May 2011 Board Meeting Minutes - Northeast Florida Regional ...

OTHER REPORTS/ACTION ITEMS
Resolution 2011-08: Jane Miller
Mr. Teeple informed the Board that he received a resignation letter from Board Member Jane Miller.
Her gubernatorial appointment was through October 1, 2010; but she had decided to remain on the
Board through Governor Scott’s transition. Therefore, she has tendered her resignation from the Board.
Staff recommends Resolution 2011-08, honoring Ms. Miller for her service to the Northeast Florida
Regional Council. Mr. Teeple read a portion of the Resolution into the record.
President Brown called for a motion on the Resolution. Mayor Netts moved approval of
Resolution 2011-08; seconded by Commissioner Harris. Motion carried.
Transportation Disadvantaged Regionalization Efforts
Mr. Lehman reminded the Board that the Northeast Florida Regional Council serves as the Designated
Official Planning Agency (DOPA) of six of the seven counties in Northeast Florida. Last September 2,
Mr. Lehman and Mr. Teeple attended a statewide regionalization meeting in Orlando of all DOPAs, at
which time the State Transportation Disadvantaged (TD) Commission offered a model that Council
staff and the Jacksonville Transportation Authority (JTA) did not feel was feasible in Northeast
Florida. It was actually detrimental to our efforts to address regionalization in our seven county region.
We have been working together with JTA to propose our own model. Mr. Lehman briefly described
our proposed model with a PowerPoint presentation. He first noted that the Northeast Florida Mobility
Coalition was formed in Spring of 2006 to create regional partnerships, identify mobility solutions, and
develop strategies; no formal regionalization efforts were started until last year. The first effort was
with the Mobility Summit on September 8, 2010. Coalition and non-Coalition members organized
with the goal to listen to the best practices for mobility coordination from subject matter experts. In
October of 2010, JTA Executive Director Michael Blalock requested that the Northeast Florida
Mobility Coalition play the lead role in regionalization efforts. As a result, the NEFRC, North Florida
Transportation Planning Organization (NFTPO), and JTA have brought together the Community
Transportation Coordinators in the seven counties and proposed to establish the Northeast Florida
Mobility Coalition Executive Committee, consisting of sixteen members with seven Local
Coordinating Board Chairs, with special thanks to the three of which are on our Board of Directors:
Commissioners Harris, Bryan, and Anderson. The other nine members include the seven Community
Transportation Coordinators and two Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) representatives.
To further carry out the roles and responsibilities, three Subcommittees were formed: Technical,
Policy, and Resources. Mr. Lehman reviewed the Mission Statement of each Subcommittee. He noted
the Subcommittees have each had two meetings in March and April and another series scheduled for
late May. After that, recommendations will be presented at the initial Executive Committee meeting,
anticipated in late June or July of 2011. An update on these efforts was reported to the TD
Commission last October and probably will be again in August 2011. Discussion followed.
President Brown also thanked the Board Members for their support and efforts on Transportation
Disadvantaged and expressed her concern about the funding. During a visit to Tallahassee in support
of this important program, Commissioners Bryan and Harris spoke of individual experiences that
have caused great concern and frustration. They both gave examples of how changes will detrimentally
affect this program, citizens, and the region.
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