present. Councelor Payne here. Vice Mayor Pinkston here. Um, councelor Snook has requested to join the meeting electronically and Mayor Wade announced that he would be absent because of travel.
Thank you. Having established a physical quorum, council will consider a request from Councelor Snook to participate electronically. Councelor Snook, are you able to hear us? Council, can you hear us? Lloyd, I I could on and off there. Yes. Uh I'm
I'm presently in Baisy, Virginia on vacation. Okay. Are participants in the meeting room able to hear, counselor Snook? Yes. Yes. So, for the record, would you please specify your reason for electronic participation in your remote location? I think you just said that, but could you
say it again? I'm in Bazy, Virginia on vacation with my wife. Good deal. based on compliance with policy. Is there a motion regarding electronic participation? I would say moved. Yeah. All right. A second.
Second. Okay. All in favor say I. I. I. Any oppose? No. Okay. I said I as well. The motion passes and councelor Snook is granted permission to participate in this
meeting electronically. Welcome. Thank you. Was it Was that pink lemonade I saw earlier? Yes, it was. Okay. Um, is there a motion to approve or amend the agenda? So moved.
Second. Okay. Please cast your votes, which I think we do on Let me make sure everyone's logged in. You log? Yes. Okay. I'm I'm um we won't be able to um to vote if
everyone's not logged in. So, we'll do voice votes. Lord, you're not able to log in. Uh I don't know how I would do so remotely. Okay. Well, maybe we'll figure that out during the interim. Um do you need a
roll call or just voice? Um we got the we have three electronically and then Lloyd said yes. So, we're good to go. It passed. Okay. I haven't voted. I don't know. It's not popping up. Well, we can do a voice if you all want to. Whatever you're comfortable with, Madam
Clerk. Voice vote for everything. Okay. Okay. Please cast your votes. Um, yes. Yes. Sorry, we're so disorganized tonight, folks. We're still getting used to this electronic um voting system.
Okay. So, this meeting will be divided into three parts. First, there's a work session to hear and discuss presentations that do not require council vote. Then, there will be a closed session. And finally, the city council business meeting will begin at
6:30. Um, our presentation for reports tonight are transit service scenarios for FY27. Mr. Garlin Williams will present. Thank you. I wanted to just go ahead and say
as I look through this, my um um impression, strong impression was basically this was a response to the things that we've been bringing you all in terms of the number of drivers and so forth. Um there's folks from the impact
community that are here tonight, the the organization that the mayor and I went to back in April. Um, so it's heartening to see the the sort of response to the feedback that we've brought. So, thank you. Thank you. Um, I will say before I
start, the city manager and the deputy city manager have been pushing CAT um, uh, to make sure that we get as much information to you, the decision makers, so you can make a well-informed decision when it's time um, before the, uh, the actual budget process for FI27 starts.
Um, so I really believe that this kind of really kicks that part off. Um, with that I will say um, good afternoon, Vice Mayor Kingston, city council. I'm Garin Williams, the director of Charles Transit. Um, I have my senior um, leadership team here with me tonight. I
want to introduce some of the individuals here that uh, help me manage CAT on a daily basis. Um, this is in alphabetical order. Um, I need to say that for the three behind me because they push each other. So Karen Davis, which is our um assistant director of
transit for operations. Barry, you want to raise your hand, Karen? Okay. Um Barry Herring, the assistant director of transit for finance and grants management. And then Michael Newell, the assistant director for transit for um maintenance and
facilities. Um also we have uh Zoe is in our audience. She's a shared member from CAT and from NDS um the city's uh transit planner. um she also graced our presence today. But also have uh the folks who who help CAT on a daily basis.
Um the the consulting firm um Nelson Nygard um Jim um Baker the senior planner from Nelson Iguard um he will be helping with the presentation later on. But also with him is Anthony Breaker um the senior scheduling associate with
Nelson Igard um and Greg Nordine um was also a principal with Nelson Igard the consulting firm that advises us um helps our schedule development service development um and also keeps us updated
on title six um updates before we begin the presentation um behalf on behalf of the hardworking professionals CAT um which is transit and pupil. I wanted to say thank you for your continued focus on transportation.
Um your continued effort will ensure the CAT is reliable and that um we continue to move this system along as efficiently as we possibly can. To that end, let's begin. We have four items we want to cover tonight. Service history. We're
going to talk about in very u brief terms um the service history pre- pandemic to now kind of the five-year look back. We're going to do um a review of the 20 2022 um system optimization
plan um and validate those assumptions. We're do a service enhancement um scenarios. They're the scenarios that were in the back of the presentation. We're going to go through them in um fairly um granular detail if we can. And then we're going to do the title six
analysis and talk about policy um and the council's role and requirements um in title six. I know there's been some discussion about um the active role of council u which is cat's board um in making those decisions. So
I will quickly oop sorry I will quickly go through um the uh precoid and our service history. So um and then after that, Jim's going to take over the presentation and take um it through completion.
So I was before you on March 27th of 2025 during the budget process and we talked in great detail about the frequency tables and we talked about um the writership um charts. Um, for the sake of how long this presentation is, I'm not going to go into any great
detail, but I'm just going to highlight the fact that when service was happening 5 years ago, pre- pandemic, you can see on the from the chart above um that we had a lot of different colors. The colors mean different things. So, if
you're looking at anything that was blue, it was um 15 minutes or or 20 minutes. um anything um green was 30 minutes, tan was 60 minutes, and then we had these red marks that were um greater than 60 minutes. Majority of the service
was 70 minutes. Um some of that was uh made it hard for people to use CAT system. You didn't really know how to use it um because the system kept changing the the service model um sometimes every 3 or four hours. So we
have migrated from that became much more reliable and that's what you see today. We do not have any Sunday service. We were not able to return during the pre- pandemic but we are operating you would have to say much more reliably. Cockface headways have been put in place and the
system is actually actually operating a much more smooth um and reliable pace. Um to that end, if you look at the wrership model that we've talked about in great detail, um from FY20 uh 18
through 25, we had a wrership totals of about 1.9 almost 2 million riders in 18. Um COVID happened 2021. Our ridership um like most transit agencies across the nation plummeted during the pandemic
during the pandemic um time frame. we've been able to slowly start um climbing our way back. Um we're not at um uh the n FY19 levels, but we are higher than the FY2020 levels. Um we were hoping that the
completion of FY25 was going to be 1.4. We fell just short of that. Um we had some pretty rough days in May and June and we weren't able to complete all of our service model. But one of the things I wanted to highlight is the fact that in FY25 we extended service um to the
center at Belvadier fulfilling an obligation that the city had with the center um which brings us to the point that that we are our coverage area was extended um routes four and nine frequencies were improved um from
weekdays which is Monday through Friday from 6:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. to 30 minutes service. they were 60-minute service. And then the route six, which was improved um basically seven um six days a week, Monday through Saturday to 30 minute service from 6:00 a.m. to 6
p.m. Um 12 hours of service. Um a marked improvement from where it was before. Um added recovery time to most of our routes, but actually helped us make sure that we ensured um uh timely transfers. Um so we're starting to climb out. Wrership is looking better. We're not
where we want to be, but we're not where where we were before. um uh all of this the pandemic happened. So current model today we still have 12 routes. Um we've been talking about extending and changing routes. Hopefully
in the very near f future we'll uh be able to split the two um which is a request from the county. Um that's part of what they paid in in their um uh allocation for FY26 um which will add additional route to our search. will
have um 13 routes including the trolley that will operate. Um so with that, we've seen this this chart many many times and I'm going to turn it over. So like I said, we have a lot to talk about today. So I'm going to turn it over to Jim Baker with um Nelson Agar to take us
through um the near-term service expansion request. Do I control this? Yes, sure. Back. Great. Good afternoon. And my name is Jim Baker, senior principal at Nelson Nygard. And um this uh back in 2021 and
2022, I was working with Garland and his staff on putting together what we called a system optimization plan, a plan of just how to kind of restore service back better than before uh uh precoid. And that plan, you know, improved
frequencies on a number of routes to 30 minutes or better. Um, it proposed it reestablishing Sunday service. Um, if you remember one of the charts there that Garland showed, there were some se some routes running at 70 minute frequency. So, this plan got rid of all
that as well. And we provided some new connections with this plan. So, we improved uh we improved um you know transit's accessibility between the UVA campus and the hospital up to Barracks Road. We added some new cross town services such as from South
Charlottesville to the US to Barracks Road, the US 29 corridor without having to go through downtown. There was a you know extended service coverage uh south on the south end of the service area. um and um uh including that route 2A and 2B
connecting to uh Pedmont, Virginia Community College. So really kind of expanding, you know, modifying the connections there, improving uh more direct service within the uh service area. Um that plan at the time we estimated
would require 28 peak buses. Today it's 20 peak buses and uh it required around 132,000 revenue hours of service annual revenue hours. That's about over a 40% increase over today. And at the time we
estimated that uh the uh number of operators required to operation plan was 82 operators. You know that was an estimate back from May 2022. Well, since then, um, yeah, we've been
operators. Do we have 65? Sorry. Great question. Uh, authorized for 66 and as of today, all 66 positions are filled. Um, we have three operators that tested today.
Tested today for their license. So, hopefully they all pass. U, we'll be able to get them into service. Nice. Sorry. Thank you. So, uh we've been providing scheduling support for Garland and his team for the u past several months. And with this,
you know, additional information, uh we updated that estimate of operators. Um what we found was that original estimate, you know, you were paying a lot more overtime to operators at the time. Um you had fewer extra board. Extra board is where you have
additional staff to cover when an operator calls in sick or you know if it's paid leave just so that you can continue to provide that service out there uh on the streets and uh you know with these uh with this additional uh refinements in our in estimating the
operators that 82 operator number went up to 90. So really to implement that SOP, the system optimization plan that was envisioned back in May 2022, it really at this point we believe, you know, would require 90 operators.
And that's for the same amount of coverage as the original 82 were estimated to provide. Yes. Thank you. Yes. So Garland asked us, well, what can we do with 82 operators? So we looked at um
what was achievable and there's a number of things that we can do from the system optimization plan like for example route one is the only route today that does not operate on Saturday. So we can do that. Um Garland talked about the route
two and the um the service that's to be implemented later this fiscal year. We can do that. Um, one of the things we wanted to do is restructure service in the US 29 corridor. Um, we wanted to provide a one seat ride from downtown up to the Walmart. That does not exist
today. Uh, and we're able to do that. And also the route five currently operates just from uh, barracks north. We wanted to extend that down to the UVA campus and hospital. So, you have more transit choices to get from UVA and the
hospital up to the to barracks. and we're able to do that. Also, you know, out out on the uh east side of town, uh route 10 that serves the pantops and Martha Jefferson Hospital that currently operates at 60-minute frequencies and is
a very ciruitous route. We wanted to straighten that out and get that frequency to 30 minutes. We're able to do that as well. And we really wanted to get the trolley service back to 15minute frequencies. It was running at 15 minutes uh before the pandemic. Right
now it's running at 25 minute frequencies which means transfers to and from the trolley at the downtown transit station do not work well because everything else is operating on you know a 30 60 minute uh frequency. We're able to do that as well. So we want so we can
do all those things. The one thing that we cannot do with the 82 operator constraint would be adding Sunday service. we'd have to sacrifice one of those things some of those things I just talked about in order to do Sunday service. And just just based on some of
the historical writership uh that Garland showed there, you really get a lot of benefit when you increase frequencies. Um, so just just trying to get your weekday and Saturday service levels up first as a priority and then add Sunday service if you have we're
working with a constraint of 82 operators. So this just kind of shows, you know, just what that system would look like. Not I know it's kind of hard to visualize here, but um you can see on the south end the route two splits into
a 2A 2B. So, we're doing that. Um, that route seven is a route that would go from downtown through UVA campus, uh, you know, up US 29, uh, all the way to Walmart. So, again, that one seat ride with that route five, um, being extended
south to connect to UVA and the hospital and the route 10 also being straightened out. Um and this is a lot of detail if you wanted to look at the route level details but basically uh this with this
82 operator constraint it's um adding uh six additional peak vehicles and right now the peak vehicle requirement is 20. So it' be uh bumping that up to six and adding um about 31,000 additional annual revenue hours. And I think right now
you're around 92 or so thousand hours. Um yeah, I know right now of course CAT is uh received some funding from the county uh for service outside of the city. So Garland asked us to look at the the split between the city and county uh
revenue hours and it's u 31% of the revenue hours would be out in the county. uh 69% of the service would be inside the city which is very similar to the split today. I think it's about a 29% in the county today. So it's just uh
you know upping that a little bit. And then similarly with the cost there, it' be that 3169 split here with a total cost of around 16.9 million um with this 82 operator um est
um constraint. So by 15 this is this is not net additional this is total. This is total. Yes. So we're at 158 today. That's one8. Yes. Okay.
Total cost is what you're referring to with that number. 15800. Okay. So next um you know Garland asked us to you know look at the system you know I mentioned before the system operating plan uh optimization plan that
was envisioned back in 2022 would require 90 operators. Garland asked us to look at well what what if we did that system optimization plan but improved frequencies on a number of other routes. Uh that system optimization plan still had some routes running at 60-minute
frequencies. So he asked,"Well, what if we run everything at 30 minutes service?" Um, you know, and and uh, you know, in addition to everything that was proposed in the SOP, the optimization plan. And that would increase that to 18
operators. and and that would bump that peak vehicle requirement to run everything at 30 minutes or better um uh by 15 additional peak vehicles. So you're going from 20 to 35 peak vehicles and an
additional 71,000 hours of service. And with that system optimization plan, everything operating at 30 minutes or better, it's still a pretty similar split between the city and county. um you know 29% to the county um 71% to the
city and that cost you know is around $22.5 million um versus 15.8 but that doesn't include new buses that would be needed. This is just operating costs
and I know so you're saying peak bus current peak vehicle is 20. If we wanted to achieve this, we would need 15 additional out there, but we do have like 40ome in our inventory right now.
Right. Michael just pointed to me, we have 43 vehicles on property today. We're about to retire three. We're about to retire three. So, we'd have 40 in our um compliment. 35
vehicles at peaks means we would have a spare ratio of only five. Okay. Well, what is what is best practice for spares? 20%. But we're a small transit agency, so we try to go a little bit higher than that because 20% for us if we're missing
four or five buses is is problematic for a system that's only running 40 vehicles at at a time. Thank you. So um we did some more of these frequency charts like Garland showed before and this is the existing
frequencies. At the time we did this there were 65 operators. Now there's 66. Um, and again there the you can see the yellow is where there a rout's operating at 60 minute frequencies and the green is where it's operating at 30 minutes with the exception of the trolley that's
a 25m minute frequency on the chart. So that's the oddball but you if you remember the chart the pre-COVID chart Garland showed before there was some red where there was some 70 minute frequencies. So those are you know since then you know CA cat's been able to
eliminate you know improve frequencies on those routes. Um this would be the partial implementation of the system optimization plan with 82 operators. So if I just kind of toggle back you'll
see that there's more routes with green. Um so we're expanding the routes with 30 minute frequencies. You'll also see that oops, I went the wrong way. Um, there we go. You also see in the evening
there's um some inconsistency as far as how long the routes are running in the evenings on both weekdays and Saturdays. And uh one of the things we be able to do with 82 operators is have some consistency where routes are operating
till 10:30 in the evening. And then you can also see the the trolley there as well as blue because we're able to restore that to 15 minute frequencies both weekdays and Saturdays. So sorry, do we have 10:30 now and we would extend to 11 or do we not have
10:30 now? Some routes are at 10:30 uh but not too many. Some some you know at 10 there's a one route that ends at around uh six o'clock or so I believe. So there's some inconsistency there. So we're able to kind ex get everything more on a
consistent evening service uh span. Okay, thank you. Oh, I see. Okay, I'm seeing the difference between the two slides now. Appreciate it. And then with the full implementation with that 30 minute frequencies, you can
see everything is running at 30 minutes or better. Um on weekdays up until 700 p.m. And on Saturdays between 9 and uh yeah, nine and six or seven.
Yeah. And and also on Sundays. So during the daytime on sat weekends we have everything operating on 30 minute frequencies. Again we have that consistency as well as far as the end of service time as well on all days a week. We do we do propose ending service a
little earlier on Sundays at 900 p.m. And so this 108 operators that 108 comes from if this was our schedule this is how many we would need. Correct. Thank you. So um next we wanted to talk about just
going you know we were asked to just look at some scenarios that go beyond the system optimization plan. Um I before I do maybe any more questions about the what I've shown so far. Michael do you have anything any
questions so far? Um, help me remember the the 6582. I've had a lot kind of going on in the last three three four months. When we met with the folks at impact in April,
the commitment they were asking for was 82. So, um, 32 82 to get us to 30 minute. So that was the assumptions that were made in FY uh well calendar year 22. So
um part of what is happening today is to bring the validate those assumptions, right? And we we've come to the realization that the 82 model um doesn't hold water today. It's really 90 to do just the basic and it's 108 to get the
full model where we have service seven days a week again. Okay. All right. Thank you. The major reason for that, one of the major reasons for that change is as we add more service, we have to increase our number of um extra board operators
that fill in gap so we can make sure that we're staying reliable and consistent. So when someone takes off or someone calls out, we still need to be able to have a person that we plug in so we can make sure people still get to work on time. So that's really where the additional um bodies are coming from.
I see. Okay. Thank you. Okay, I know we've thrown a lot of numbers at you. We're going to throw a few more at you here. And that's looking at some uh uh some additional service expansion scenarios uh that go beyond uh that uh
that 30 minute uh system optimization plan scenario we just showed. And what we have is really it's six scenarios really. It's just variations of three scenarios. Um, and the first one we looked at, uh, we were asked to look at is, um, what if you, what would it take
if you ran service to midnight weekdays and Saturdays, you know, and still have Sunday service go till 9. And um, we improved um, you know, everything ran at 30 minutes, you know, seven days a week.
That's scenario 1A. And then scenario one and and we also had some 15minute frequencies and that scenario 1A on um four routes. Um well maybe not. And then scenario 1B was where we added the 15-minute
frequencies on four routes. The five, six, seven, and trolley which are some of your you know higher ridership routes. So scenario 1 A running everything uh at 30 minutes except for the trolley that still stay that'd be at 15 minutes. Scenario 1B, improving uh frequencies on
the five, six, and seven to 15 minute frequencies. Both scenarios assume service to midnight. So that's going be, you know, beyond what we were originally considering in that system optimization plan. And then scenario two backs that off a
bit instead of, you know, it's the same same as scenario one. The only difference is that on Sundays instead of running those all Sunday service at 30 minute frequencies, it's backing off Sunday to 60 minute frequencies. So it's going to be a little less
expensive, little less service on Sundays when historically ridership productivity isn't as great. And then scenario three is backing off a little bit further from scenario two in addition to the 60-minute service uh on Sundays where we're backing off um also
on weekdays just going to 11:00 p.m. instead of um midnight. So this is what that looks like. It's just just kind of give it a a range of what's uh just give you a sense of the range of what those required operators would be. Um, basically the maximum
scenario is scenario 1B where you go up to 137 operators and you pretty significant jump in operating costs as well to 28 million 41 peak buses which would mean it' be
around a fleet of 50 buses. Um but then that those numbers back off with scenarios two a little bit and back off further with scenario three where you can see like that um you know where you can see like the the the least the
the the scenario 3A is the least of of all these scenarios there with 111 operators and 23 million in annual cost. Um and then yeah, so as we went through all these scenarios, one of the additional things
was asked um what would it take support staff for us to make sure that we were able to operate whether it's till midnight or in scenario two um have our maintenance shop um operate 24 hours. So, if we were going to return to a 7
days a week model, um we would ask that we would be given additional um inventory specialists because one of the things we want to make sure that we are mindful of is when we're asking for parts, we need a person who manages that process. U we just actually went through
a trial and review um and they are uh keen about making sure that we account for all of the parts when they go on the vehicles at that time. That's what the inventory specialist does. Then we need additional mechanics because one of the things that um the more service hours
you have, the more PMs you're going to have to do, the potential more number of breakdowns you're going to have. So, we're asking for a minimum till if we're going to go till till midnight, a minimum of additional five um mechanics. Um and then the supervision because we're extending additional hours. Um the
model goes to we are at nine potentially uh uh supervisors now. we go to 14 with an additional five supervisors. So, these are additional expenses that we wanted you to consider. Um, but also um there's not a slide in this, but if
we're extending our hours, I need to point this out. If we extend our hours to midnight, that has an impact on Jaunt. They provide our ADA paratransit service. We have to make sure that we account for their costs for extending service um for those additional hours. Also, I do not know what that costs are.
I have had a conversation with Mike. Um he's going to start to work up a cost um for what that would cost um for the additional hours, but it will be an impact not just to cat, but also John for the Sunday service. Yes. Well, they're already doing Sunday,
which was a good thing. They never pulled back, so there's not a a tremendous amount additional cost on their Sunday service, but for the additional hours on the weekdays, which is five days a week, we they there they there will be a cost for that. And then the the 24-hour model, which is the
bottom one. Um because we are introducing three shifts. Three shifts on the mechanic side. Um you're asking for So you would have an inventory specialist, which we have just one now. You would have an inventory specialist for each one of the the shifts. So
you're adding two uh inventory specialists. Um a transit um bus mechanics would go to eight because you would have how many at five at a shift at a time? Five at a shift at a time. um which gets us to 15 uh mechanics. Um
and then transit uh a transit um technician supervisor which is the kind of like the foreman then additional one. We have two now we needed a third for the third shift. Um and then the op the um road supervisors or operation supervisor stays the same at five. Um
those are are all additional um requests that we would ask to to consider. Um because it's not just the it's not just the buses or the um the operators we put on the road. All the the support systems around it need to um also beef up.
I'm sorry you've said this probably three times, but what is the difference between the top of the chart and the bottom of the chart? The top of the chart um the buses operate till midnight. and means um we're shutting off our mechanic. The the buses operate till midnight and also our
maintenance shop stops at midnight. The bottom one buses operate till midnight, but the mechanic shop operates 24 hours. It does not stop. So when the buses are in at midnight, they have um from midnight till 5:30 in the morning to do
um additional maintenance work, preventive maintenance or repairs to get it ready for service that next morning. So that if we were to go with the lower option there, that would give us more redundancy, I guess. Or that it does because today our last
mechanic is at 5:30. Yes, 5:30. our last. So, we don't have a mechanic on staff after 5:30 today. Okay. And again, you're saying that these are in addition to the revised budget numbers that you gave for the driver
increases, correct, sir? Just want to make sure. We're almost there. Did we include um cost for additional buses in your revised operating budget? So we we did not because uh one of the things is that once a decision is made
um we do have the ability to go to the state and ask for additional expansion vehicles. Um uh thus far we have not had an issue getting those additional vehicles granted. Um uh if we're um now it does become a little more tricky as
we move to the um uh the clean um alternative fuel vehicle models because they're much more expensive. Um, but if we're running the the diesel model, there there seems to be a placeholder where we be able to get additional two or three vehicles. But once again, when
we're asking for them in expansion, there's an assumption that you you buy them and you put them in the service. They're not being held um back just for um uh you know, relief purposes. Expansion means we're expanding our
model, adding more service. I think all we have left here is just uh some more charts that just kind of show what those beyond the system optimization plan scenarios would look like in terms of uh frequency. So this is that scenario 1A with the service going to midnight and everything
operating at 30 minute frequencies. Um you can see here 1B is where we do have additional routes running at 15 minute frequencies. So you can kind of see that visually. And then 2A
um was uh where we um uh scaled back on Sunday service um because like you can see there on the scenario 1 A1B we had 30 minute frequencies on Sundays. Scenario 2 A and 2B scale that back to
30 60 minutes with the exception of the trolley. And then scenario 3A and 3B are similar, just scaling the service back to end at 11 um on weekdays and Saturdays. And then just kind of some a few summary
charts there. Um again, your uh peak vehicle requirement today is 20 uh peak vehicles. the 82 operators uh generates an additional five peak vehicles. The SO system optimization plan model at 30
minutes gets you to 35. And then some of those beyond the SOP scenarios where we're running more routes at 15inute frequencies gets you up to 41 peak vehicles and just again you just at minimum need to add 20% on top of these numbers. You can see the chart to the
right shows the change in revenue hours and how those step up in progression with each scenario. Um the highest scenario 1B is 124% uh um more than the current. And then the operator requirements again
at the time we did this it was 65 operators bumping it up to 82 uh with that first scenario we discussed 108 to go with the SOP with the 30 minute frequencies all the way up to 137 in terms of the
highest number with the beyond SOP numbers and then the operating expenses in line with what you saw with the uh revenue hours. So I would transition to well and I would just to to go back to
that side briefly um because to me that's the most important slide uh the the previous one in terms of the the costs um just for underlining to me like in terms of the community's expectations I think the SOP is accomplishing that is
the bare minimum and certainly I think they would want you know the SOP with 30 minutes surface beyond that even um but you're talking about a minimum of $3 to $4 million in additional funding from the city just to accomplish the SOP and then in the realm of $8
to$10 million once you're talking about, you know, the SOP with 30-minute routes. Um, and as I look at that, I think that's just important. The goal is we'd have to figure out how to get to $3 million at a bare minimum and at the higher end, how do we get to 8 to10 million? I think that $3 million is
difficult but achievable. But then when I look at the 8 to 10 million that kind of increase I think that's feasible. But when I hear that it starts to make me think we would have to start to look at identifying a new revenue source that is kind of earmarked either informally or formally for that purpose in order to
achieve that. Um so anyway I just um some initial thoughts to that but I think that's the most important side because all this comes down to how much money do we as city council actually allocate for these goals. Yeah, I agree. So basically up until the the dashed
line there that's that takes us up to the 30 minute model and beyond that is all the other options the 1A and 1Bs and so on. Part of what I hope we would do today is just you know this starts the
conversation. And we're not asking you to make any decisions of course today, but when you're having your deliberations in the fall when you start budget process, we wanted you to have a context for what is possible. Um, and we've looked at a number of scenarios. Do you want us to do any other
scenarios? Um, that's part of what we're asking for your advice today. Um, but we also wanted to bring you to the next part of our presentation. um well Greg will come up and we're going to talk about um title six because I know you've heard um bits and pieces from other people and you heard it from me but I
think it's also important that as cat's board which is city council that you are aware of kind of your responsibilities um as far as title six are concerned. So just kind of do an introduction um um about that um bring Greg up real quick um question about the
scenarios that we've gotten. Um, all of them are we've we've talked about this before, but um I think it'd be good to reiterate since this scenario doesn't exist here, and I'm wondering if it's possible to, which is not getting
everything to 30 minutes service before we get to the 15 minute service on some of the routes. Is that what this next part is about? Yes. Okay. Yes. Thank you. Good afternoon. Um, my name is Greg Nordine, a principal with Nelson Nygard.
Um, and, uh, I'm going to talk to you about Title Six today. Um, so if you're unfamiliar with Title Six, uh, well, I'm going to, there's about four parts to this presentation. I'm going to explain exactly what Title Six is. Uh, um, what is the guidance that's available to CAT
for, uh, achieving, uh, compliance with Title 6, and then some of the considerations that you'll need to think about, um, as you're as you're adopting Title Six programs. Um, so the first thing that we're going to answer today is what is title six? And title six is in reference to the
Civil Rights Act of 1964. Uh, section 106 of the Civil Rights Act says that no person in the United States shall on the basis or on the ground of race, color, or national origin be excluded from participation or denied the benefits of uh or be subjected to discrimination under any program or
activity receiving federal financial assistance. And so because most transit agencies including CAT uh receive federal operating federal dollars for the operations of their agency um they are required to comply with title six which means they cannot discriminate on
the basis of race, color or national origin. um to implement this uh the Federal Transit Administration in 2012 issued circular FTAC 4702.1b which is a lot but it's basically just
detailing the process and procedures that transit providers have to follow to be compliant with title 6. Um, in the '90s, uh, there was executive order 12898 that was passed by President Clinton that sets the guidance for environmental justice that expanded the
definitions or the definition of people that were covered under the title six program to include lowincome populations. So, essentially, um, title six is title six is, uh, ensuring that there is, uh, no discrimination against people based on color, race, national
origin, or income status. Um, this is the foundation essentially for all transit agencies in the United States to determine that they're that the services that they provide do not discriminate against discriminate against minority or low-income
populations. Um, so the as I was saying the uh FTA has issued circular C4702.1B. Uh, this is generally known within the industry as just the circular. uh and this sets the requirements that transit
agencies have to meet. This is there are nine chapters to this document, but for the purposes of transit agencies, there's really only two that they need to be concerned about. Chapter 3, which are the general requirements, and chapter four, which are the requirements specifically for fixed uh public transportation providers. Um, states and
metropolitan planning organizations because they also receive federal transportation dollars have to comply. They have their own sets of requirements. We're not going to cover those, but we're going to talk about chapters three and chapters four. Chapter three, these are the general requirements. Um, these are this is
actually a list of all the requirements that are required within chapter 3. So, for for the first one, you have to actually develop and submit a title 6 program that's done on a three-year basis. Uh, so and actually the CAT document is getting ready to expire in
this November. So they'll probably be coming back to you all in the next few months with an updated version of that document. Um the second is the notification and of uh of beneficiaries of the protections offered under title six. What this means is that transit providers are required to notify their
riders and anybody who's interested in their system that they are of these protections. And so you'll see things like uh notices on buses that say that you know they CAT does not discriminate or the transit center. uh as part of their documentation, they have to provide a list of those locations that
they post that information and make that available to FTA. Beyond that, they also have to develop a complaint process and form that sets the rules for so if someone does feel they're being discriminated against, what is their recourse um within CAT before it actually escalates to the to the federal
government and the federal government will come back and check and cons and confirm that that process has been followed if they do get a complaint. Uh beyond that, uh any complaints that are filed within the period of time between your current Title 6 program and your previous Title Six program have to
be have to be recorded in a a log. So you'll have a log of any investigations, complaints, and lawsuits that have come out of uh uh that have uh come out of title six. Um you also have to develop two plans that are focused on engagement. Uh you
have a public participation plan. The public participation plan defines how CAP will engage with the public. What are the tools that are at its disposal? How does it how does it try to reach the public? Are meetings in person? Are they virtual? Those answers those types of questions. Uh and then it also has to
you also have to develop a language assistance plan. The language assistance plan um looks at what are the what are the demographics of your community, identifies languages that are of particular significance, and then CAT has to develop a strategy to ensure that people that speak those languages have
access to the system. So um very commonly a lot of agencies are now just developing everything in English and in Spanish because most places in the US the Spanish population is well above that threshold um or Spanish speaking population I should say. Um as part of
the uh or the bottom three here uh you also have to develop a list of the racial composition of your planning and advisory bodies. It's not this body but any other bodies that are that inform the work that CAT does. So if you have um uh passenger advisory committees or
those types of things, you have to you have to um uh provide the racial composition and planning uh or racial composition of those groups as part of your submission to uh to FTA for title six um subreient process and monitoring. Uh as a direct recipient of federal
funds, CAT can make available federal funds to nonreipients if they're providing a transportation function. A lot of places you'll see if there's um rail service or ferry service that's provided by a different provider who might be a private operator, they can access federal funds through CAT um as a
subreient. CAT has to have a process to monitor and ensure that those funds are being used appropriately and also not discriminating. And then finally, the final piece in chapter 3 is the facility sighting assessment. Uh and this is basically any facility that is an operational facility that that a transit
agency builds has to be evaluated for impacts to that community to ensure that it is not discriminating against other parts or that community in favor of other parts of your commu your community. This does not include passengerf facing infrastructure. It's strictly limited to operational and maintenance needs. So building bus
shelters are not part of this review. Uh transit centers are not part of this review. But if you are building a new maintenance facility or a new operational facility of some sort, you have to evaluate where that site facility is being cited to ensure it's not discriminating against people in that neighborhood.
Any questions on chapter 3? Chapter 4 is a little more straightforward. This is uh these are the requirements that are uh for public transit operators specifically. And there are four requirements in chapter 4. The first one is that every transit provider has to set systemwide service
standards and policies. This this basically defines how frequent is your service, how late it operate, how late at night does it operate, how early in the morning. Uh and uh and basically uh this these this becomes a standard by which all of your service is assessed.
On the policy side, you also have to develop a policy that indicates how you distribute bus shelters. So, um, you don't have to have a standard for it, but you do have to have a policy that describes how you consider bus shelters throughout your community and also how you distribute your buses when you're assigning service in the morning to
ensure that you're not putting the newest buses in the nicest neighborhoods all the time. The three other requirements for public transit providers um are actually only for public transit providers that meet certain criteria. uh specifically that you have to operate more than 50
vehicles in peak service and be in a UA that has greater than 200,000 people. At the moment, CAT or Charlottesville has neither of those. Um you're operating about 20 vehicles and you're just shy of 200,000 people, but um as you guys are quickly moving and trending in the
direction of of at least on the bus side growing towards that number. So these are things that you'll probably want to be mindful of in the development of the next title six program. Uh this the first one is you have to collect and report demographic data. So this is basically um understanding where people
live within your community. How uh how how um minority populations and low-income populations are dispersed throughout your community. And basically you have to uh compare your service in the second one. You then compare your service by uh some service to that to
that those maps to ensure that those services are distributed equitably throughout your community. So you're not favoring one community over another. Um and then the final one here is that um all transit agencies over this certain threshold, anytime they make a service or a fair change, they have to do what's
called a title six equity analysis, which which essentially looks at the nature of that change and whether and how it impacts different populations of people. Um it's not looking at the change uh itself. It's looking at the communities that are impacted by it. And
so if you decide that you want to add service to a community, you have to look at the demographics of that neighborhood and ensure or and and and just ensure that you're not again uh negatively uh impacting other communities as part of that.
Um as I was saying, uh currently at the moment you guys are well well or Charlottesville and CAT is is within the loadment for the lower designation. So they only are responsible for the systemwide service standards and policies, but you are trending towards becoming a larger agency and that
transition does re does will when you do hit that threshold, you will be required to meet these increased uh obligations. Uh as um moving on uh complying with title six um so title six is not something that
generally results in direct action from FTA. They're not actively monitoring on a daily basis what's happening at CATS from or CAT from a uh an equity standpoint or a title six standpoint. But essentially transit agencies on an annual basis they're signing their searchs and asurances. They're
submitting their title six program into FTA through their online portal and an FTA signs off on that plan when it's submitted. Uh that happens once every 3 years. Uh CAT will be doing that again later this year. Um and then as whenever the agency goes through its trienal
review process, which also happens once every three years, auditors will then use that as the opportunity to look back to ensure that there's compliance with Title 6. Uh sounds like you all just went through the trienal review just last week. So you've got a couple of years there before that'll happen again, but essentially they're performing a
three-year look back. Um if compliance without if compliance with Title Six is not shown, generally you'll be put on some sort of mitigation plan to address that. But at the extreme end of that um that you will there's two outcomes that could happen. First is that you could have your federal funds frozen meaning
you'll receive no more assistance. Um or in even more worst case scenario there's a potential for recoupment of federal funds which has happened with other transit agencies in the past. Um most agencies though it just results in a finding some sort of remediation strategy or something that will
depending on the nature of it it tends to be unique to whatever the issue was. Um, these are some considerations. These are really not anything that's written in stone, but these are just things that I've learned over my time uh in implementing Title Six and working in this environment. Uh, again, the
facilities assessments are really only referring to your operational assessments. Anytime you're building passenger facing um passengerf facing infrastructure, uh there's already a process for the evaluating the the equity and uh of those investments. So, those are not covered under title six.
only operational facilities are um there's also within title six it is a framework for decision- making is one way to think about it. They have some pretty strict rules, but there's a lot of latitude within those rules for you all to set your own um thresholds and understanding of what your community looks like, especially when you get into
service and fair uh fair evaluation considerations, which you don't have to do just yet, but you will eventually it will um you'll have you you'll be setting thresholds for what is appropriate levels of um uh difference from uh uh your what's the word I'm
thinking of? Anyways, yes, you'll you'll end up you you you end up setting thresholds uh when you'll get to that size. Um FTA has always intended that title six is meant to be a floor, not a ceiling. Um so there they the the circular has specifically encourages
transit providers to think about considering extending their definitions to to consider other priority populations. Um, like I was saying, title six right now it covers minority and low-income populations, but other communities they like, you know, there's there's um
precedent for other communities thinking about things like um uh age discrimination or um uh veteran status or uh students. Uh so really you can you can expand this definition. However, if
you expand it, FTA will expect you to report on it and you will be held to that standard. So you can expand beyond minority and low-inccome populations, but you will be held to that standard. Um, this is another one that is actually becoming increasingly important for transit agencies, especially as
microtransit has really expanded. Title six only covers fixed route services. So this is the fixed route bus network. It does not cover paratransit and it does not cover microtransit. So those are two types of services where you don't have to do any there's no equitable
uh evaluation required when making changes. And then probably one of the biggest flaws with title six as it's designed is that generally speaking title six analyses are completed at the end of your planning process which often puts transit providers in a position where they're defending decisions that have
been made long prior that are inequitable. Um, and so this one thing that we like to recommend at Nelson Niggard is you start thinking about the title six process very early on in your planning because at the end of the day if it it will it will uh become a pain
if you do not address it early on. Uh, and that really is about it. Um, so if there's any questions but otherwise thank you so much. Thank you. questions first.
No, the largest one you answered which was did it apply um to uh paratransit services but you answered that. Yeah, it's the the the thought process I believe is that paratransit um is supposed to be reflection of your fixed route network. It's supposed to be
complimentary to your fixed route network um by design. So if you're making a change to your fixed route network generally speaking the thought is that it would impact paratransit riders the same. It assumes that paratransit riders and fixed route riders use the network in the same way which they generally don't but that is
why that's that's the thought process there right and microtransit was excluded because the circular predates microtransit right and I guess um you know relevant for us is I mean what is the the scale of risk for having you know 15-minute
routes in some areas um I mean is that the kind of thing that other aent would get in trouble for. Is that an area where it depends on where those changes occur? I I Yeah, I mean I think it depends. I mean, I think it depends on a lot of
things. I don't Let me put this way. I've never I've never seen a situation where FDA has said you need to take service from here to here to move it. But generally speaking, it's the awareness that oh, you know what, there's a community here that is underserved. And I think it's when you set those service standards and
then hold everything to that bar that you it you're essentially you're solving that problem in some ways because you're you're setting a universal standard that's equal for everybody. Whereas um you get into trouble when it's like oh we're going to we're going to invest in one route um exclusively at the
detriment of others. Sure. Well, I guess it just all depends on context, but obviously we've had in the past routes that have different frequencies and you know still do today. Yes. Yes,
Natalie. Were you gonna say something? Yeah. Uh the system that we had pre- pandemic and I guess this is probably um uh why this is a part of the presentation today. We
have um uh we've been asked to really focus on on um four or five routes making sure they are very frequent. that is assuring that we try to make sure we um increase our writership.
I appreciate that. But we can't at the detriment of everything else leave everyone else out. So the way if you look at our um one of the first slides that I had here where we showed how we had a a litany of colors, the red, the
green, the yellow, blues, um no one knew how to use our system because it changed so frequently. And then we had some of the most infrequent routes in some of the poorest areas um of our system. Um if we were to get challenged even though
we were a smaller system, there was no basis for us to to say why we did what we did. So me coming here 6 years ago, we started following a process because I'm from a larger system where we're starting to migrate and make sure that we can u account for why we're doing
what we're doing. And then there's a validation process in case we ever do get challenged. And our system is getting bigger. So we need to do those processes anyway and get used to them so we don't get challenged. I have been in Richmond when we did our reimagining project. Actually Jim was the um
consultant um when we did the uh at GRTC when we did the uh reimagining project there. Um we were we held no um system we had no route harmless. So if you had 30 minute service, you got that no no no no worse than that amount of frequency
in your area. Most places got better service and that was the key. So in our model, it's hard to say that a um the ridership isn't developing. We can see in the the the maps that ridership
is connected to frequency. where we've had really frequent routes, our ridership has been really high. And there in areas where we have had terrible frequencies, our ridership is low. It should be because it's hard to ride the system every 70 minutes. So if
we get to a standard of 30 minutes, which is that's the basis, now we have real um validation and a foundation to build on and we say everything is at 30 minute service. These are the routes that are worthy of having 15 minute
service or better, the five, the six, the seven, um the trolley. Um and we will see those hopefully we'll see those numbers um for ridership skyrocket because everything else works in tandem to get to those routes and make those
routes even more frequent because you're not some of them have a onet ride but some are transferring from one to other to get to their places and if the connections aren't working mean if I have a 70-minute route that gets to a 30-minute route if I miss the 70 minute I can't get to my 30 minute but if
everything is 30 minutes then it works better for everybody to get now and the mobility and access for everybody increases. Um so that's really what the the context is. We don't want to favor one over the other because we are we are actually um hurting the system because
we are making it infrequent for a lot of folks who may want to use this the system to get out to other places in our network. So if I'm if I'm hearing correctly, one, pre- pandemic perhaps we were not following what could be considered best practices that are more common in larger localities.
Correct? And two, the concern with 15-minute routes is that where we're currently positioned right now, that may require not holding harmless some of the routes in terms of the practical impact. Yes, unless we're going to expand our number of drivers immensely. Um, and we
are working towards doing that. But, you know, we're a small system. We have to build our infrastructure to support, you know, 10, 15, 20 more drivers. Um, those all things take time. We have to train. Um, we have to get the the system. we have to work about where to place them. Um all those things take time. So
incrementally we're making changes to our system. So we we're going to eventually be able to get there. Um but it also um you know we have our current administration. And I'm not sure they really um I shouldn't say this, but I don't think they really care about what's going on on the title six
analysis, but that doesn't mean the future administration won't come back and ask us what we did during that three-year period of time if it's in the if it's in the title if it's in our trial review area. We do have to answer for what we've done and I don't want to be I want to be able to defend what
we've done because we've followed the title six rules. Thank you. All right, I've got a couple questions. Um, so this this is pro probably in here somewhere, but for people listening and
watching at home, can you explain the funding sources? Um, what is broken down for city, county, and fed and state? The was that on that chart? Sorry, I do not have those numbers in front of me, but our funding sources
approximately is fine. It doesn't have to be specific numbers, but like basic percentages or for both operations and infrastructure, right? Um so let's answer the infrastructure first because I think that's the easiest one. today. Um the the city is the only um organization
that's paying for uh the the capital side um for the match regardless of whether it's three 4% 10% or 20% whatever um grant application we go after. Um the city is the only funding partner for there for the 20 for the match requirements. on the operating
side. Um we get money from the federal government, from the state government, um and we get money from the city, the county, and then we generate some of our money ourselves. Um in the past, we would have done it through the fairbox. Um or do we we do it through um advertising? So that's we don't collect
any money right now. We're running um a zero um model and that's through uh June 30th of 2026. So that's that decision is coming up about whether we're going to continue to do that model or not. Um, but the number from the federal
government, I think it's like $5 million, 5.1 or 5.2. Um, this is the first budget that the city's contribution is actually higher than the um the federal government by $100,000. Um, the state's numbers are
2.3 2.4 2.6 million. Thank you, Barry. Um, and then our local contribution, like I said, is the cities was 5.3. Um, and then the county, uh, for the first time is $2.6 million. Um, so that
goes our 158. And I know this was all in the budget presentation we got at RTP, but um just to to kind of explain that this is not all city funded and you know we're also not sure what's going to happen with federal funding,
but um for now that's what it is. And if anyone wants a fuller budget presentation, you can go watch the RTP meeting from last month. Um okay, so um my next question is kind of more It's kind of a series of questions based on
the Title Six presentation we just got. Yes. Um I'm sure we're all familiar with that uh that graphic of like three people looking over a fence trying to watch a baseball game and it's describing the difference between equity and equality.
And so if they all got the same size box to stand on, the short person still couldn't see over. But if they all got a box that fit their needs, then all of them can watch the game. So, um I was thinking about that when thinking about your presentation and the equal distribution of timing before improving
some down to a more useful frequency. Yes. And that kind of feels to me like that difference between equality and equity, especially when the seven covers the qualified census tracks of our lowest income residents. So improving that
first kind of seems to hit that equity if we explain it this way and show that proof kind of seems to hit that equity nail on the head. Um so I'm sorry. Um well and I of course know it is sort of a chicken and egg scenario where you
fund frequency beats more writers. We have existing current high demand for the five and seven. That's where we've heard specifically the most demand from not just impact but v various other users of the service over the last several months and years. So
that is kind of one piece where it's like how come that doesn't get counted as equity and then once we have 30 minutes service and then we reduce some down to 15 minutes service how is that not required to be spread throughout all of the other ones as well if we're using the same reasoning.
So let me great question. So, um, your line of thinking, so, um, I'm just going to point out one, um, uh, your announcement on the seven. It does hit some of our low income, um, areas, but the route that hits the majority of our
lowincome thresholds is the route six. If you look at where the route six was before, and you look back at the original presentation where we were pre- pandemic, it had one of the it had 60-minute service or worse, right? So
applying the standards that you just told us about, we're giving everybody what they need. That route should have been the most frequent route in our system. It was not because that is what the individuals who do not have cars, who are transit
dependent, should have had access to the most frequent reliable public transportation system that we could have provided for them. We have chosen in the past to provide service for other lines that touch but don't necessarily access
as many folks um that are on that spectrum. We are working through that. So setting a standard of giving everybody 30 minutes one it helps with the network it helps with connection points first and it also allows us to figure out whether we are putting our
resources in the best place right so it's the chicken or the egg if I put the if I put it will they come if I increase the frequency are people going to use it we have not answered that question for a number of routes in our system we've answered the question for the five and
the seven because we have run those at 20 minute service or 23 minute service in the past. So we know we can build a wrership on that because we've seen it happen. We don't know about the rest of the system. Building everything around a
30-minute model allows us to actually um put systems in place, put measurements in place and figure out whether it's working or not. Then we can retool the the network. Um planning happen should happen constantly. Um it's not something on a transit system that you do sit put
it in place and let it go for years. Um um part of what I did in in at GRTC when I was there as a planning director was every six months we looked at what the um how our um transit patterns are changing. Where's the wrership happening? Um and we made adjustments.
Um we made adjustments actually there four times a year. Um we're only doing it here twice. So we have to continue to retool the system to take advantage of how patterns are changing um where the new activity centers are happening. We need to be going putting service where
people want to go. Um it does us no good to put something in place and not um actively um manage it because then we will see ridership fall off and it's our fault for not managing the system. So putting going back to your scenario, we
want to try to put system in place, figure out do we have enough service? Will people use the service that we put in place? and then really focus in on areas like the five, the six, and the seven where we know one it's kind of
we're um if I got challenged by the feds, I would be very comfortable in defending the five and the seven um uh which touch some areas of um low population, but having the the the the route that has the the most lowincome
population with that same frequency, I think we we passed the smell test on an equitable distribution of services um for lowincome um families. So that's why we're trying to do what we're doing. Um,
so I I think you asked a question earlier about like what kind of other scenarios would we like to see? And I I would like to request a scenario that has a 15-minute service on 567 as kind of like the first thing and then backing into what else we could do beyond that
knowing that maybe the routes that touch it would need to get to the 30 minute first but maybe the nine which has a significantly lower demand which again chicken and egg problem but still would keep maybe not as frequent for now while we improve the rest of them first. I'm g ask one question.
Yeah. I mean depends on the demographics of the routes, right? It really does. Like it's So my question to Greg was if I'm based on your scenario, let's say we focus all of our energy and put the majority of our service on the five six7 or the five
and the seven which is what you just asked for or 567. Yeah. I don't I'm not sure I could defend a complaint. Um that's really what this is about. If we're asked by the feds why
we did what we did and the answer to that would be because the board just wanted to see it well because it's serving our lowest income and our frequent ridership as a priority and then building again building the the ridership up then gives
us finances to increase the others. So it's kind of just prioritizing the the time frame that we have to get the biggest ROI. Um, so one of the things that we did in the reimagining project in Richmond, and I hate to keep going back to that, but I
think it's I uh I think the two are very similar in nature of what we're trying to accomplish here. Um, we were challenged about um some of the frequencies in the area because uh the initial request for them, they wanted
15-minute service instead of the 30-minute service that they had already had. Um, we were able to defend that because when we changed the model, we did no harm. You had 30-minute service. You were no worse off than you were before. Right. But it also noted in the
complaint that um the access points of being able to transfer um because everything else around it was 30 minutes made the timing. So if if their their numbers were off that we gave them 30 minutes service but everything around them was
15-minute service it would have seemed out of place and we would have it would have looked like we are disparaging them. So I'm concerned about how we apply them the network first before we actually so it's easier to say everything is at a a level point a
foundational 30 minutes and then start talking about adding um 15-minute service on select routes because it's justifiable for the additional wrership um as opposed to the opposite way where I work high frequency low because that's
not what happened in Richmond. We we did high frequency, but nothing around the high frequency corridors. We actually consolidated routes to do the high frequency corridors, but nothing around it was worse than what it was before. So, we've got 10 minutes. Um
I I guess is it possible? I don't know that we're going to get this solved now. Is this We can look at all you're asking for scenario. And if the scenario is bad, then that's still a presentation worth reviewing. Sure. Um, and then the kind of second part of my question was the equity
application of if they're all 30 and then some are 15, how is that not a concern using the same guidelines? Because the 30-minute model would have been played in place first. So, we've been able to test what's going on and see how the standard is applying to
everything. And then the justification is the wrership that we know of um the the ridership in certain areas warrants um more ridership because you would be able to see the the the even if
folks are using the service in the five area. They're not going to stop using the service. Hopefully we are starting to build a better service by a bringing everybody up to a 30-minute model. We still be able to increase the the numbers because the the ridership will warrant showing that we needed to. So the idea there is that everyone has an
equal baseline. Correct. The fact that it's 30 minutes is a number that we've picked, but it could have been 60. It could have been 45. It could have been something as long as they were all the same. Absolutely. Number. Yep. And that 30 would be an improvement over where we are today. Correct. Sure. Sure. Sure. Um Okay. But yeah, just clarifying that
it's not 30 minutes that sets the standard. That's the number we are picking. Yes, that's the number we're picking. Okay. We could theoretically, you know, I don't want to retreat back to 60 minute service, but that could be a standard we say we have and then we're going to collect data from that. And
it's it's harder to go back once you and I don't want to, but just understand the options. That's also potential for a complaint with FDA that we've made their system work. Um Um Okay. Thank these are my those are my title six questions at the moment. Um and then for some of the questions from
the first part, um uh so nice to hear that we have gotten our well hopefully those three drivers passed their tests um to get us to the fully staffed budgeted amount, but for the service that we're providing, how
well is that number of staff going to meet the requirements? Are we pulling from um other routes to make things happen? Are we Yes, we're still doing that. still doing that because the the um our extra board
numbers are not high enough to to complement everything today. So, um example, and it's a quick one. Um a week ago, we had eight people call out in the morning. We don't have eight standbys. Um so, uh I think we had four standbys
that day. Um so, four routes had to we had to pull four buses. Um that's not what we want to hear. That means somebody trying to get to work um is now inconvenienced and the that gets reflected accurately on like the live updates, right? That is not Ghostbusters riding around.
That's correct. Okay. Thank you. Um and then for the actually I do have one more title six question. Um the racial composition of planning and advisory bodies, are we meeting those standards? We don't technically our
advisory body right now is um not up and running. So we're we're fine for now. Say that again. CAT has an CAT advisory board and that's the only body that's really um subject to that regulation. Yes.
So we don't and that body is not active. So it's um there's nothing to comply with at this point in time. Okay. Yeah. Um, and then, um, I know this was on the public transit portion, um,
but, uh, how's staffing going for school buses? Um, Miss Davis, how so the You're absolutely right. So, we have uh there two different groupings on the scuba side. There's 10 full-time
positions. Um, as soon as those become vacant, um, they fill up quickly and the other four, is it 12 or 14? 12. 12. The other 12, we have four vacancies right now. Um, we're actively recruiting. I think we got uh two or
three um interviews are coming up fairly soon. Um, so if you're out there and want to apply to be a bus driver, if you want to apply, so um our marketing team is doing a wonderful job. We'll have a full bus wrap um here in another couple of weeks um focusing
on school bus side, but we're going to be using a transit bus to focus on school bus. There'll be a full bus on a full bus wrap on a on a transit bus. All right. Thank you. Yeah. Councelor Snook, are you there? Did you have questions? Yeah, a couple of them.
Um my first question is uh looking at the the need for bus drivers and and that sort of thing. My understanding has been that in recent years the major constraint for us to decide what new service to offer
has been the number of bus drivers. Are we making pro enough progress on hiring more bus drivers so that we can get past that being the limiting factor? We are authorized for 66. We have hired
66. So um the next um uh iteration would be council will be authorizing additional positions um um authorizing and funding additional positions so we can um expand our model. So you've got 66, but you've got three
who are about to be added. Are those part of the 66? They are. They are part of the 66. So these are So all 66 will be able to be fit into the model for working purposes. The majority of those three are going to be added to the extra board because that's really where we need them right
now. So those three are not we're not adding more service. Um I'm not ex, you know, I'm not going to be asking Anthony to add two or three more buses. Um, I'm really going to tell him the to make sure that the extra board reflects three more bodies so we can um um hopefully
cover the missiles. So, looking at the the last couple of years, it seems like the major limiting factor on even considering some of these uh scenarios has been has been bus
drivers. Do we think that the market is improving or that our position in the market is improving so that it will no longer be that limiting factor? Um I would say um this is just my observation so take it for what it's
worth. Um when um the federal government started laying off large number of folks um with the current administration um the number of folks were applying for CAT jobs which are stable um union jobs increased. we saw a a bump in the folks
applying. Um that's good for us. Um um we train so that's also a plus for us. All you need to do is um be willing to come in and be a driver and we will u get you ready to do so. Because one of the budget
discussions we were having what six months ago I guess was if we if we're not able to hire the number of buses that people wanted us to be able to hire, did we need to do something different in the marketplace to to make
us more attractive? And what you're suggesting is that perhaps we may be becoming a little bit more attractive if those things have been going poorly elsewhere. I would say uh once again this is just my assessment. I I believe that is true that we are becoming more
um appealing um stable work um with benefits um a great starting salary uh you'll get to the top of the scale in six years seven years six years you'll be at the top of the pay
scale. Um I don't know how you beat that. Okay. So, um, do we have any any meaningful statistics on what I would term on time performance?
Airlines, they always have an on-time performance. You know, 82% or however many of our flights arrive at the time they're supposed to. Do we have any sort of meaningful measure like that of our on-time performance?
We do, sir. Um if you go to our um uh our data portal um one of the tabs uh is our on-time performance OTP. Um our on-time performance is abysmal right now. It's 68 69%. Um uh high quality
performing transit agencies are well in the um the 90 to 95% range. Um we are not anywhere close to being that. Part of it is because we've been u missing um and pulling services that skews our on-time performance. Um but
because of the lack of drivers, correct? Uh well, okay. The lack of the lack of drivers coming in to do the existing work that's scheduled, which is a little bit different than before not having any drivers. Now we have them. Um but we've seen a high
number of vacancies um um specifically on Mondays and Fridays. So, we'll work that out, too. Then, the last question I have is is not really part of what you're presenting to us here, but I wanted to talk a little
bit about sort of future plans. I mean, here we're looking at scenarios for future for FY27. So, we're already looking to the future. Every time I drive up 29 North, I am astounded by the number of additional apartment units that are being built beyond our present
uh bus service into Green County. I don't know how many of those people come to work in Charlottesville. How many of them may come to work other places in in Charlottesville and Alam Marl? That
might be something that a bus service ought to assist with. And I recall that we have been told that we are we don't do our planning based on future growth. But it seems to me that we ought to be talking to the people uh you either in
Green or in Almor Marl to say do you know where those people are going to live? We need if they're coming to going to work, if they're planning on coming and working in downtown Charlesville and we don't have places for their cars to go and to park and whatever, then we
really need to beef up our bus service. Are we doing anything at all to think about things that haven't happened yet? So, um, as your transit director, I would say if we're not, um, paying attention to the growth around us, we
are, um, um, wolffully negligent in our abilities to manage the system. We do know what's happening around us. We just don't have the ability to, um, make the changes. Uh, we operate at the privilege of the jurisdictions that we run in. Um,
if the county wants us to run up or green wants us to run, they have to allow us to do so and they have to pay for it. um those conversations. Cat's always willing. Um which also comes back to um city council. Someone's got to pay for the additional drivers, the additional
vehicles, additional buses. Um in the past that has been you um we're hoping that that model changes in the future. Um there needs to be much more um detailed conversations between the jurisdictions about future growth plans. Um we can be the answer to um
overcrowding. We can be the answer to congestion. We can be the answer to parking issues. Um, high frequency transit provides all those answers. Um, it's a matter of u funding it um and allowing us to to allowing to take shape
and and put it in place. Okay. It's uh it's just a little after 5:30. Lori, did you have anything else? I'm okay for now, thanks. Okay. The a couple points that I just wanted to make um
briefly. Um obviously we've got to be able to the market has been a um constraint. We have a union in place. We pay well. Um but we've got to we've got to actually add these require we need to
make a decision about adding these FTEEs into the next budget which is why you're coming to us. So that I think is important to to keep in mind. Um the funding piece, I see the good folks back there from the PDC. Um the funding piece, the the whole one of the
main reasons we stood up Carta, which has got a meeting on Thursday, is hopefully to find another funding source to help us uh with this. So that's really, I think, the larger strategic question that that needs to be asked. And then the last thing that I'll just
put out here is maybe we can talk about it at our at our retreat, but my sense and I haven't I can't say that I've thought about this in a whole lot of detail, but it seems to me like we may be at a crossroads of we had wanted
to do a lot of things with the climate side of our buses and a lot of that was predicated on a prior administration that's no longer there. playing that off and I hate to put it in those terms, but what does that situation now look like versus
if I had to pick frankly between the scenarios of the hydrogen and in the the battery electric buses that future versus what's been described tonight of 110 bus drivers. I would pick the ladder
because I think that that lifts the whole community up in a way better than the other would even though I think the other is important. So there's going to have to be some conversations that happen between the folks on the climate side of things and and the folks that
are focused on just increasing the it should it's I realize it's not I'm not trying to set things at at odds against each other. I realize both um they complement, but at some point it
just seems to me and I won't be around to vote on these things, but it seems to me there's going to have to be some hard discussions about where do we put our money? Is it in bus drivers in diesel buses that are clean and good diesel buses or do we put it in something that
we had anticipated having a lot of federal money for but don't? Anyway, that's just my observation. Um, I think we're at the close of this time and we have a close session meeting motion, please, sir. Yeah, I have the close session meeting. And I'll just say quickly again to me, I
think the average cost of a bus driver is about $78,000. And just quick math, the implementing the SOP is like 2 million. SOP with 30-minute routes is over 3 million just for the bus drivers. So to me, the most important question is coming into this next budget cycle, do
we identify transit as one of our top three priorities and commit to finding that $2 to3 million? Historically, we have not done that yet, but until we do that, um, progress will not happen. But we'll just say that all that said, um, the motion for a city council close
session pursuant to text section 2.23712 2/3712 of the Virginia code. I hereby move that city council close this open meeting and convene in a closed session as authorized by Virginia Code section 2-2 2.2-3711 A7 for consultation of legal counseling
pertaining to actual litigation where such consultation would adversely affect the negotiating or litigating posture of the public body specifically White versus City of Charlottesville. Two is authorized by Virginia Code section 2.2-3711A88 2-3711A88 for consultation with legal council for specific legal advice pertaining to
matters involving the city zoning ordinance. And three is authorized by Virginia Code section 2.2-3711A1 for discussion and consideration of prospective candidates to be appointed to the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority. Is there a second? Second.
Uh please cast your votes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. All right. We are in close session. Thank you for your presentation. We appreciate it.