Informational Meeting

MINUTES Informational Meeting Tuesday, December 3, 2019 at 4:00 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 1. Call To Order Council Members Present: Janet Brekke, Christine M. Erickson, Rick Kiley, Greg Neitzert, Marshall Selberg, Curt Soehl, Pat Starr, Theresa Stehly Council Members Absent: None Council Chair Marshall Selberg called the meeting to order at 4 p.m. 2. Staff Report A. Jim David, Operations Manager: Legislative Priorities David reminded the Council that a proposed resolution adopting the Legislative Priorities is forthcoming. 3. Committee/Commission Reports A. Audit Committee: Monday, December 2, 2019 (Council Members: Neitzert (Chair), Kiley, Soehl, Brekke) Neitzert provided a review of the meeting which included: the 2020 Audit Plan, an update on the external audit of the City's financial statements, and the landfill audit presentation. 4. City Council Open Discussion Council Member Rick Kiley reminded the Council that a Special Metro Management Council Meeting will be held this Friday at 9 a.m. in the Minnehaha County Commission Room. Council Member Pat Starr stated that the Dakota Academy of Performing Arts will be performing Frozen at the Washington Pavilion this week. 5. Presentations A. Events Campus Study Group Report by Jeff Eckhoff, Director Planning & Building Services; Dan Statema and Ryan Pidde, Co-Chairs ECSG Presentation: Approximately 20 minutes followed by discussion  Statema provided an overview of the Events Campus which consists of the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center, the Arena, Convention Center, and Sioux Falls Baseball Stadium. The study group consists of several members with wide-ranging experience from the community as well as City Staff and other resource persons. In January 2019, the Mayor's Office appointed the Study Group with the task of providing a recommendation of future uses for the Events Center Campus. The group met a total of six times and evaluated current and future needs of the campus to enhance the success and economic impact for the next 20 years and beyond. The Group studied the campus as a whole opposed to the individual venues. The Group solicited input from the public during meetings, through a survey, and during four public listening sessions throughout the City. Statema reviewed key overall findings from the survey which reflect good news for the Campus as a whole. He then reviewed key survey results pertaining to each of the venues and parking. As a result of the Study Group's research and evaluation of the Campus, a series of primary recommendations pertaining to the Campus were made. The Study Group recommends the City: 1) remove the Arena and repurpose the existing location for the benefit of the proposed expansion to the Convention Center; 2) add, at a minimum, 60,000 square feet of usable convention space to the current location for the purpose of attracting large, multiple-day conventions. The goal should be to have the new facility open to the public in the next five years. The Study Group recommends the city review new construction options, as opposed to renovating any existing facilities; 3) eliminate any plans for future investment in the current baseball stadium and work to identify a new location outside of the Events Campus footprint to relocate the facility; the city should repurpose the existing baseball stadium location in a manner that further benefits the Events Campus and the Convention Center. Baseball should be a priority for Sioux Falls and the city should consider studying future locations, stadium size, amenities and feasibility for alternative baseball stadium options; 4) consider creating an Events Campus Master Plan to better prepare and adapt to future needs; 5) consider adding additional on-site parking and increased ride sharing access for Events Campus visitors; and 6) exploring a partnership with a full-service, adjacent or connected hotel, including a restaurant and as many additional rooms as possible based on anticipated demand. The city could also consider a ground lease option with a hotel group similar to the arrangement with the Sheraton Hotel and nearby Holiday Inn Express. The Study Group also provided additional considerations for the City: 1) explore a fast transit option from downtown Sioux Falls to the Events Campus; 2) lend support to any off-site or downtown convention space; 3) purchase any adjacent property to the Events Campus when it becomes available; and, 4) invest in green space and a new entrance to the Convention Center. Discussion followed about feedback from the survey; the timeline for formal recommendations; potential costs; the future of the baseball stadium; and convention space. B. Mass Transit On-Demand Pilot by Allie Hartzler, Innovation Coordinator; and, Sam Trebilcock, Senior Planner Presentation: Approximately 30 minutes followed by discussion  Hartzler started the presentation by noting that the Sioux Falls Design Center applied for two separate grants on the City's behalf and received a combined total of $35k from the South Dakota Community Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The grants will assist in the marketing for the pilot. There are two types of public transit. One is mass transit, which typically consists of large buses and is best used to transport mass amounts of people at one time. There is also microtransit which consists of much smaller vehicles designed to move two to eight people at any one time. The pilot is not proposing microtransit, but Hartzler provided an overview of each for context. There are two types of transit service. Our current service delivery is fixed route; alternatively, on-demand service uses data combined with software to change where vehicles are going. She noted that mobility on-demand is not a new concept as there are already a large number of vendors throughout the country. One of these organizations is VIA and Hartzler showed that they are conducting pilot programs throughout the United States and other countries around the world. Hartzler next described the concept for an on- demand pilot in Sioux Falls; she emphasized the point that specific aspects of the pilot may vary based on the vendor chosen. The mass-transit on-demand pilot is a focused experiment that will provide transit service using an on-demand model with existing buses. The proposed pilot is expected to occur on Saturdays in order to impact fewer people, eliminate the need to hire additional drivers, and to capture comparable data. The existing fare structure will remain unchanged for the pilot in order to avoid barriers to using the new service and because it helps simplify the marketing message. The service area will also remain unchanged. The pilot is expected to provide same day, shared rides and to allow scheduling via smartphone, computer, or phone concierge. It will also provide corner-to-corner service. Presently, 88% of current riders live zero to five blocks from transit service; the new service aims to deliver service within zero to three blocks. It will also use existing bus stops and add additional virtual stops. Once the Saturday pilot is launched and if outcomes are met, the Saturday service area may be expanded. If the outcomes for the expanded Saturday service area are met, then the pilot will be expanded to weekdays and evening. Conversely, if outcomes are not met and alternative executions do not yield positive results, then a return to regular service will occur. It is expected that the proposed pilot may decrease transit time by 33%. A key next step includes a request for proposals that aims to identify a vendor to provide software and hardware for the pilot. The goal is to provide better service to transit customers and to better understand how mass-transit, on-demand services can be used to improve efficiencies, cost, and productivity of the system. The RFP will be released at the end of the week with proposals being due mid-January. Review of the proposals is expected to occur in early- through mid-February and the contract award would take place at the end of February. The RFP selection committee will consist of a Public Transit Advisory Board Member, a Sioux Area Metro Employee, a City Council Member, and Transit Core Team members. Based on estimated pilot costs, the initial pilot will have a proposed duration of 12 months, including three to five months of planning, marketing, and training prior to launch. Discussion followed about: the goals of the pilot; impacts to paratransit; impacts to the current SAM contract; the length of the pilot; how on-demand routes are determined; and when the RFP will be available. C. Sioux Falls Connects: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) by Kurt Peppel, Assistant City Engineer  Presentation: Approximately 10 minutes followed by discussion Peppel explained that this past summer the City of Sioux Falls worked on a feasibility study to determine if Bus Rapid Transit was suitable for the City. The goal and vision of the study was to "introduce an opportunity for the City to pursue Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) for the purpose of improving the City’s mobility options, preserving the Sioux Falls lifestyle, and fostering an environment for sustainable economic development." Primary drivers of the study were: parking challenges at the Events Campus, connecting downtown to the Campus, and connecting other activity centers. City staff worked with HDR Engineering on the study along with other stakeholders in the community: Downtown Sioux Falls, SMG, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, local hotels, the Events Campus Study Group, the Sioux Falls School District, and Sanford Sports Complex. Possible routes were reviewed with an emphasis on downtown and the events campus along with the understanding that the routes may change over time. Based on discussion with HDR and stakeholders, a pilot project concept was developed. The concept includes a route between downtown and the Events Campus and a possible on-demand route between the Campus and the Sanford Sports Complex. Existing SAM buses can be repurposed for the route and a dedicated lane can be used at the PREMIER Center. The study identified several service assumptions based on expected usage. Pilot costs would be approximately $1M to cover operations, capital, marketing, and performance measurement. It is anticipated revenues may be $2.5M to $3M -- the study assumed no fare, but possible DOT Grants, a DSPC ticket surcharge, convention center surcharge, sponsorship, and a downtown hotel fee. Two implementation scenarios were developed; the first includes a third-party contract while the other sees the City acquiring the assets needed for the pilot and operating it. Next steps include: refining the operating plan and direction; refining the revenue and finance plan; developing a marketing plan; identifying partners; educating stakeholders; defining success; identifying strategic CIP opportunities; determining alternative propulsion options; and identifying autonomous opportunities. Discussion followed about the types of vehicles that may be used for the BRT, the use of technology for on-demand routes, and service frequency. 6. Public Comment Phyllis Arends believes the comparable cities used for the study are not sufficiently comparable to Sioux Falls. She also stated "corner-to-corner" service must be demonstrated and it must show people with cognitive disabilities will be able to use it. Cathy Brechtelsbauer stated that an important part of the pilot is to demonstrate that it can be expanded to currently unserviced parts of the city. She recognized the current system is insufficient, but the proposed pilot falls short of the capabilities provided by fixed-route systems. Melanie Bliss expressed concern that the three presentations are all related, but not necessarily coordinated as they should be. She emphasized the importance of providing service throughout the city and making service accessible at the airport and convention center. 7. Adjournment Council Vice Chair Greg Neitzert adjourned the meeting at 6:02 p.m. Thomas M. Greco, City Clerk