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Star City Council Workshop Notes February 6, 2018 Time: 7:35 p.m. Those present: Mayor Chad Bell, Councilmen Kevin Nielsen, Trevor Chadwick, Michael Keyes, David Hershey, Staff Kathleen Hutton. WORKSHOP: Valley Regional Transit Stephen Hunt, planner with Valley Regional Transit, explained they are putting together a six year plan for growth to connect Caldwell and the Treasure Valley. He explained a public transit system was important as it made better use of space on infrastructure, more people on a bus would equal fewer cars on the road; and would save households money by cutting cost to operate a vehicle and possibly eliminate the cost of a vehicle. They are building on the Valley Connect 2.0 plan by working with Communities in Motion and with local communities. They are looking at more mobility on Highway 44 and quadrupling services. Hunt explained the routes they run now and the additional routes they are looking at adding in the future. Keyes asked if they had looked at the City's Comp Plan and were they planning on being involved with the planning. Hunt explained their plan would be a extension of the City's Comp Plan. Nielsen ask how Valley Regional Transit was structured. Hunt explained that under Idaho Code they are authorized as the transit authority by the State. They are a political subdivision of the state but have no taxing authority. Their main responsibility was coordinating transportation services for the public and private sectors. VRT has held meetings and from these meetings they are looking to grow transit service, have more frequent routes, expand services to more offices and to medical facilities, to expand services to later in the day and possibly seven days a week, to increase ridership, and deploy integrated "Mobility as a Service" option. They feel more service, more often throughout the day, and increased reliability of service will increase ridership. To increase ridership they are looking to increase bus expansion, maintenance facilities, passenger amenities, park and ride locations, do corridor improvements, and use technology. Hunt explained costs and what they project cost will entail for expanding services. Keyes commented he feels there would be a potential for a Valley Ride Hub in the Star area with the growth that is coming in the next 20 years and ACHD's improvements projected. Hunt noted they feel Valley Connect 2.0 supports communities but there is limited north/south connectivity. They are looking to meet other destination stops besides just Boise. Service costs will increase as they offer more routes and increase ridership. They need support from both the public and private side to fund. Their model plan will include expanding car and van pools, establishing additional park and ride hubs, and promoting the public transportation system. Hunt reviewed the Valley Connect 2.0 development calendar and noted they are looking for input from the public and stakeholders. Hershey asked how they are funded. Hunt noted the Highway 44 corridor is funded by the cities of Nampa, Caldwell, Middleton, Eagle, Boise and hopefully Star. ---PAGE BREAK--- Chadwick asked what the anticipated cost for the City of Star would be for this program. Hunt stated they don't have an amount yet; they were not at that point yet. Chadwick asked how they plan to attract people like him who enjoy the freedom of his own car. Hunt stated people want more service to get to where they're going and want savings; and if they can show that then ridership might increase. Mayor Bell asked if they were planning three trips each morning and evening through Star, and where would these trips originate. Hunt stated origination would be in Caldwell and Boise. Nielsen stated they have been asking for the ridership numbers and are looking at funding based on that number. He stated he liked their plan and was encouraged by it. But he is discouraged by the ridership from Star and feels it is a big burden on citizens. Hunt stated there is 7 or 8 now on the existing service and he was not sure how many were Star residents. Hunt stated stakeholders cannot look at just the numbers now, but at what can happen in the future. Discussion was held on the need for increased visibility in Star to help increase ridership. Visibility needs to be along Highway 44 not one block off. Nielsen asked about funding and Hunt explained it came from cities and some discretionary funds from Ada and Canyon Counties. Mayor Bell stated they are taking a positive step and noted Star didn't fund this year because they couldn't get any information. He liked seeing they are looking at marketing and was encouraged to see some different ideas and some planning for the future. Hershey stated he is encouraged with the plan and would like to see how it is calculated; what the numbers are for cities our size, what they are paying. He realizes no public transportation pays for itself. Nielsen stated he was concerned with them requesting city funds to pay for something that is a state agency; he felt the state should fund. Hunt explained that funding was an ongoing conversation with the State. Hunt explained they are looking to get information out to the public and have links that can be shared with the public. Chadwick explained there is a local paper they can get the information into to get out to the public. Mayor Bell stated the links could be put on the City's webpage and facebook page. Workshop adjourned at 8:35 pm.