SEPTEMBER 11, 2025 | QUARTERLY BOARD MEETING | MINUTES

MOUNTAINEER TRANSIT COMPANY

BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING

September 11, 2025

Via Zoom and In Person at Palisades Tahoe Lodge

201 Shirley Canyon Road, Olympic Valley

DRAFT Minutes pending Board approval

1.            Call to Order and Establish Quorum

Roll Call and Establishment of Quorum

Chair Mike Martin called today’s meeting to order at 9:03 AM. A quorum was established

Board members present

Mike Martin

Pat Fraser

Danielle Poret

David Stepner

Keith Fountain

Lindsay Romack for Stephanie Holloway

Rick Pendleton

Joseph Shipman 

Board members not in attendance

Ginger Karl

Others attending

Joy Doyle, Executive Director

Sara Van Siclen and Caroline Craffey (TNT/TMA)

Judy Friedman, Recording Secretary

Brian Hitchcock, Commute with Enterprise

2.            Adopt Agenda

It was moved by Martin and seconded by Poret to adopt today’s agenda as presented. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

3.            Approve June 12, 2025 Quarterly Meeting Minutes

It was moved by Martin and seconded by Shipman to approve the June meeting minutes as presented. Motion carried unanimously by roll call vote.

4.            Public Comment & Board Member Comments

Romack reviewed the September 22 and 23 agendas for the Placer County Board of Supervisors meetings at the North Tahoe Event Center.

Stepner noted the request that the Supervisor’s agenda include an item asking Caltrans to lower the speed limit on Olympic Valley Road and install crosswalks.

Friedman announced the Placer County Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCO) has accepted the application from Eastern Placer Future to begin the petition drive to explore incorporation opportunities in eastern Placer County. Twenty-five percent of registered voter signatures are required for LAFCO to commission the Comprehensive Fiscal Analysis.

Martin and Poret attended last weekend’s Alpine Meadows Valley-Wide meeting. They presented details of Mountaineer and received favorable feedback on the service. There were requests for seven-day-a-week service and intervalley service in the mornings. There were questions about how drivers accept tips and wait times when users are not ready when the van arrives to pick them up. The Operations Committee was asked to consider how these issues may be addressed.

5.         Board of Director Items

a. Elect Fountain, Pendleton and Poret to serve 2-year terms beginning Oct 1, 2025

It was moved by Martin and seconded by Fraser to appoint Fountain, Pendleton, and Poret to two-year Board terms beginning October 1, 2025. Motion carried unanimously.

b. Elect FY 25-26 Slate of Officers

It was moved by Martin and seconded by Poret to appoint Martin as Chair, Fountain as Vice-Chair, Pendleton as Treasurer, and Stepner as Secretary of the FY 2025/26 MTC Board. Motion carried unanimously.

c. Review Directors up for election FY 26-27 in Sept 2026

Board seats expiring October 1, 2026 are held by Martin, Shipman, Karl, Stepner, Fraser, and Holloway. Seats held by Martin, Fraser, and Holloway are designated.

6.         Financial Items - Pendleton

a.   Approve May & June 2025 Financial Reports

Pendleton reported the Finance Committee has reviewed the financial reports as of June 30, 2025 and recommends approval.

It was moved by Fraser and seconded by Martin to approve the May 2025 and June 2025 financial reports as presented. Motion carried unanimously.

b.   CD Laddering update

Pendleton reviewed the spreadsheet showing the CD laddering by month. All accounts are within the goal of reducing risk of having more than FDIC limit in the same financial institution. A 3-month CD for $200,000 is being purchased to mature in December when the funds are needed for cash flows leaving approximately $1 million in CD investments.

c.   FY 2024-25 Year 7 Projected Year End per Rev Expense Summary

Pendleton presented the Rev Expense Summary, noting the projection of approximately $384,000 to the positive at the end of the fiscal year in September. Revenues were higher and expenses were less than anticipated.

1. FY 2025-26 Budget by Month

Pendleton reviewed specific Inflow (revenue) and Outflow (expense) line items and variances.

7.         Workforce Vanpool Update

TNT TMA Executive Director Sara Van Siclen reported the Commuter Transportation Study should be completed by the end of this month. As of today, there are 14 vanpools operating, which is down a bit from winter when there are more employers participating in the program. There is funding available for up to 20 vanpools. A brief conversation followed regarding strategies to increase use of vanpools, given the seasonality of employment in this area.

8.         Executive Director Report & Housekeeping Items

a.  Executive Director Report

Doyle presented her written report included in the packet, highlighting unbudgeted expenses in the past quarter related to insurance. She noted changes in the broker-of-record and the policies.

Doyle reported on delinquencies as of July 31, 2025 and changes since she last reported to the Board. Placer County is working on its lien process and businesses who are delinquent for an excessive amount and/or length of time could be impacted. Doyle continues to work with Placer County Revenue Services on the accounts being tracked for collection action and added information to the monthly reports for greater transparency. Stepner asked if it was possible to create a "bad debt" category in our financial statements for collections on properties that have liens on them or are in the process of having a lien put on their property because these tax determinations wouldn’t be collected until the property is sold, which could be a very, very long time. This way there would be visibility of the "alive delinquency account" balance.  

Doyle reviewed the marketing plan for the upcoming season and highlighted several of the projects and tasks she’s been working on including a new flyer in the saturation mailing that goes to all Olympic Valley and Alpine Meadows PO boxes to educate homeowners and their guests about the upcoming season’s wait time improvements and education on when to request a ride and around appropriately setting wait time expectations. Doyle is also exploring with Revenue Services the possibility of emailing all assessed businesses with the same information. Poret asked if a specialized version of the saturation mailing could be done for Alpine Meadows box holders.

The Olympic Village Inn agreement will be directly between Downtowner and OVI and no longer involve Mountaineer Transit Company.

b.    Approve Records Policy and Contingency Plan

It was moved by Martin and seconded by Poret to approve the Records Policy and Contingency Plan as presented. Motion carried unanimously.

c.    Conflict of Interest Policy & Board Member Statements

Board members are required to sign and return the above documents annually. Holloway’s COI statement is outstanding.

d.    Upcoming Board Meetings

a. The next Quarterly Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, November 13, 2025, 9 a.m.

b. There were no objections to the 2026 Quarterly Meeting Date recommendations of January 29, June 11, September 10 and November 12. Doyle noted that these dates are subject to change with advance notice and that calendar invites would be sent in November.

9.         Advocacy Policy Discussion

Per discussion at the last meeting, the TNT/TMA Advocacy Policy was included in today’s meeting packet. Van Siclen provided a high-level explanation including that advocacy letters require 100% of Board members to vote affirmatively. If there are any recusals, TMA can’t submit a support letter.

Discussion followed. It was agreed that while there is no MTC Advocacy Policy, Doyle is to send any requests for support letters to the Board for review and direction. Further, Doyle was requested to schedule a meeting with Civitas, Martin and Fountain to get legal advice on if the Board would be best served in having a formal advocacy policy or simply a Board vote when requests for advocacy are brought forth by members and/or the public. This item will be on the next meeting agenda.

10.       Adjourn

There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting adjourned at 10:28 AM.

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