MEETING NOTES. Agenda Items and Highlights. Background on selection of Steering Committee members/processes/tribal participation:

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1 Attendees Andy Smith, CAG Laura Webb, ADOT Ruth Greenspan, ADOT Bill Harmon, ADOT Manuel E. Sanchez, FHWA FLH Steve Tipton, Tohono O odham Bonnie Opie, ADOT Moran Ross, MWTTAP Tara Chief, White Mountain Apache Don Sneed, ADOT Philip G. Wisely, Hualapai Tribe Victoria Lee, Navajo DOT Esther Corbett, ITCA Romare Truely, FHWA AZ Members not in attendance: Angela Garcia-Lewis, SRPMIC Donna Bentley, ADOT Marvin Mull, SCAT Myra Rothman, ADOT Robert Maxwell, BIA Alan Hansen, FHWA Michael Lomayaktewa, Hopi Sasha Pachito, GRIC Jesse Thompson, Navajo County Jamie Torres-Gonzalez, FHWA FLH Facilitator: Michele Crank, ADOT, Office of Partnering The next Partnership is scheduled for August 7, 2015 at the Mountain West Tribal Technical Assistance Program office, 1450 W. Guadalupe Road #115, Gilbert, Arizona. Purpose & Need of this Partnership Agenda Items and Highlights Background on selection of Steering Committee members/processes/tribal participation: Michele Crank provided background information from the February ATSPT Statewide Tribal Transportation Re-engagement Forum on how agenda topics were set, how decisions were made on who was going to be invited to the Forum, and the process for identification of ATSPT Steering Committee Members. In addition to re-engaging ATSPT the Forum provided information to attendees on tribal highway safety planning with highlights from three tribes presenting their process in developing highway safety plans. The Forum also introduced the Arizona Strategic Highway Safety Plan and its process. The following demographics on attendance were shared with the meeting participants. A total of 244 outlook calendar invitations were sent out. Invitations were sent to the 22 Arizona tribal leaders. 52 persons attended including tribal transportation staff, board members and/or directors. 18 tribal transportation staff attended. 9 tribes were represented: Ak-Chin Indian Community, Gila River Indian Community, Hopi Tribe, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Navajo Nation (NDOT), Salt River Pima- Maricopa Indian Community, San Carlos Apache Tribe, Hualapai Tribe and Tohono O oham Nation. Invitations were sent to all ADOT District Engineers, County Supervisors, and the COGs and MPO that have tribal land in their regional areas. 16 ADOT transportation staff attended. Minutes Page 1

2 Maricopa County DOT, Central Arizona Governments, Pima Association of Government, and Pinal and Gila Counties were also represented. Other agencies in attendance included Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Arizona Division, Arizona Department of Public Safety, Inter Tribal Council of Arizona and Bureau of Indian Affairs. A total of 62 persons attended the February 19, 2015 ATSPT Forum in Ak-Chin, Arizona. Michele provided an overview on how Steering Committee members were selected. At the February 19th Forum, meeting participants were asked to complete an ATSPT Membership Form to indicate their interest in participating on the Steering Committee. Don Sneed and Michele reviewed the completed forms and developed a list of names, including representatives from agencies, COGs, MPOs, counties and additional tribal transportation/planning departments. This list of names reflected at least two representatives from each transportation entity and it was reviewed with Bonnie Opie, ADOT Partnering Administrator, and Esther Corbett, ITCA Transportation Coordinator, during a pre-planning meeting on June 1, The draft agenda was also developed to reflect steps on reestablishing the ATSPT Steering Committee. Purpose and need for this Partnership: Steering Committee members were asked to help identify the purpose and need of ATSPT. The following purpose was stated in a coordinated effort from all participants. Purpose: Assist partners to achieve transportation goals and promote engagement of all stakeholders. Needs Identified: The purpose statement was based on ATSPT purposes and needs voiced by the Steering Committee members present. Below is a summary of their comments. To bridge or act as a conduit that helps meet needs through available resources. To improve communication and aid partners to learn all that s available to the Tribes e.g. funding opportunities, identifying accomplishments, highlighting solutions. Inter jurisdictional information sharing, i.e. Traffic and Criminal Software (TraCS) Program. To enable ADOT to understand tribal agreements and other mechanisms that Tribes work under, and to enable Tribes to understand ADOT s mechanisms e.g. maintenance agreements and potentially how Tribes may be able to generate maintenance work. For Partners to understand restrictions, opportunities and potential obstacles related to: o Deadlines for grants, o Tribal fiscal years, o Tribal resolutions which are critical to the whole funding process, Minutes Page 2

3 o Ensuring the people communicating with Tribes know of tribal deadlines and if help can be provided early on as opposed to later in the process. Interagency governmental Agreements (IGAs), Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and Memoranda of Agreements (MOA) Communication processes. Understand ADOT s process in working on intergovernmental agreements. o ATSPT could be the mechanism to work on the IGA language issue and address what ADOT and the Tribes need. Address challenges in working with Tribes. Development of communication protocols. Regarding the 22 tribes and improved communication - currently under Section 106 ADOT EPG negotiates with each tribe individually and there is one EPG staff person who oversees updates and changes to the contact list. o ATSPT could be the group to manage each Tribe s communications protocols. o It s critical to know who needs to be involved in communication with Tribes. All legitimate issues should be brought to the table The ATSPT purpose statement should address priorities and categorized needs. o Everyone s way of addressing these items should be captured in the ATSPT purpose statement. The Arizona Strategic Highway Safety Plan Interjurisdictional Emphasis Area Team should also be involved. Consider using the tribal related manuals that ADOT worked on as guides for ATSPT (i.e. ADOT Tribal Transportation Consultation Reference Manual, ADOT Transportation Planning and Programming Guidebook for Tribal Governments, and FHWA-ADOT Section 106 Existing Process Reference Guide). Engage all Tribes in ATSPT. This list was enough to justify existence of ATSPT. ATSPT Vision and Mission Statement Revisited The Steering Committee members decided the next order of business was to change the name of the Partnership from Arizona Tribal Strategic Partnering Team to Arizona Tribal Transportation Partnership; there was a unanimous vote in favor of the name change. It was felt that the name change needed to reflect a full partnership of all Arizona stakeholders working on tribal transportation matters. This change would also reflect a new focus and related revisions to the Partnership Vision, Mission and Goals. Each Steering Committee member was asked to review the existing ATSPT Vision, Mission and Goals document which was last updated in October Revisions to the Partnership Vision and Mission were identified and are reflected in the following comparisons: Old Vision: Partnering for the standard of excellence in developing tribal community relationships related to transportation systems and services. Minutes Page 3

4 New Vision: The stakeholders throughout Arizona working together in partnership to achieve their transportation goals. The new Vision Statement was also voted on and accepted by members of the Steering Committee in attendance. Old Mission: ATSPT is a trusted coalition of tribal and non-tribal, multi-jurisdictional advisors who facilitate strategies to resolve tribal transportation issues by maintaining relationships, and educating and upholding all partners laws/polices through free-flowing communication. New Mission: Assist stakeholders with strategies to achieve transportation goals through innovation and partnership, while understanding and respecting cultural values; laws and policies; and processes and procedures. The new Mission Statement was also voted on and accepted by members of the Steering Committee in attendance. ATSPT Goals and additional agenda items. Due to time limitations the Steering Committee decided to discuss the remaining agenda items at the next scheduled meeting on August 7, 2015, which will be held at the offices of Mountain West Tribal Transportation Assistance Program (MWTTAP), in Chandler, AZ. The agenda items tabled for the August 7, 2015 meeting are as follows: Partnership Goals and Partnering Evaluation Program (PEP) Form Review and update Steering Committee Roles and Responsibilities Future meetings o s o Format o Frequency o Location o Who is invited? Action Plan Items Closing Comments and Adjourn The Steering Committee Members were reminded to review the meeting notes once they are posted to the ATTP website and provide any comments or edits. The meeting adjourned at 2 PM. Minutes Page 4

5 Feedback is based on 12 forms. Arizona Tribal Transportation Partnership (formerly ATSPT) Participant Meeting Evaluation Feedback Ratings: 1 = lowest 5 = Highest 1. How valuable was this meeting for you? 4.42 Average Rating What about this meeting was most valuable to you? 1. Tribal & stakeholders participation & input to guide the future of the partnership. 2. Articulating the overall purpose of the partnership. 3. Reestablish the partnership 4. Tough topics. Good process given the subject. 5. Defining our purpose 6. Developing the vision/mission and name 7. Meeting stakeholders 8. Input from all participants in purpose, mission, vision and name change. 9. Developing partnership understanding history of organization 10. Meeting was very valuable in setting a vision & mission statement 11. Preparation of purpose & mission statement, revision of name 12. Hearing all the different concerns and perspectives 2. What would have improved this meeting? 1. Greater partner participation. Should provide teleconference opportunity to partners who can t attend in person. 2. I think a more productive way of developing mission & vision statements would be to get the general concept and phrases agreed to and then give the word smiting and have the facilitator come up with some statements to send out to the entire steering committee for comments and tweaking. Then either vote by on the final wording, or vote at the next meeting. 5. Hard to hear at times. 6. Water (water was available in ice chest, this member came in later did not hear announcement) 7. Cooler room 8. No recommendations 9. Agenda with times (s) on them? 10. Fewer people for more consensus 12. Having a second person writing as we were brainstorming 3. How do you rate the Facilitator? 4.42 Average Rating 1. Thanks Michele, we made progress to get the partnership re-engagement underway. 2. Michele did a good job facilitating Minutes Page 5

6 3. Great! Kept meeting moving 7. Michele is always excellent! 8. On track and time conscious 9. Awesome job 10. Good at keep all on track 12. Great job re-capping people s statements or issues so we were all clear on outcomes. 4. How do you rate the effectiveness of this team? 4.33 Average Rating 1. We received excellent input and all attendees are committed to the partnership. 2. I was impressed that everyone participated and think this team will work well together. Too early to really evaluate effectiveness. 3. I see a lot of passion. 5. Very cooperative and interactive 7. Lots of potential! 8. Value input of participants 10. Seems like it will be effective 11. Good interaction 12. Although we didn t get through all the points we did get everyone heard and onboard with the name, purpose, mission and drive of the team. 5. What other comments or suggestions do you have? 2. Suggest having a scribe so Michelle can focus on facilitating the discussion without the distraction of trying to capture it all on the note board. 3. Conference phone for those that can t travel 4. Lunch Work thru it. Even if we pay prior to meeting or at meeting. 5. None 7. Thanks for the opportunity ### Minutes Page 6