M I N U T E S
VRE OPERATIONS BOARD MEETING
PRTC HEADQUARTERS – PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, VIRGINIA
SEPTEMBER 16, 2011
VIRGINIA RAILWAY
EXPRESS
BOARD MEMBERS
SHARON BULOVA
CHAIRMAN
WALLY COVINGTON
VICE-CHAIRMAN
SUSAN STIMPSON
TREASURER
PAUL SMEDBERG
SECRETARY
MAUREEN CADDIGAN
JOHN COOK
THELMA DRAKE
FREDERIC HOWE
JOHN JENKINS
PAUL MILDE
SUHAS NADDONI
GARY SKINNER
JONATHAN WAY
CHRIS ZIMMERMAN
ALTERNATES
MARC AVENI
HARRY CRISP
MARK DUDENHEFER
BRAD ELLIS
JAY FISETTE
FRANK JONES
ROB KRUPICKA
JERRY LOGAN
MICHAEL MAY
JEFF McKAY
MARTIN NOHE
KEVIN PAGE
JOHN STIRRUP
DALE ZEHNER
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER
1500 King Street, Suite 202
Alexandria, VA 22314-2730
MEMBERS PRESENT
Sharon Bulova (NVTC)
Maureen Caddigan (PRTC)
Wally Covington (PRTC)
Frederic Howe (PRTC)
Paul Milde (PRTC)
Gary Skinner (PRTC)
Susan Stimpson (PRTC)*
Jonathan Way (PRTC)
Christopher Zimmerman (NVTC)*
JURISDICTION
Fairfax County
Prince William County
Prince William County
City of Fredericksburg
Stafford County
Spotsylvania County
Stafford County
City of Manassas
Arlington County
MEMBERS ABSENT
John Cook (NVTC)
Thelma Drake
John D. Jenkins (PRTC)
Suhas Naddoni (PRTC)
Paul Smedberg (NVTC)
JURISDICTION
Fairfax County
DRPT
Prince William County
City of Manassas Park
City of Alexandria
ALTERNATES PRESENT
Kevin Page
JURISDICTION
DRPT
ALTERNATES ABSENT
Marc Aveni (PRTC)
Harry Crisp (PRTC)
Mark Dudenhefer (PRTC)
Brad Ellis (PRTC)
Jay Fisette (NVTC)
Frank C. Jones (PRTC)
Rob Krupicka (NVTC)
Jerry Logan (PRTC)
Michael C. May (PRTC)
Jeff McKay (NVTC)
Martin E. Nohe (PRTC)
John Stirrup (PRTC)
JURISDICTION
City of Manassas
Stafford County
Stafford County
City of Fredericksburg
Arlington County
City of Manassas Park
City of Alexandria
Spotsylvania County
Prince William County
Fairfax County
Prince William County
Prince William County
STAFF AND GENERAL PUBLIC
Jennifer Buske – Washington Post
Heather Diez – VRE
Patrick Durany – Supervisor Jenkins’ Aid
Jeremy Flores – VRE
Anna Gotthardt – VRE
Al Harf – PRTC staff
Christine Hoeffner – VRE
Ann King – VRE
Mike Lake – Fairfax County DOT
Calvin Lam – Fairfax City Dot
Bob Leibbrandt – Prince William County
Steve MacIsaac – VRE counsel
Dick Peacock – citizen
Lynn Rivers – Arlington County
Mark Roeber – VRE
Alex Sugatan –VRE
Rick Taube – NVTC staff
Dale Zehner – VRE
* Delineates arrival following the commencement of the Board meeting. Notation of exact
arrival time is included in the body of the minutes.
Chairman Bulova called the meeting to order at 9:35 A.M. Following the Pledge of
Allegiance, roll call was taken.
Approval of the Agenda – 3
Ms. Caddigan moved, with a second by Mr. Howe, to approve the agenda. The vote in
favor was cast by Board Members Bulova, Caddigan, Covington, Howe, Milde, Page,
Skinner and Way.
Approval of the Minutes of the August 19, 2011 Operations Board Meeting – 4
Mr. Way moved, with a second by Ms. Caddigan, to approve the minutes. The vote in
favor was cast by Board Members Bulova, Caddigan, Covington, Howe, Page and Way.
Mr. Skinnier and Mr. Milde abstained.
Chairman’s Comments – 6
Chairman Bulova reported that VRE continues to experience growth in ridership, with a
10 percent increase since August 2010. One of the Top Ten ridership days occurred
this August, which is unusual since August tends to be a lower ridership month because
of vacation schedules. On-time performance (OTP) continues to be high, except for the
challenges that the region recently experienced with an earthquake, hurricane, and
severe flooding. The flooding on the evening of September 8th caused major service
disruptions, including service being cancelled on several evening trains and all trains on
September 9th. PRTC and the Fairfax Connector helped with transporting thousands of
passengers home from the Franconia/Springfield Station.
[Ms. Stimpson arrived at 9:39 A.M.]
Chairman Bulova announced that VRE has received 19 of the 20 new locomotives and
the final one will be delivered next week. Seventeen locomotives are in service and two
will be tested over the weekend.
[Mr. Zimmerman entered the room at 9:41 A.M.]
Chief Executive Officer’s Report – 7
Mr. Zehner stated that on-time performance for September dropped down to 70 percent
on both sides, with 83 percent of the delays related to rain and flooding issues. He also
provided more details about the flooding on September 8th. The roads became
gridlocked, which caused major delays for staff to get to the passengers stranded at the
Franconia/Springfield Station. The buses even arrived before them. PRTC, Connector
and Metro all came to VRE’s assistance. There were at least 1,000 VRE riders
affected. The bus drivers stayed calm and focused and handled themselves well in an
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extremely difficult situation. VRE service had to terminate at Franconia/Springfield
because there was a washout of the rail tracks at Pohick Creek in Lorton. It took two
days for CSX to fill it in and fix the tracks. It was a VRE engineer that discovered the
track damage. Train #309 dropped passengers at Franconia/Springfield and then
proceeded south under flood restrictions. When the train came upon the flooded tracks,
the engineer handled the situation with professionalism. Ms. Stimpson stated that the
crew’s actions as well as VRE’s safety policies should be commended. Chairman
Bulova suggested that the engineer and crew members be invited to an Operations
Board meeting and be thanked and presented with a letter or certificate of appreciation
for their professionalism, which averted a horrible situation. There were no objections.
Mr. Milde asked if VRE received complaints about this situation. Mr. Zehner stated that
a few comments were received on how disorganized it was at Franconia/Springfield, but
many of those passengers discharged off the trains did not fully understand how bad
the situation was. There are always ways to improve, by VRE did the best it could
under the circumstances. Chairman Bulova stated that the region has not had this
magnitude of flooding since Hurricane Agnes in 1972. Mr. Harf noted that thankfully
there was still some light that the engineer could see the condition of the track since
there was no wayside signal alert because the track was not broken. Mr. Zehner stated
that the engineer had dropped his speed and had plenty of distance to stop.
Mr. Milde stated that he wants to make sure that VRE is aware of where these
situations can happen along the tracks so that crews know the locations of where water
comes close to tracks.
Mr. Zehner also reported that the Surface Transportation Bill has been passed by both
houses which will extend it another six months to March 31, 2012. It included
reenacting the excise tax.
Mr. Zehner also announced that VRE was awarded a certificate of achievement from
the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) for the fifth year in a row. This is
the highest form of recognition for governmental accounting and reflects the hard work
of Donna Boxer and her staff.
Mr. Zehner stated that the VRE Master Agreement survey is scheduled for October 5th.
Board Members were also mailed a summary of the Strategic Planning Retreat, which
will be reviewed as part of today’s agenda.
Operations Board Member’s Time – 8
Mr. Howe reported that the ceremony celebrating the rehabilitation of the
Fredericksburg Station was well received. Mr. Way noted that on-time performance for
the Manassas line in August was 100 percent every morning.
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VRE Riders’ and Public Comment – 9
Mr. Peacock encouraged the Board to approve Agenda Item #9C “Authorization to
Amend the VRE Broad Run Station Platform Extension Contract.” He stated that it is
important to emphasize to VRE’s state and federal partners that rail plays an important
role when other modes of transportation are shut down due to natural disasters or other
circumstances, such as terrorist attacks. Amtrak and VRE already serve Quantico so
there is already a rail infrastructure in place to make a big difference if Quantico needs
to be evacuated. Mr. Peacock also approves VRE’s decision to cancel service on
September 9th because some Amtrak trains on the Manassas Line had four hour delays
that day.
Authorization to Execute Option Year for Custodial and Facility Maintenance Services –
9A
Mr. Zehner reported that the VRE Operation Board is being asked to authorize him to
execute the third year of the custodial and facility maintenance service contracts with
NV Enterprises of Reston, Virginia in an amount not to exceed $2.8 million. Resolution
#9A-09-2011 would accomplish this.
Mr. Zehner explained that the recommended amount for the contract year is $200,000
higher due to escalation allowed by the contract, additional facilities (second platform at
Woodbridge and parking lot expansion at Broad Run) that have been placed in service
during the past year, and an increase in maintenance related projects that are not grant
funded. The facilities budget is financed using both operating and grant funds.
Mr. Milde moved, with a second by Mr. Zimmerman, to approve the resolution. The
vote in favor was cast by Board Members Bulova, Caddigan, Covington, Howe, Milde,
Page, Skinner Stimpson, Way and Zimmerman.
Authorization to Award a Construction Contract for Parking Lot Expansions at the
Brooke and Leeland Road VRE Stations – 9B
Mr. Zehner stated that the Operations Board is being asked to authorize him to enter
into a contract with Tavares Concrete, of Lorton, Virginia, to construct the Brooke and
Leeland Road parking lot expansions, for a total contract value of $2,138,702, plus a 10
percent contingency of $213,870, for a total amount not to exceed $2,352,572.
Resolution #9B-09-2011 would accomplish this.
Mr. Zehner explained that this will add another 234 parking spaces at Brooke and
another 196 spaces at Leeland. He reminded the Board that VRE had previously
received bids that exceeded the project budget. At the June Meeting, at the request of
Stafford County, the Board directed staff to re-issue the solicitations for both projects.
VRE and Stafford County staff worked to modify the solicitation in an effort to reduce the
project costs as well as to more widely advertise the project to contractors. A new
solicitation was issued on July 29th and four bids were received. Following a review of
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the bids, staff is recommending award to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder,
Tavares Construction. Funding for both projects are included in VRE’s Capital
Improvement Program using CMAQ and RSTP grants. No local match is required.
Total project funding is $4.4 million with $1.46 million having been spent to-date on
environmental, design, and property acquisition. An additional $500,000 has been
encumbered for construction related costs, including utilities and wetland mitigation.
Mr. Milde stated that VRE might want to look at its procurement process because when
this was rebid, the price came down 30 percent with very little change to the scope of
the RFP. He and Ms. Stimpson both thanked Board Members for their support in
rebidding this RFP.
Mr. Milde moved, with a second by Ms. Stimpson, to approve Resolution #9B-09-2011.
The vote in favor was cast by Board Members Bulova, Caddigan, Covington, Howe,
Milde, Page, Skinner Stimpson, Way and Zimmerman.
Authorization to Amend the VRE Broad Run Station Platform Extension Contract – 9C
Mr. Zehner reported that the VRE Operations Board is being asked to authorize him to
execute a contract amendment in the amount of $171,179, for the VRE Broad Run
station platform extension project, for a total contract value not to exceed $828,979.
Resolution #9C-09-2011 would accomplish this.
Mr. Zehner reported that construction is currently underway and expected to be
completed by December 2011. The project will provide an approximately 200 foot
length platform and 150 foot canopy extension. The project is located to the east end of
the existing platform and will accommodate seven-car train sets. Because bids came in
lower than expected, it provided an opportunity for additional work to be performed
within the existing budget. In an effort to maximize the grant funding and make
additional improvements to the station, VRE staff have identified the additional work that
can be completed within the existing grant funding, including 50 feet of additional
canopy coverage; second entrance to the station with a lighted sidewalk connecting to
the parking lot; replacement of the existing tactile surface for the entire platform; and
painting the existing station canopy and railing.
Mr. Covington moved, with a second by Mr. Skinner, to approve the resolution. The
vote in favor was cast by Board Members Bulova, Caddigan, Covington, Howe, Milde,
Page, Skinner Stimpson, Way and Zimmerman.
Authorization to Renew the Manassas Warehouse Lease – 9D
Mr. Zehner explained that approval of Resolution #9D-09-2011 would authorize him to
amend the contract with KAO Manassas Airport, LLC, for warehouse space in the
amount of $49,800, for a total amount not to exceed $191,236.
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Mr. Zehner stated that this extension is being sought for a maximum of six months. The
lease will convert to a month to month arrangement after three months. All other
general terms and conditions for the current lease will remain the same. This allows
time for the VRE’s new warehouse to be completed.
Mr. Skinner moved to approve the resolution. Board Members Howe and Way jointly
seconded. The vote in favor was cast by Board Members Bulova, Caddigan,
Covington, Howe, Milde, Page, Skinner Stimpson, Way and Zimmerman.
Strategic Planning Retreat Report – 10A
Chairman Bulova observed that the report summarizing the results of the July 29th
Strategic Planning Retreat is very comprehensive. Mr. Way stated that it seems to him
that the work targets show VRE as a constrained, conservative system that is not
looking to grow into other corridors, but remain a commuter-based system. However,
this is not really well defined in the VRE Mission Statement. It should be discussed and
considered as a future work item. Chairman Bulova suggested looking at the Mission
Statement at a future meeting.
Mr. Way also stated that there was discussion at the retreat about railroad utilization
and minimizing standees. Some current trains already have an average of 25
standees. At the same time, VRE is progressing with the mid-day storage issues at the
L’Enfant Station, but VRE is not planning on adding trains. This seems to be
contradictory and should be an action item to discuss whether VRE should add trains.
Mr. Zehner stated that staff was putting together cost estimates for adding service which
will be discussed as part of the budget process.
Mr. Covington stated that it was a great retreat and he would be open to doing it again
next year, especially if it had an emphasis on budget issues. He suggested springtime
may be a better time of year to hold a retreat. Mr. Zimmerman also thought it was a
constructive exercise. He stated that it is important for VRE as a follow-up to the retreat
to create a set of plans contingent on funding. VRE also has an obligation to tell the
region what VRE could do to solve congestion problems at different levels and the
associated costs. It is important to convey that commuter rail can be part of the
solution. VRE needs to be ready with projects when funding becomes available. Mr.
Milde stated that VRE should provide what would be needed to bring ridership to 30,000
daily riders as well as its affect on traffic along the I-66 and I-95 corridors. It is important
to make a case for expanding VRE service. He suggested including what it would cost
for construction of another lane of traffic compared to what VRE could do with that
amount of funding.
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Adjournment
Chairman Bulova stated that Ms. Stimpson and Mr. Smedberg met with Fairfax County
Supervisor Penny Gross who has provided a template on what has been used at
MWCOG and Fairfax County to evaluate the CEO’s. Ms. Stimpson stated that meeting
with Supervisor Gross was very helpful. Ms. Stimpson has prepared a summary and
evaluation forms for the Executive Committee to look at first before being distributed to
Board Members. Chairman Bulova stated that evaluation forms will be distributed prior
to the next meeting.
Without objection, Chairman Bulova adjourned the meeting at 10:20 A.M.
Approved this 21st day of October, 2011.
_____________________________
Sharon Bulova
Chairman
_____________________________
Paul Smedberg
Secretary
CERTIFICATION
This certification hereby acknowledges that the minutes for the September 19, 2011
Virginia Railway Express Operations Board Meeting have been recorded to the best of
my ability.
Rhonda Gilchrest
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