NORMAL – As of a 6-1 vote, the Town of Normal will fund the local bus transit company at a rate of $200,000 annually using dollars the Town obtained through the Federal American Rescue Plan. Under the Plan, the Town will be able to provide funding to the transit company over a four-year period, City Manager Pam Reece told Council members. Before the vote, Council members received an update on Connect’s programs from their Board chairman and their general manager who was hired for the job nine months ago.
Council Member Stan Nord cast the lone opposing vote. Instead, Nord countered, making a motion that Council members amend what they would pay Connect Transit from a $200,000 annual payment to a single one-time payment of $67,000. His motion died for lack of a second from any other Council members.
Ryan Whitehouse, chairman of Connect Transit’s Board of Trustees, and General Manager David Braun, addressed Council members during Monday night’s session. Braun started by saying Connect is looking to focus on getting services available for the public’s knowledge and doing less concerning advertising on vehicles.
“What we’re concentrating on is creating a service that can be efficient and effective and services that best meet the needs of the Town and the City,” Braun said. Braun began by recapping the services Connect Transit provides, both fixed route 40-foot buses and Connect Mobility, a service users must call and make pre-arranged trips through. He said the pandemic caused Connect Transit to lose about 40 percent of its fixed route ridership, but more recently has seen 17 percent of that loss in terms of ridership come back.
Braun said there are plans to expand Connect Mobility’s service coverage area by 10 percent, partly due to the fact the system now uses a single paying fare for all riders of $1.25 per ride. Braun said Connect is also looking to expand route service to western ends of both Normal and Bloomington. That would include service every 30 minutes during peak travel hours mornings and afternoons.
Braun said the company is introducing a new service, called Microtransit, which can be accessed by using Connect Transit’s app for on-demand service to unserved or underserved neighborhoods and would serve specific zones. Connect vehicles would go from point-to-point within certain zones in the community, he explained. Braun said people living in certain areas where they aren’t able to access their nearest bus stop, either because of age or income, made creating this feature something which would help some members of the community.
Another service Connect Transit will begin to offer is a coordinated vanpooling service, for people who live outside the Twin Cities but work here. Braun said Connect Transit’s research showed a total of 35,000 people commute to the Twin Cities daily. The new service, he explained, will give people with fewer transportation options access to the Twin Cities for work.
Braun said Connect Transit is seeking sponsors for the Coordinated vanpooling program because not every employer has the financing for it. He added the program benefits the employee using it, their employer being assured of how the employee will arrive at work, and helps Connect Transit obtain a potential Federal subsidy for the program.
Council Member Chemberly Cummings told Braun she was pleased to see Connect Transit institute a “one fare for all” plan. Council Member Scott Preston told Connect officials that it “would be unfathomable” for the Town not to support the transit company’s “one fare for all” plan.
Nord Votes No On Two Omnibus Items Which Involve Waived Bids: There were a pair of 6-1 votes taken on two omnibus items, both of them with Council Member Stan Nord voting in the minority. Both of the items involved waiving the formal bidding process. The first one was a resolution waiving the formal bidding process to execute an agreement with Ithaca, Ill.-based CDS Office Technologies for purchasing replacement Panasonic body worn cameras at a total cost of $105,312. Reece explained the Town researched and found two prices – one retail, one through State Joint Purchasing Program – and found CDS was “significantly better with over $20,000 in savings to the Town at CDS’ price.
Because of the price, Reece said, putting in a request to seek bids didn’t seem to be an economical use of time considering CDS’ price. She added the actions taken do not violate Town procurement rules. Nord said he wouldn’t vote to approve the purchase because the Town didn’t go through what he understood was a proper purchasing process.
Council Member Karyn Smith added she exchanged emails with Reece on the subject where Reece informed her the cameras purchased were done so because they were compatible with the Town’s current equipment.
The second omnibus item Nord pulled was a resolution waiving the formal bidding process and authorizing purchase of refuse containers from Charlotte, N. C.-based Schaefer Systems International, Inc.at a price of $35,565 and an associated budget adjustment. Of this item, Nord said, “This is the same issue but there is a 23 percent increase” in the price. That prompted him to ask, “At what point do we bid things out?”
Reece told Nord she could not answer his question as there was “no specific increase” for that. Nord countered, saying, if this were an increase leveled at individual consumers, they would shop for a lower price. He said Council members should seek to lessen any similar burden on constituents when it came to Town spending. He added he would like to see the Town’s spending policy either followed or change to avoid what he saw in the Schaefer purchase. Council Member Kathleen Lorenz said in both these cases, how the Town handled them followed Town policy and guidelines.
Public Comment Concerning Cars Parking, Unloading At Turn Near Children’s Museum: Resident Joe Isaia addressed Council members in public comments toward the end of the meeting, with a concern about cars which drivers park in a zone near the Uptown Circle, near Children’s Discovery Museum, primarily to let passengers out or to unload a traveler’s luggage. Isaia, a bus driver for Connect Transit for five years, told Council members he has also seen passengers get out of cars from the left back passenger door, which is also a concern. Currently, there are signs asking drivers not to do that, even under threat of having to pay a $30 fine. Isaia facetiously asked if it were possible to make the fine $300 to get the message across to drivers. Among his more serious suggestions was to paint the concrete curbing in that area yellow as a deterrent.
Omnibus Agenda Items Approved: Omnibus agenda items approved by the Council included:
• Approval of minutes of the regular Council meeting of May 11, 2022.
• Report to Receive and file Town of Normal expenditures for payment as of May 11, 2022.
• A resolution to accept bids and authorize a contract with Carrier Corporation of Peoria, Ill. for the Community Activity Center – chiller system renewal project in the amount of $119,450.