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Home My WebLink About6A Transit Merger with MVTA4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake MN 55372 , PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA REPORT MEETING DATE: MARCH 3, 2014 AGENDA #: 6A PREPARED BY: DAN ROGNESS, COMMUNITY & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR PUBLIC HEARING: NO AGENDA ITEM: TRANSIT MERGER WITH MVTA DISCUSSION: Introduction The purpose of this item is to review a proposed merger of transit facilities and operations between the cities of Prior Lake and Shakopee with the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA) by January 1, 2015. History For many years, the cities of Prior Lake and Shakopee have been anticipating a merger with MVTA; Savage is already part of the MVTA transit system. Based on support from the two city’s city councils, that merger is being developed during 2014 with an anticipated conclusion by the start of 2015. Prior Lake operates Laker Lines, an express bus service contracted with Schmitty & Sons as part of the BlueXpress system for commuters to Minneapolis. Shakopee also provides an additional fixed-route circulator shuttle service within Shakopee (beyond the BlueXpress routes) that is contracted with Scott County’s SmartLink Transit sys- tem. A Dial-a-Ride service is also provided by SmartLink throughout Scott County in cooperation with Carver County. Current Circumstances City staff will review the merger process that is currently underway. Jane Kansier, previously staff with Prior Lake, is now a key staff person with MVTA overseeing the merger process. Conclusion The pending merger is intended to provide: (1) greater efficiencies, (2) mainte- nance of existing services, and (3) more transit options in the future. ISSUES: Transit is becoming more important for business growth in Scott County as well as for residents commuting to other businesses in the metropolitan area. ALTERNATIVES: Discussion Only. RECOMMENDED N/A MOTIONS: ATTACHMENTS: 1. Memorandum dated February 12, 2014 from the MVTA. 2. PowerPoint slides for the merger dated February 20, 2014. Memorandum : City TO Managers/Administrators, County Administrators, and Elected Officials Casey McCabe, Prior Lake; Dan Rogness, Prior Lake; Troy Beam, Scott THROUGH: County; Lisa Freese, Scott County; Lyn Rohe, Scott County; Michael Leek, Shakopee; Kyle Sabota, Shakopee; Jane Kansier, MVTA; and Jen Lehmann, MVTA : Beverley Miller, MVTA Executive Director FROM : February 12, 2014 DATE : MVTA-Prior Lake-Shakopee Merger Update RE : Purpose The purpose of this memo is to inform interested parties of recent conversations and next steps related to merging Prior Lake, Shakopee, and MVTA transit services. It is our intent to keep an open process moving forward with the help of City Managers/Administrators, County Administrators, and members of the Elected Work Group (EWG) by asking that everyone participates in keeping their respective agencies informed. : Background The 2011 legislative auditor’s report identified opportunities for consolidation among suburban transit providers. In 2012, the Prior Lake City Council, the Shakopee City Council, and the Scott County Transit Review Board agreed to move forward with discussions to merge transit services with MVTA, and the MVTA Board supports the merging of services. The action items on the following page have been developed to help guide the process of integrating service and administration over the next year. To facilitate discussions, two working groups have been formed. A Technical Work Group (TWG), comprised of staff from MVTA, Scott County, Prior Lake, and Shakopee, will meet monthly and focus on staff-level integration. The TWG and I will provide regular updates to managers or administrators, following the scheduled monthly meeting. The EWG consists of elected officials and will be responsible for providing the TWG with direction on policy issues. The EWG will meet as scheduled and regularly update their respective boards. It is recommended that the legal counsel for MVTA, Prior Lake, and Shakopee attend all EWG meetings. Members of the EWG include: Bill Coughlin, Burnsville & MVTA Board o Bill Droste, Rosemount & MVTA Board o Mike Luce, Shakopee o Michael McGuire, Prior Lake o Page 1 of 2 BlueXpress-MVTA Merger Update February 12, 2014 Jon Ulrich, Scott County & MVTA Board o Jane Victorey, Savage & MVTA Board o Liz Workman, Dakota County & MVTA Board o In the coming months, both the TWG and EWG will be working to answer outstanding questions; to review contracts, service, financials, grants, and assets; and, to guide the process. The key product of discussions will be an update of the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA), which will require City Council approval of an amendment to include Prior Lake and Shakopee. Approval by Prior Lake and Shakopee is targeted for June 2014 followed by approval by MVTA’s current five member cities (Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Rosemount, and Savage) and two member counties (Dakota County and Scott County). : Discussion In February, the TWG discussed the following: Initial legal review of pertinent agreements and contracts; Findings from a site tour of BlueXpress facilities and fleet; Status of Prior Lake and Shakopee bus procurements with CMAQ funds; and, The upcoming joint TWG-EWG meeting on February 20. th Early comments from legal counsel indicate that the transfer and integration of day-to- day transit service and administration is straightforward. It is anticipated the more sensitive issues will be how to build assurances and manage expectations into the revised JPA. This topic will be discussed in detail at the March TWG meeting. The TWG also focused on the status of specific agreements, such as provider contracts, maintenance agreements, and the Marschall Road Transit Station construction agreement. Overall, the TWG understands that the merging of MVTA and BlueXpress services would be a slow transition with the initial focus on transfer of operations while maintaining status quo in other areas, such as facility maintenance. Finally, the TWG began discussing daily tasks that will eventually be integrated,including: reporting duties, facility maintenance, marketing, advertising, access to technology (video, security access, and control gates), and snow plowing. Action Items: The following are key action items and target dates for 2014. Month Milestone Lead Status Review of existing contracts, options and rights, assignments of future TWG Ongoing contracts January Establish Elected Work Group (EWG) and Technical Work Group (TWG) All Complete Begin review of financials and capital assets TWG In Progress Joint EWG-TWG meeting: status update, asset review, early legal EWG/TWG February findings) Meet with Met Council and begin process of defining and reassigning TWG/MC MVST funds and CMAQ grants April Joint EWG-TWG meeting: service review, final legal review, grant findings EWG/TWG Page 2 of 2 BlueXpress-MVTA Merger Update February 12, 2014 Prepare draft amendment Joint Powers Agreement to include Prior Lake MVTA and Shakopee May Joint EWG-TWG meeting: final status updates and document review EWG/TWG Prior Lake and Shakopee City Councils make final decision on merging; Prior Lake & adoption of JPA Shakopee June Submit JPA to other MVTA members for approval MVTA Craft other agreements as necessary (maintenance, leases, facilities) TWG Prior Lake & July Notice of fund transfer process Shakopee August Joint EWG-TWG meeting EWG/TWG September Marketing/Publicity for merged operations TWG Final approval of JPA by all partners All December Prior Lake & Fund Transfer Shakopee We look forward to working together in making these revisions to our JPA and growing our transit partnership. Feel free to contact Jane Kansier, MVTA Senior Project Manager, at 952-230-1256 or Jen Lehmann, MVTA Planning Manager, at 952-230-1234 with questions. Attachment: Contact List Page 3 of 2 BlueXpress-MVTA Merger Contact List City Contacts Apple Valley Tom Lawell, City Administrator tlawell@ci.apple-valley.mn.us Mary Hamann-Roland, Mayor mayormary8@gmail.com Burnsville Heather Johnston, City Manager heather.johnston@ci.burnsville.mn.us Elizabeth Kautz, Mayor elizabeth.kautz@ci.burnsville.mn.us Eagan Dave Osberg, City Administrator dosberg@cityofeagan.com Mike Maguire, Mayor mmaguire@cityofeagan.com Prior Lake Frank Boyles, City Manager fboyles@cityofpriorlake.com Kenneth Hedberg, Mayor khedberg@cityofpriorlake.com Jerilyn Erickson, Finance Director jerickson@cityofpriorlake.com Rosemount Dwight Johnson, City Administrator dwight.johnson@ci.rosemount.mn.us Bill Droste, Mayor mayor@ci.rosemount.mn.us Savage Barry Stock, City Administrator bstock@ci.savage.mn.us Janet Williams, Mayor jwilliams@ci.savage.mn.us Shakopee Mark McNeill, City Administrator mmcneill@shakopeemn.gov Brad Tabke, Mayor btabke@shakopeemn.gov Julie Linnihan, Finance Director jlinnihan@ci.shapokeemn.gov MVTA Board Bill Coughlin, Burnsville City Council bill.coughlin@ci.burnsville.mn.us Bill Droste see Rosemount Gary Hansen, Eagan City Council ghansen@ci.eagan.mn.us Clint Hooppaw, Apple Valley City Councilclint.hooppaw@gmail.com Jon Ulrich, Scott County Commissioner julrich@co.scott.mn.us Jane Victorey, Savage City Council jvictorey@ci.savage.mn.us Liz Workman, Dakota County Commissioner liz.workman@co.dakota.mn.us MVTA Alternates/TWGs Steve Albrecht steve.albrecht@ci.burnsville.mn.us Troy Beam tbeam@co.scott.mn.us Josh Feldman jfeldman@cityofeagan.com Chris Gerlach chris.gerlach@co.dakota.mn.us Christine Kelly ckelly@ci.savage.mn.us Tom Lovelace tlovelace@ci.apple-valley.mn.us Joe Morneau joe.morneau@co.dakota.mn.us Tom Wolf twolf@co.scott.mn.us Eric Zweber eric.zweber@ci.rosemount.mn.us BlueXpress-MVTA Merger Contact List County Contacts Dakota County Brandt Richardson, County Administrator brandt.richardson@co.dakota.mn.us Scott County Gary Shelton, County Administrator gshelton@co.scott.mn.us Gary Bruggenthies, Business Manager gbruggenthies@co.scott.mn.us Other Recipients Beverley Miller, MVTA Executive Director bmiller@mvta.com Jim Strommen, MVTA Legal Counsel jstrommen@kennedy-graven.com Lois Spear, MVTA Finance Manager lspear@mvta.com Technical Work Group Troy Beam See MVTA Alternates/TWGs Lisa Freese lfreese@co.scott.mn.us Jane Kansier jkansier@mvta.com Michael Leek mleek@ci.shakopee.mn.us Jen Lehmann jlehmann@mvta.com Casey McCabe cmccabe@cityofpriorlake.com Dan Rogness drogness@cityofpriorlake.com Lyn Rohe lrohe@co.scott.mn.us Kyle Sobota ksobota@ci.shakopee.mn.us Elected Work Group Bill Coughlin see MVTA Board Bill Droste see MVTA Board Mike Luce, Shakopee City Council mluce@shakopeemn.gov Michael McGuire, Prior Lake City Council mmcguire@cityofpriorlake.com Jon Ulrich see MVTA Board Jane Victorey see MVTA Board Liz Workman see MVTA Board Updated 2/12/2014 ϮͬϮϲͬϮϬϭϰ Agenda MVTA-Prior Lake-Shakopee Introductions I. Merger MVTA Commitment II. Purpose III. Process & Milestones IV. Joint EWG & TWG Meeting Financial Review Status V. )HEUXDU\ Asset Review Status VI. %XUQVYLOOH%XV*DUDJH Summary of Legal Review VII. Questions/Concerns VIII. Next Steps & Action Items IX. 2 MVTA CommitmentPurpose Our Vision Greater Efficiencies The Minnesota Valley Transit Authority is a trusted partner in Combined administration transportation, serving as an innovative leader moving people to Economies of scale destinations. Flexibility in bus route assignments Our Focus is Customer Service Provide more transit options for current and future riders We want to increase service and partnerships Continue to provide excellent service We do what makes sense We are collaborators Make decisions as a cohesive group Our Ultimate Goal: Establish thoughtful and deliberate process Provide increased and improved transportation opportunities EWG & TWG are responsible for making sure the process south of the river 34 Fast Facts MVTAPrior Lake& Shakopee Daily Ridership10,000750 Number of Routes255 Local, Express,Reverse Circulator, Express, & ServiceTypes Commute, & BRTReverse Commute Active Fleet12812 2014 Operating Expenses$24.3million$2million Primary CorridorsI 35W& CedarTH169 5 park &rides Facilities6 transit stations3 park & rides 2 bus garages Service Area Population224,58061,327 MVTA platform hours would increase 11%with the addition of Prior Lake and Shakopee 56 ϭ ϮͬϮϲͬϮϬϭϰ ProcessKey 2014 Milestones MonthMilestoneStatus TWG reviews and breaks down issues Get the right people involved & updated Tracks progress on milestones Ask questions NOW January / In Provide regular updates to cities and counties in Monthly Memos Establish EWG & TWG FebruaryProgress Work to break down tasks and answer questions Subcommittees as needed Begin bus reassignment and fund transfer conversations Finance MarchContinue document and service reviews Legal Consideration of points of agreement and Draft JPA EWG discusses policy direction and TWG recommendations amendment to include Prior Lake & Shakopee April EWG/TWG meetings tocheck in and keep process on track EWG members update respective boards EWG makes final policy decisions MayJointEWG/TWG meeting with final status updates Prior Lake and Shakopee make decision on JPA Submit JPA to other MVTA cities for approval June Draft other agreements as necessary 78 Key 2014 MilestonesFinancial Review Update Finance Directors conducting review MonthMilestoneStatus Identify existing operational costs to Prior Lake and Shakopee Finalize financial review details and bus reassignment July process and compare to MVTA operational costs EWG/TWG meeting with update on JPA, Met Council, and Impacts of a merger August contracts Identify start-up costs September/ Begin development of marketing and publicity for merge Increased efficiencies October Budget impacts Final JPA approval by all partners November/ Fund transfers Complete review by April December Marketing begins Recommendations must be made by May to stay on track Prior Lake and Shakopee operations transfer to MVTA 2015 Celebration and Roll Out 910 Asset Review Update Staff site visit of park and ride facilities and Lakeville Bus Garage Evaluated systems & inventories Compared processes Questions & Answers Reviewed contracts & agreements Goal is complete integration Review start-up costs Next steps TWG consensus on direction Future updates incorporated with financial review 1112 Ϯ ϮͬϮϲͬϮϬϭϰ Next Steps Action Item Recap Meeting Frequency March 6 TWG Meeting April Joint EWG/TWG Meeting Continue reviews JPA discussions Contracts, agreements, & grants Financials Assets Begin service review 13 ϯ