like to call the meeting to order of the transportation advisory committee meeting on noon on June Wednesday June 10th. Uh it's our uh byianual uh update to the committee. Um like to have an
someone approve the advisory committee meeting minutes from December 10th, 2025. I'll move them. We have a first. >> Second, Ann Brascoff >> and a second. Um, some of the things we want to bring up today is an update of
our propane buses. Um, I don't really have anything to share. Um, it's all a federal thing. Um, so as soon as those um, things get ironed out, we'll be moving forward with that. But again, I have no update with that. Just wanted to
kind of keep you guys updated. So, we have the two. >> We'll have the two. Yep. Yep. >> To be received, >> right? Yep. And no cost uh for either one of them or the infrastructure. Um and I think the last time and I think it's actually even on here um about our
where we'll be placing the propane tank. Uh it'll be a per it won't be permanent. We were going to put it on like a pallet uh type situation and that'll be at the highway department. and we've uh scoped out a piece with the highway department um and
the city on where it could go. Um so I think we have that piece all in order. Um we wanted to have that those ducks in a row before we kept moving the uh forward with everything. Um the fixed stop review um we kind of wanted to
visit with you again about um how we want to move forward with that. The state has a new um program that we'll be uh using um where it will help us decide um how best to run the second bus. Will
it be best to follow each other every half hour? Will be best to have a a meeting spot in the middle where one will do north and one will do south. Um Kathleen uh from MDOT will help us uh with this new program. Um and hopefully
um we'll be able to bring back to council or to the committee here um how we wanna you know what what our options are for that um and um do we want to you know if we want to do north south or
like I say follow each other every half hour um what would be best um update on the free fair. Sure. Go ahead. >> I have a question that I >> No, go ahead. >> Okay. Um, so the the the work that MD
dot will do will kind of lay out both options and then it'll be up to this committee to decide, >> right? >> Yeah. >> Do you think that there would be any benefit to seeking writership input to something like that? >> I think that'll be part of what they
have for us. That will be part of the program that that Kathleen will the new program will uh have that as an option. >> Okay. >> Um cuz yes, that definitely will be um will be something we'll need to look at. I'm not sure. Sarah, have you heard any
rumblings or people on the bus have said, "Oh, we'd like it to be, you know, I know that there's some more stops that could be added." Um, you know, um, >> I guess I'm looking I'm going to point
over to Joe. Have you heard anything back from the, uh, report that or does that come later this fall when the that committee was or those individ Joe? >> Oh, doing the ride alongs. >> Yeah.
>> Well, that that doesn't necessarily pertain to the bus routes at all. That's that's a comprehensive safety action or safety action plan for the city as a whole, not not specifically the transit. Okay. >> They were just listing um input from transit riders for that. I just wasn't
sure if they got any feedback as far as other route specific items. No. >> Okay. So, yeah. Then I think as you pointed out, you know, we've got to talk to the wrership or I know sometimes
when you get your public utility bill that there might be a mailing in there and if we get feedback, you know, somehow put a questionnaire together if that's what they'll do, include it in there and hopefully we get some responses back from individuals saying,
"Hey, I haven't been able to use it. I would like to use it, but it needs to be someplace where I can access it easier, you know, and not not walk a mile to get to the bus stop. If and see how we might be able to do that, I think would be
beneficial. >> As as long as there's a point of of getting ridership feedback and how we weight that in terms of what what item is chosen, I think would be >> Oh, for sure. >> key for me. Yes, I agree with you 100% too.
>> Tom, did you have anything? >> Well, on on the storage of it, where are these two buses going to be kept? >> It'll be kept with our regular buses. There will be no difference. >> Yep. Yep. And if we need to, we can
always There's a temporary wall we have in there. We can always push it back, too, if we need to. So, we'll be getting rid of buses, too, as we get new buses. Uh we'll be getting one one for H Heartland this this uh this uh late summer. Um and we'll be selling actually
two of them because we have two buses that we need to cuz what they call a creep. They don't want us to have too many buses uh in in service or in in our possession. So, uh, our plan is to get rid of two buses, uh, when >> a couple of our buses are got a lot of
>> lot of miles and Yeah. And we probably won't get much for them just because of the age and the extra mileage, you know, cuz we've kept a couple of them longer. Way longer than we should have. So, >> well, we didn't have we had >> we didn't have an option, right? Right. Yep. We didn't It wasn't that we wanted
to. Exactly. Exactly. >> For backup. >> Yeah. The backup of backup. So, um, and then we wanted to visit with you about the update on, uh, and it's not free. Sarah would like to subsidize subsidized,
uh, rides for the, uh, farmers market on Herman Express and also on the H Heartland. Uh, the subsidized rides, they were able to, uh, get a grant, um, as they did last year, um, where riders can ride to the farmers market for free
on both services. Uh the benefit to the farmers market is the Herman runs on Saturday of course um and the market is Thursdays and Saturdays. So hopefully uh we'll have some people take advantage of that. It wasn't real real well used last
year but again it was the first year and I know there's been a little more >> how do we make people aware of that? >> Um so we've been doing on our Facebook page the the farmers market has had different things in the papers that I've read that that they do get free rides. Um the chamber has also been promoting
it too, working with them and so the word is out there and we've been talking with our riders as well or they've even asked is that going to be a possibility? You bet. Um so they're aware of it and some are talking already, you know, this Thursday is the first one. So they're
planning to get down there and check it out. >> And it's at a new location this year, too. And it's going to be at the uh Riverbend School. Um, and it'll be uh stopping in August right on Thursdays there, but it'll continue on Saturdays
because of the school starting. Obviously, they won't be able to have a market there on Thursdays, but uh we just kind of want to let you guys know that uh those that is something that's available to the community. Um so, um so at the end of the uh run of it, we just
turn the tokens or the the slips into uh the chamber and then they reimburse us. So, >> nice. Um then we wanted to go over with holiday hours for you. Um Hartland and Herman are open Junth. Um we will be closed the 3rd and 4th of July because
the 3rd is the is the actual holiday because the 4th falls on a Saturday this year. Uh Labor Day will be closed this Saturday and and Labor Day for the Herman Express. Veterans Day we are open. Um we're open or we are open we're
closed Thanksgiving and the day after and that Saturday and then Christmas Eve will close at noon and Christmas Day and New Year's Day will be closed too obviously but um we do try and stay open the non-traditional holidays um to keep
people um available to ride the bus. So um Emerson Union was the next agenda item. Um we um you know we tried for your grant uh through the Optimus Club and we just
couldn't make it work. Um we don't know if that's something we should keep exploring or should we just wait until we actually get stops and have um some type of shelters or you know apply for the grants for those things. So I think that's kind of where we've kind of left
it. Sarah, correct? We kind of >> Yes. It's just tabled at this time. >> Yeah. >> Um Optimus public remains very interested. >> Do they? Okay. >> I like the idea. >> Okay. What was the problem? I remember it didn't happen, but why didn't it
happen? What >> we >> Go ahead, Sarah. >> Um, just trying to figure out the logistics with Emerson Union with city as far as where we can put the bench and just not being able to, you know, get
things squared away uh between the two. one place we couldn't put it. There was some the legality of >> Yeah, exactly. So, easement issues and stuff. So, >> Emerson really didn't want it on their property. Correct. Is that what it kind of came down to, too?
>> They they would see it that again. It was just location was the biggest back and forth and just not not finding an agreeable spot at this point. So, we'll see.
Well, that the price isn't too high. I know that the one member, not me, uh that's uh I certainly supported, but I mean there's one in particular, a long-termer that just thinks this needs
to happen and can't wait for it to happen and >> and we do have the money. Mhm. Yeah. >> And that's how I left it with the Optimus Club that, you know, if we can get these these details, these fine details worked out, then I will be
reaching back out to them and and that and they were totally fine with it. They just appreciated, you know, being um aware of what was going on. So, >> and maybe just to put this out there, if anyone else has a spot on the route that would like a bench and would be, you
know, if they would be willing to, you know, put it on their property, I'm sure we can. >> What's our busiest stops? >> Uh, grocery stores. >> Yeah, grocery stores. Walmart and Hy, but Broadway House is becoming very um
much busier stop now, too. So, except they, you know, they can be across the street, but it's nice if they would be waiting on the side. So, we're not waiting for them to cross the street. But, you know, again, you get into the legalities of having that bench and if
something would happen on that person, you know, or that business's property, um, you know, you run the risk of that. And I know Eric Wormka at uh at the funeral home said during the winter, you know, at least this was initially people
could come and wait inside those doors, watch as Herman's coming around the corner and then walk out. So at least they're, you know, staying warm and some people do use the bench that's already out there in that parking area by the um funeral home. So you know, right now
it's >> and downtown there are benches already. Yeah, the downtown they've got that covered too. So, you know, it's >> I guess we'll wait and see. You know, maybe with once we get into a second route or you know, other stops that get
added, then we'll find out something different too, right? >> So, >> um and then we uh as a group are continuing meeting with software companies. I was in Omaha for our conference um and was able to uh when we went out for bid last year, we only got
three companies that uh came to us. Um by me going to Omaha and visiting with some folks, we were able to get six different companies now. So I feel like we have a better um selection um that are able to probably meet our needs. Um
we obviously want to choose somebody that can do both Hartland and Herman and it's kind of been a struggle to do that. Um but um we're also looking for someone that's not huge and that Brown County is a nothing to them. We kind of want them
to and couple of the companies are deal with smaller uh transit. They don't want the Minneapolis or the Chicago. They want the the new alms and the and those kind of situations. So that's kind of what we're hoping to to find somebody
that can do what we need them to do. um additional advertising. I know we had talked about this in the past. Um with the budget reductions that we were getting um we kind of had to reduce some of our advertising. Um, I'm not sure,
you know, we still want to do, we've still been advertising in the in the visitor guide cuz I think that's really important for the people that come to New Alm to realize that we operate. Um, you know, and, you know, we do get, you know, down near the hotel area and can
make a deviation to there. So, I think it's important we we continue that. Um, I just, you know, to promote it even more is something that, you know, maybe we need to look at doing some free advertising somewhere. Um, and we can
explore that at some point. Um, for funding, we uh we ended up uh they have a new funding formula this year. Um, and we ended up with a 3% increase for 2027 uh which is the same amount uh increase
we received last year. um some transit systems uh under this new uh agreement got uh no increase or a decrease in funding. So I feel quite fortunate. Um and that goes with they look at how much we've spent in the past and we always
come in very close to the amount of budget that we asked for. Um, so, um, so we've kind of been able to, uh, so they they kind of can see that we're using our money wisely and that we're not, um, using money that, uh, just sits in a
coffer somewhere, uh, which is what kind of they were struggling with with some transit systems. So, >> so they didn't have a number to cover everybody kind of >> kind of. But what happened Tom was a lot of these transit systems were going with
a huge budget and then because of staffing issues or because of one thing or the other. They didn't use all their money. So then they have like $300,000 sitting in the transit account that can't get taken back to the state until they do the actual final
>> um audit. So then all this money sits in this in the in these coffers and the state can't touch it. So they were trying to rightsize everything. Um they feel like they've they've finally gotten that taken care of. >> So that's a it was a one-time thing then.
>> Well, the the new budget will always be this way going forward. It'll always be they go by the last three years of of what you've used and as long as you've used your budget. >> This was a new budget style, >> right? Yep. Yep. something that they developed, took them three years, they
worked on it and um they feel like they and everyone I think kind of realizes that it's the right thing to do, you know, cuz you know, when they've got millions of dollars sitting in everybody's coffers and they can't touch it for 3 years, you know, that's >> wrong.
>> Something's wrong. So, they tried to rightsize the ship and I think they've done a pretty decent job from what I've heard. So, >> um Sarah, did you want to talk about the bike group? Nothing to report at this time. No, he hasn't reached out. And again, I'm not seeing people riding
their bikes to the stop, leaving it there. So, you know, it it again, it's just not not a good fit at this point until I see see otherwise. >> Yeah, >> you don't see as many bikes now anyway.
>> A lot of scooters. >> A lot of ebikes. >> Yes, I was going to say. Yeah, the ebikes and the scooters are probably what you see around town. >> A lot faster than bikes over >> there. >> It's scary. >> Yeah, it is.
>> So, next up then was just the ridership report. Um, and so you have the numbers there as far as the breakdown. we were been starting the year out and keeping it in the you know 400 rides a month and
then we had the couple um March and May where we got into the 500s. Unfortunately it is 142 less rides compared to you know this time frame last year um from January to May. But I
attribute that to, you know, again, people as far as got their car up and running again. Um, which is wonderful. I mean, they need that transportation as well. So, you know, or again, people
move and so the ones that, you know, they've either moved out of town or moved to a different location and maybe they can't get on the bus or they're near to stuff, they can just walk it to, you know, they don't have to take the bus. So, I'm um actually June is
starting out very well and so hopefully we keep that going. So, any questions or comments to to numbers that you see there? It's really not been a weather's thing. >> No, I
>> We have that weather every year. >> Yeah, >> we do. And and it's funny, Tom, because you know the days where if it's rainy or really cold and you think, "Oh, you know, it's going to be a slow day and those end up sometimes being some of your busiest days and you so I mean it's
just >> we just don't know, you know, you >> anyway it it's and your rider your wrership is kind of transient. I mean meaning that they they they use us till they are able to afford a car or they
use us till they move out of you know like in a certain apartment like you said. So it's not surprising to kind of see the es and flows of it to be honest with you. But >> right >> is it going to be easy to put a stop up where all these apartments about to
open? >> You know we've been looking at that too up on Highland you're you're referring to and >> because you don't go there now. Um, originally we were set to go down Highland and then down to Cashwise.
>> Yeah, we were going to follow Highland and then, you know, get on 14, go down to Cashwise. Well, then we realized the people after the clinic stop on this end of town, if they needed to get to the clinic, well, it was easier to come down, drop them off at the clinic, you
know, so they could be at their appointment on time and then continue on our way. So we have to, you know, we will have to look at that and just see. Yeah. What >> could end up being a major >> it could be >> kind of thing.
>> Yeah, it could be. And yet, you know, again, right now like at Linder Linderhoff and um th that apartment complex, you know, and across the street, all of a sudden now we're getting very few riders there. So again,
it's the in and out of people and what they have available for transportation. So maybe up on Highland, maybe they'll have their cars and be good to go. I, you know, until we know >> and hopefully as we, you know, they put stuff together and give us some options.
Yeah, for for sure we want to include it or somehow work it in, but you know, we haven't >> It surprises me when these places come to town to build these things that they don't check with us to see if you know is is is being a stop there would be an
option. You know what I mean? >> But they obviously don't think about that. I suppose that their ridership maybe or their people >> well and again they from where they would have to walk down to you know be
Highland Regency or if we somehow get a stop I you know somewhat closer they maybe I I don't know we'll have to we've got to discuss that and take a look but you're right Tom I mean there are many opportunities that are presenting
themselves and you know even out behind Walmart if depending back there now those that might be a little different but the tiny houses or whatever they're referring to it as down on Minnesota >> they haven't got the numbers of people
living in those that you have on the one by the high schooler >> right right that's true yeah so it wouldn't be the same >> how soon they plan to get all four up but even just two is going to be a lot of people are they going to be subsidized those those housing do you
know Joe >> no they are market rate department >> market rate. So, so that might make a difference too. >> Yeah. As far as the developer and you know, they don't know what their tenants are going to >> Sure. >> need or require. I mean, >> right. >> Um, that's kind of too early in the game
to be guessing, I guess. >> But, >> and then staffing, we continue train newly hired um H Heartland drivers for the Herman Express route. So, we continue do that. Um wondering if there was other discussion that the committee would have
some question about or >> So it isn't just drivers doing one or the other. You're doing more and more cross training. >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> Right. >> And so Sarah, you may be found driving a
a H Heartland bus. Yes. From time to time. >> Yep. Actually tomorrow. >> Tomorrow. Yeah. That's not the first. >> Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Not. >> And it's to your benefit, too, to to kind of see the different, you know, parts of the operation, too. So,
>> it is different. >> No, that's for sure. >> I know that they have uh you had looked at getting some part-time drivers to and that's worked out well that uh you've >> Yeah, I mean, we're, you know, we're under a staffing crisis like I've never
seen before and I'm not sure why. Um, we we've had ads and they just don't seem to produce like they used to. Um, I don't know if people are looking, you know, they don't look at papers probably or, you know, we put it on our Facebook
page. Um, and we just don't seem to get ads, but I think that's kind of a countywide thing, too, cuz it seems like there's a lot of openings in different departments. you know, it didn't hit us for the longest time and then all of a sudden it's kind of hit us now where um but yeah, we do have that intermittent
part-time that we came to you guys uh to the board um and you agreed to that. So, that's that's been that'll be helpful um as we move forward. >> You still got a nice bunch, but >> Right. >> but some want to retire.
>> Some want to cut back. Yeah. and you know they just you know people you know families that need them more and stuff. So you know um and I did we do realize it's a second career for most people. They've come already come off you know being you know fireman or whatever
policeman or whatever they were work at 3M and now they come to us as a second career. So, you know, um you know, we're glad to have them, you know, but >> most of them I've talked to like this second one career better,
>> right? >> Well, and I don't know how many where they came from. >> I don't know how many part-time jobs you can get where you get, you know, sick time, vacation time, retirement, you know, and all the things. And >> they like it. >> And they like it. So, and you know, it's not like, you know, you don't it's not
like we're pushing people really hard, you know. I mean, it's it's a nice nice job, you know. So, >> listen to their problems and try and accommodate. >> Yeah, we do. Yeah. And that's probably why Sarah's working tomorrow because we
allowed an extra person or so to be off. So, but that's okay. >> Wondering why she's smiling so much about that. >> Um, so any other discussion for the group? Um, we do have a couple of vacancies we should be filling here. The
city representative, uh, Michelle Mark Graph had resigned some time ago and we had a a rider that had resigned. Um, and we've been talking to some folks. We're just trying to get somebody that would be willing to to do this um, with us.
Um, so that's something on our radar. >> Um, >> say we're down to two of these meetings a year. >> Just two. Yeah, we're doing December and June. No, we we did we cut back once, you know, the started. I think you know what maybe once we have the discussions about
the two buses, we might need to ramp it up again and have a couple extra meetings. But yeah, we can have an ad hoc meeting. Yeah, for sure. >> Um and if nobody has anything else, um we can select our next meeting date. Um
I've put some dates down here. the 2nd, uh, the 9th or the 16th are all Wednesdays at noon. Seems to work out best for our for our for our group here. I know December seems like a long long way away, but
>> June seemed like >> I know those dates would work with me. >> What are they again, Pat? >> 2nd, 9th, or 16th. >> Wednesdays. Yeah. >> Yep. Wednesdays at noon. Joe, do you have any >> No preference
>> conflicts? >> I generally am always volunteering in the morning and so they let me out at 11:30. >> Let you out early. >> Feels like job. >> Yep. All three are open for me. >> Okay. Should we do the 9th then to kind
of keep it second Wednesday? >> Yep. Sounds good. >> Okay. So December 9th, 2026 um and um will be our next meeting date. Um you're at the uh
>> right we'll do it same thing. Yep. >> Is this televised? >> Yes. Uh if there's no more discussion, we'll close the meeting. Do I have a first? >> First >> and a second. >> Move.
>> Second. that first and second meeting is adjourned. Thank you.