Okaloosa County BOCC — June 7, 2016 — Public Hearing on Proposed Public Transit Fixed Route Changes — agenda request

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: June 7, 2016 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Elliot Kampert SUBJECT: Public Hearing on Proposed Public Transit Fixed Route Changes DEPARTMENT: Growth Management BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: Board of County Commissioners to conduct a public hearing to receive input regarding proposed changes to fixed public transportation routes and provide direction regarding implementation. BACKGROUND: Maruti Fleet and Management, LLC., has operated the County's public transportation system since October 2015. During that time, they have assessed the function of the existing system and have determined that modifications must be made in order to increase efficiency and ridership, and to respond to the most commonly-expressed complaints about the existing system. During its regular meeting of May 3, 2016, the Board of County Commissioners set a public hearing for its regular meeting of June 7, 2016. An advertisement announcing the hearing was run in the May 12, 2016 Northwest Florida Daily News (see attached advertisement and affidavit) and was posted in the fixed route buses. In addition, the City of Ft Walton Beach conducted a public workshop on May 10 to receive input. While no members of the public spoke during the workshop, the City Council was able to discuss the changes with and provide input to Maruti. The City of Crestview conducted a series of three town hall meetings on May 24 during which the City Clerk and Maruti provided attendees information regarding transit operations, answered questions, and received input regarding where city residents would like to see routes re-initiated in the Crestview area. The summary of the results of these meetings was not available in time for this agenda summary due to the shortened agenda item deadline necessitated by the Memorial Day holiday. Notwithstanding, Maruti has already incorporated the results of the pubic input The proposed modifications to the fixed route system are shown in the attached maps. In addition, Maruti has also proposed a weekend route to better serve the tourism industry. As of this writing, Maruti is still receiving input regarding the proposed changes, and the City of Destin is setting up a public meeting to receive input from its citizens, as well. For this reason, staff and Maruti recommend that the Board not approve any modifications of the existing routes in order to allow more input from the cities and citizens. However, Maruti and staff do recommend that the Board of County Commissioners approve the weekend, tourism route as this is a new service that will benefit the community. Because the tourism route does not modify or replace an existing service, Maruti and staff recommend that the route be made operational immediately upon Board approval. OPTIONS: The hearing has been advertised, so the Board should hold the hearing; however, the Board table or continue the hearing if it so chooses. RECOMMENDATIONS: Staff recommends the Board of County Commissioners conduct the public hearing and receive testimony regarding the proposed route changes after which, and after due consideration, provide the following direction to staff and Marut: 1. that the weekend tourism route be made operational effective June 8, 2016; and 2. that staff and Maruti continue to gather public input on the proposed route changes and return to the Board for direction regarding route modifications at such time as Maruti feels sufficient input has been obtained. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator