HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-22-2011 Galavan / Streamline Advisory Board Minutes.docStreamline Advisory Board Minutes
March 22, 2011; HRDC Board Room
8:40-10:00 am
Board members present: Suzanne Winchester, Chris Budeski, Colleen Lindner, Mike Waldron, Rosie Barndt, Janet Kennedy, Eric Brown, Carol Shannon, David Dunbar, David Kack, and Carson
Taylor. Board members absent: Patty Gunderson and Selby Rogala.
Others present: Jeff Rupp, Sunshine Ross, Dana Piper, Lee Hazelbaker, Whit Hampton, and Dan Martin.
Public Comment: None at this time.
Approval of Minutes: Motion made by David K. seconded by Rosie, motion passed.
Presentation: None at this time.
Discussion: GEC cleanup day
Gallatin Valley Earth Day Celebration will be held on April 16th. Being an environmentally conscientious minded organization in the valley it would be great way to continue to promote
how we help lessen the impact of the community. A motion was made by Colleen and seconded by David K. to buy a sponsor ship for $145, which helps recycle 5 tons worth of glasses along
with having a banner displayed at the fairgrounds. Motion passed. The question was asked could we have a bus displayed as our banner, and it was agreed that this would be a worthy thought
to pursue from the GEC group. Our Buses run on Saturday and have a stop there so this will also be helpful. David K. will be coordinating the event for Streamline.
Chris mentioned that the state owned the buses we operate that we would be exempt from any local sign codes. Whit informed the board that the buses operated by Galavan/Streamline have
liens placed on them by the state where as the local organizations are the owners of the vehicles, so we are not exempt from local codes. Vicki Haussler is the cities sign enforcement
agent.
Director’s Report: February’s rider ship for Streamline included 19,466 weekday rides and 1,433 Saturday rides. Late night had 1506 night owls. The Livingston route produced 768 rides.
The Bridger Bowl total was 643 with 24 riders skiing at Bohart Ranch. We have received approval of the contracts for 2 new streamline buses. One is a 35 passenger the other is a sprinter
bus. Oddly both buses will cost the same amount to us around $37,500 for both. We have an offer to sell both of the Head Start buses that we have in Havre. The transit group at Rocky
Boy is interested in purchasing both vehicles for their transit program. There are a couple of other options as well. We are waiting final instructions from the feds as to our obligations
to pursue the sale of these buses. There is still some minor construction to do at the bus barn. Galavan’s growth over the last 5 years has been amazing; we currently have 2000 registered
riders. The number of current riders is 540.
Treasurer’s Report: We have been working ways of fixing the budget deficit, moving from a reactive measure of budgeting toward a more fixed budgetary stance. Unfortunately at the Federal
level of funding they think of the two organizations has having unlimited means at out disposable. Thus we cannot move to a fixed budget. Another solution we have looked into is consolidating
fix routes. Travel training for drivers will help this out. Another idea is tightening up restrictions for who qualifies for Streamline. It is a tricky situation about where to draw
the line. Question was asked about asking for funds from private retirement homes, they are in the same boat as we are with cost savings. On the Galavan budget it was recommended by
the budget committee to change the amount spent from the Emily Smyth trust from half to all earned dividends, which raises the revenue from the trust to $18,000. We will still not be
touching any principle amounts. On the basis of the budget committee a motion to change the amount used from the Emily Smyth Trust from 9,000 to 18,000 for the rest of the current year
and the next fiscal year was made by David D, seconded by Suzanne. Motion passed.
Discussion over why we change the current fiscal budget when issues arise. This was a unique solution between Galavan (HRDC) and Streamline (ASMSU) to how best handle financial challenges
as they arose as well as not over loading board members with many sheets of numbers. It was asked if it might be possible to have a column added to show what the starting budget is for
each fiscal year to better track at the board level. Whit explained that the spreadsheets that HRDC uses to track all fiscal matters for the Galavan/Streamline have many columns. He
also concluded that it would be possible to have such a column or another page added to the report. Motion made to include this in all future board meetings the best and easiest way
possible for HRDC to due was made by David, seconded by Colleen motion passed.
On the Streamline budget we will be short $10,000 due to the actual costs of purchasing 2 buses this year. We had budgeted $50,000, actual cost is $75,000. The operational funds for
streamline are still okay, and nothing has changed for the proposed budget.
Coordinator’s Report: We seem to be gaining some on the Streamline buses. There are only two that have issues right now, #5 is at Kamp with engine issues. It won’t hold oil pressure
and it is also the one that has the non-working marquee. #6 is down at Karst with a broken axle. The rest, however, are up and running and #8 and #10 are parked at the HRDC barn. The
Galavan seems to be running smoothly again with our full complement of drivers. Just need to decide if we need someone to cover the Tuesdays and Thursdays to Belgrade and the Saturday
requests. Comparing figures from last year daytime is down 1%, Late night is up 38.4%, Saturday is down 12.5%, Livingston is down 26% and Bridger/Bohart is down 4.2%. Dan is concerned
that the figures for repairs are rising again.
Discussion, issue on communications on which number to call and who if anyone will pick up. We should have a dedicated line for information on buses and routes, for days like Tuesday.
Secretary’s Report: Nothing at this time.
Late Night: Eric will be bringing his replacement the next meeting as he will be graduating at the end of this. No issues, things running smoothly, lost 1 attendant, however also gained
one.
Subcommittee
Marketing: Draft work plan from Obvious Marketing of 2 events. We have spent 11,000 on advertisements for current year, as well as 17,000 on printing orders of schedules. We will be
making the first printing of schedules next year bigger to cut down on costs. The current Schedule format is working quite well other then the last page with the fold out map, will be
just inserting them next year. Discussion on the impact of social media, out website was discussed. We need to be able to post and update out website as often as possible due to weather
or other issues that arise. 45° North use to maintain our webpage. Our facebook group is now a fan page. Obvious brought a proposal for bench’s (not bus shelters) to the committee. They
would run the program and get sponsorships from business, at a cost of $4,000 to Streamline.
Action Items: None at this time.
For the Good of the Bus: August 11th, 2011 will mark our 5th year of operations.
Next meeting April 26th, 2011