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The Regular Meeting of the Downtown East Valley Policy Advisory Board (PAB) was called to order at 3:09 p.m. by Vice Chairperson Campos, Lower Level Conference Room, 70 West Hedding Street, San Jose, California.

ROLL CALL

Members Present
Nora Campos, Vice Chairperson

Members Absent
Blanca Alvarado
Cindy Chavez, Chairperson
David Cortese
Pete McHugh

A quorum was not present and a Committee of the Whole was declared.

There were no Public Presentation.

On order of Vice Chairperson Campos, there being no objection, the Committee of the Whole deferred approval of the Minutes of May 6, 2004 to the meeting of August 5, 2004.

Julie Render, Principal Transportation Planner, reported that staffs plan is to submit the administrative draft of the Environmental Impact Statement for Santa Clara/Alum Rock in late June 2004. Staffs report will be made available July 2004. A briefing regarding that report will be provided to either PAB Members or their staff in July 2004. The preliminary staff recommendations for design options and preferred alternatives will be provided to the PAB in August 2004

Ms. Render introduced Ken Ronsse, Design and Construction Manager, to provide an update on the Capitol Light Rail Project. Mr. Ronsse stated that staff is in the process of selecting a design consultant for Preliminary Engineering (PE). The Board of Directors will take action at their meeting of June 3, 2004 for a potential to increase the scope down to Nieman Station. The interview process has begun and a selection should be made in the next couple of weeks with a commendation to the Board of Directors and proposal for such award in August 2004.

Ben Tripousis, City of San Jose Department of Transportation, reported with regard to relinquishment of the expressway issue from the County of Santa Clara to the City of San Jose. He reported that staff submitted a letter to the County of Santa Clara outlining the strategy for relinquishing Capitol Expressway from Interstate 680 to Route 101 and its recommendation that the segments be relinquished in two phases as the light rail begins construction along Capitol Expressway. Mr. Tripousis noted that the relinquishment recommendation has been submitted to the County of Santa Clara and recommendations are being presented to the Board of Supervisors the second week of June 2004.

Ms. Render noted that although there will not be a PAB meeting in July 2004, a quarterly written status report will be forwarded to the PAB Members. Staff will provide preliminary staff recommendations for Santa Clara/Alum Rock and final recommendations for the Capitol Expressway Light Rail Project at the PAB Meeting scheduled for August 5, 2004.

Vice Chairperson Campos referred to Page 7 of the Minutes of May 6, 2004 wherein Chairperson Cindy Chavez queried regarding BART construction activity and the impact on light rail and queried if staff has provided a response to the PAB. Ms. Render replied that a response has not been provided to the PAB and will likely be explained in the Recommendations Report.

Vice Chairperson Campos referred to former Chairperson Alvarados query regarding the timeframe and the possibility to shorten it and if anything has changed from the Committee Meeting of May 6, 2004. Mr. Fitzwater responded that it will be difficult because there are two EIS going on simultaneously and it will be a challenge to staff and the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to review documents and prioritize them. Ms. Render explained that it simply would not be prudent to pull projects out of a federal process because there are great funding-advantages to having the federal clearance.

Vice Chairperson Campos requested that project plans and project schedules be agendized for all future meetings for review.

Vice Chairperson Campos requested clarification regarding the timeline and funding and why staff could not start securing funding opportunities for the Santa Clara/Alum Rock Segment. Ms. Render responded that the cost of the PE effort is vastly different if the enhanced bus alternative is selected versus the light rail. Ms. Render stated that staff is recommending that the PE commence in December 2004 and then start looking for funding for the PE from Measure A. Steven Fisher, Senior Transportation Planner, noted that one thing that would shorten the process is if the same consultants were used for the segments.

On order of Vice Chairperson Campos, there being no objection, the Committee of the Whole received the Downtown East Valley Status Report.

Mr. Fisher provided a Power Point Presentation outlining the: 1) Purpose of Project, 2) Project Background, 3) Alternatives Analyzed in the Draft EIS/EIR, 4) Light Rail Alternative Benefits, 5) Relation to Other Planning Studies, 6) Environmental Review Background, 7) Draft EIS/EIR Community Outreach, 8) Summary of Findings, 9) Transportation Summary of Impacts, 10) Transportation Significant Impacts, 11) Transportation Locations of Significant Impacts, 12) Parking Impacts, 13) Noise, 14) Location of Noise Impacts, 15) Vibration, 16) Light Rail Alternative Location of Vibration Impacts, 17) Vibration Mitigation, 18) Socio-economics, 19) Location of Full Acquisitions Residential, 20) Location of Full Acquisitions Commercial, 21) Visual Quality, 22) Conclusion, 23) Summary of Public Review, 24) Next Step: Environmental Process, and 25) Next Steps: Preliminary Engineering.

Mr. Fisher noted that 5 of the 16 members of the public in attendance at the Public Hearing provided comments.

Vice Chairperson Campos requested staff provide information to the PAB and the public with regard to what life will be like after the Project is complete.

Vice Chairperson Campos requested staff poll the PAB Members in the month of June 2004, regarding their attendance for the August 5, 2004 PAB Meeting.

On order Vice Chairperson Campos, there being no objection, the Committee of the Whole received the Capitol Expressway Light Rail Corridor Draft Environmental Impact Statement/Environmental Impact Report (EIS/EIR).

On order of Vice Chairperson Campos, there being no objection, the meeting adjourned at 3:47 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Gilda M. Grozdanich, Board Assistant
VTA Board of Directors