8.20 Policy Committee Meeting Minutes

CONNECT Policy Committee Meeting Minutes August 20th, 2009 12:00 pm Present: George Zboyovsky - Brentwood Mike Warhold – Castle Shannon Gino Rizza - Dormont Kristin Baginski - Pittsburgh Betty Ann Connors - Scott Thomas Hartswick - Castle Shannon Tim Rogers - Shaler Kathy DePuy - Whitehall Edward Warchol - Aspinwall Virginia Pucci - Millvale David Miller Katie Hale Dan Peters Heather Tarbell

I.

Introduction of Members Miller: Gave background on CONNECT and asked for brief introductions. The Executive Committee met last week and the Operations Committee met on Tuesday. The officers are planning an editorial board at the end of the month for publicity. II. Designation of Chair Miller: Are there any nominations? Warchol: I nominate Tim Rodgers Scott: 2nd *Committee unanimously approves Tim Rodgers as Policy Committee Chair Rogers: I like to keep meetings brief, and try to not let them go over an hour. Please speak up and contribute. III. Implementation of 6/19 Resolutions Rogers: Resolution 09-09 (read) This is a major issue. Are there any recommendations? DePuy: Can you define what you mean by transit? Rogers: Mostly the bus system.

Hartswick: In our community (Castle Shannon) we have 1,100 people who park everyday to take the T. Rogers: Transit in some communities just doesn’t exist. Miller: 85% of PAT activity occurs within CONNECT. Public transit plays a great role in economic development. There are many issues built around transit. Rogers: We could develop a comprehensive plan that serves existing businesses. We need to look at existing communities and make sure they are being serviced. Hartswick: TRIB study completed, create interaction with P.A. Rizza: There is the possibility of building parking garages, but we would need federal funding. Miller: In these resolutions, broad policy is established in R 09-10, R 09-11 is to establish funding. Hartswick: The problem is getting it up and running. Miller: Steve Bland has been very active in the planning process. R 09-12 deals with commitment and technical dialog. R09-13 concentrates on the broader vision and CONNECT communities remaining involved. How do we get R 09-12 and R 09-14 implemented? Rogers: We have to make sure all communities are spoken for at PAT level. Representation is important, and we need to support what the City is doing. Scott: I’m concerned about the funding issue. How to we expect them to come up with it? Rogers: That is a good question. One thing to look at is the rate payers, and if they are paying enough. Scott: I disagree. I do not think it should go back to the tax payer. Rogers: The key is to make it convenient to increase ridership. Zboyovsky: I agree. It has to be made easy for people to ride the bus. There is also a stigma associated with riding the bus. Rogers: The closer you live to the city, the more likely you are to take public transit. Connors: I am from a lower income community, but buses are still empty. People get frustrated with not knowing times. Scott: I think it also has to do with the different generations. Younger people don’t mind riding the bus. Miller: There are three items I would like to focus on. For R 09-12, should there be a technical committee formed? For R 09-14, how do we fit transit into the long term? These are system wide changes, and the resolutions seem to speak for themselves: support economic zones in communities, support the building of parking lots, and help the City by supporting a subway system. We are meeting with Steve Bland next week to discuss R 09-12 implementation. Rogers: Do we need to assist you in delivering that message?

Miller: We can discuss who will be on the subcommittee at the next Policy Committee Meeting. Rogers: Resolution 09-14 (read) It is important for individual municipality members to know what they need. Miller: Then we need to turn that into a common vision. On R 09-11, we can look to the County on taking the lead. Rogers: That is already pretty far along. IV. New Business a. Resolution 09-16 Subcommittee: Rogers: All of our communities are involved with consent agreements; this is considering a regional approach. Scott: Why is the engineer from Ross included? Rogers: Ross is still under a consent agreement. Miller: At this point, it is more tactical. Rogers: The long term wet weather plan can not be done in all 83 communities. The issue is resolving this with one entity, four or five? Miller: There is still a feeling of discomfort between solutions for ALCOSAN and solutions for communities. In a way, the system is designed to keep us fragmented. On the other hand, it could be watered down if all 83 were involved. CONNECT is a much stronger voice than the City along or the seven water basins. Rogers: Some of the 83 communities could get funding. There are big disparities in the ALCOSAN Communities. DePuy: I feel that this is creating another level of bureaucracy that is not solving the problem. Miller: That is a good concern. That is why nothing is being acted upon and the subcommittee has been formed. Rogers: Yes, we do not want to add another level of bureaucracy. However, do we trust ALCOSAN? Miller: In the end, final decisions will be shaped by political discussions. Connors: I think we all should be benefactors of it, but not all of us should be involved. I do not want my community doing your repairs. Rogers: If a community is within a basin, you only have to work within that area. So, that would not happen. Hartswick: This seems like a good possibility if CONNECT could aid. Miller: Other members are welcome to participate in the R 09-19 Subcommittee. c. Recommendations of the Strategic Planning Subcommittee Miller: The Executive Committee recommended implementing a strategic plan for CONNECT. As a result, a small subcommittee was formed. That will come back to the Policy Committee as a formal recommendation.

V.

b. Request by Executive Committee to define relationship between Operations and Policy Subcommittees Miller: The Executive Committee considered the relationship between the two committees. There thought was the Policy Committee decides what to do next and the Operations Committee figures out how to implement it. I looked at is at the Policy Committee focuses on the 680,000 people residing within CONNECT and the Operations Committee focuses on how the 36 communities coordinate with each other (i.e.: expeditors and inter-governmental agreements). I am willing to take any recommendations. Rogers: What is the relationship to the Executive Committee? Are they two indirect fields? Miller: That could be a third option. Baginski: Marcia Taylor’s charge was water/sewer and transportation issues should be handled by the Operations Committee. The Policy Committee should think of the next issues. Miller: That might be too much to handle for the Operations Committee. Rogers: The committee should pick one issue and resolve it. Miller: I think the strategic plan will help. The Executive Committee will me more of a finality so the members do not have double the work. Rogers: I agree. In the interim, send suggestions of the Policy Committee to consider in the future. Adjournment Rogers: Meeting adjourned.