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Notes

This was a series of committee meetings for the Board of Trustees of the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (RTA). Three committees met during this meeting with separate roll calls and discussions. Committees participating during this meeting were the Organizational, Services & Performance Monitoring Committee, the Operational Planning & Infrastructure Committee Meeting, and the Ad-Hoc Compensation Committee.

The attached committee package includes the meeting notice, agendas for each committee, minutes of past meetings, and additional relevant material such as summaries of proposed awards.

Public comment is not taken during committee meetings, but public comments can generally be made in-person or by phone during designated portions of regular board meetings or via web form in advance of those meetings.

Scene setting: This was an in-person meeting open to the public with the option to view live online. A recording of this meeting is available. Past meeting recordings can be found here. While the meeting was separated into individual committees and only those on the committee took roll call and voted on items, other board members not part of the committees were active participants in discussion and question periods.

Meeting start: The meeting started at 9:02 a.m. with a roll call for the Organizational, Services & Performance Monitoring Committee.

Board members present, those on the committee in bold:

Leadership present seated with board members:

• India Birdsong Terry (General Manager and CEO)

Organizational, Services & Performance Monitoring Committee:

1. Landscape Maintenance and Parking Lot Snow Removal (Shaker Heights Maintenance Agreement) 

James Reed, RTA property manager for Programming and Planning, presented. Since 1982, RTA has entered into a series of three-year agreements with the City of Shaker Heights for landscaping and snow removal along approximately seven miles of property lining the Blue and Green Lines within the City of Shaker Heights. 

Last year, the board approved a one-year agreement due to Shaker’s pending labor agreement with service personnel. This proposed two-year agreement will allow the return to a three-year agreement.

The benefits to RTA include Shaker having the staff, equipment and management in place for the work, comparable rates to other landscaping contractors, complaint calls going to the Shaker Public Works department — saving RTA time and expense to respond to calls — and Shaker bearing the risk of any contingencies that may increase the cost during the contract.

The cost is about $595,000 total for 2026 and 2027. The committee voted to advance the proposal to the full board for future consideration.

2. Non-Rail and HealthLine Landscaping

Dawn Svancara, a contract administrator with RTA, said a recommendation was made to award the Non-Rail and HealthLine landscaping services agreement to ESK Landscaping, LLC, based on their experience with municipal, government and other organizations, their use of digital work orders and GPS-verified tracking. They have the staff, fleet and equipment to support multi-state operations. 

There was discussion to clarify the scope of this work, and staff confirmed that this is for landscaping services and does not include snow removal. Snow removal for these areas is handled in-house by RTA.

Whigham expressed appreciation for the efforts negotiating this contract. A board member asked if low or no-mow zones or pollinator habitats had been taken under consideration from a cost savings and environmental standpoint. Jason Rosenlieb, RTA manager of rail facilities, said that they have green roofs for cost savings and have looked at putting in natural grass but haven’t gotten too far into that yet.

3. Title VI – 2026 Program Update to the Federal Transit Administration 

Title VI, Civil Rights Act of 1964, states that “No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Robert Jefferson, RTA’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Americans with Disabilities Act Program Administrator, explained that RTA is required to prepare a Title VI program update every three years and submit it to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) following board approval. RTA aims to serve all customers regardless of protected class, equitably distribute benefits and services and provide sufficient services for equal access. Customers have the ability to participate in RTA planning, and remedial action is taken to prevent discriminatory treatment, Jefferson said. 

The main requirements are that RTA maintain a Title VI program, provides Title VI notices to the public, has complaint procedures, has a Public Participation Plan and has a Language Assistance Plan. 

More information about one element of the Public Participation Plan — the Community Advisory Committee — can be found in past Documenters coverage.

RTA translates vital documents into Spanish as part of the Language Assistance Plan. Spanish speakers are the highest portion of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) individuals in the service area, according to Maribeth Feke, director of programming and planning. 

Elder asked if the FTA implemented changes to prompt this update. Jefferson said this is a regular three-year update unrelated to FTA changes. Pacetti asked about feedback from this report. Joel Freilich, director of service management, said there is no formal approval of this report on the federal end.

The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.

Update from India Birdsong Terry:Terry said that due to the upcoming Browns stadium changes, lots of public meetings will be happening that may not appear to be headed by or include the RTA. That does not mean that they aren’t in the room and part of those meetings. Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) will be having a meeting on Jan. 14 at Brook Park Elementary that is open to the public to discuss traffic impact and connection to the Brook Park station.

Operational Planning & Infrastructure Committee Meeting (Committee Members Sleasman, Pacetti and Love were present)

1. RFP Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement process for a consultant to update our Strategic Plan.

Feke said an outside consultant will offer a broader, global view and insight into what others in the industry are doing.

Feke said revision of the plan would include updates on implementation of activities, establish goals for 2026 and beyond, prioritize Transit Oriented Development (TOD) efforts and reflect on market-driven dynamics, address paratransit funding strategies, consider employee retention and create external engagement.

AECOM Technical Services, Inc. is the recommended firm, at a cost of $465,000. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.

2. IFB Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement for the reconstruction of the transfer table at Track 3 at Central Rail Maintenance Facility (CRMF). 

Derek Meinke, RTA engineer project manager, presented. The transfer table brings rail cars from different tracks for various maintenance needs. Currently, the transfer table cannot provide service to Track 3, where internal cleaning occurs, because it becomes stuck at the intersection of the transfer table and Track 3. This project would replace the intersections. Staff recommended Delta Railroad Construction, Inc., for the work, at a cost of about $1 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.

3. Proposed Change Order – a presentation of a negotiated change order to authorize additional construction services under Contract No. 2025-007 with RL Hill/Platform Joint Venture and to reinstate the General Manager’s change order signing authority.   

This work will result in boarding ADA customers at the first train car instead of the last at the E. 79th St. Blue and Green Line Station, according to Brian Temming, manager of quality assurance. In the past, a conductor in a rear car would assist the customers. This change, which involves moving ramp platforms, will allow ADA customers to board the front car with the train operator. The additional work bumps the total cost by $67,550 for a total of about $10.5 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.

4. FB Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement to make the necessary modifications to the Red Line platforms to support the new railcars. 

Don Tereba, project manager for facilities, presented. This contract will involve modification of 22 platforms on the Red Line. The new railcars are a different size than the current railcars. This will increase the gap between the cars and the platform. This project will build extensions onto existing platforms to close this gap. It will also replace damaged tactile warning surfaces and replace guardrails. During the installation of the platform extensions, there will be a planned two-week downtime. RTA plans to do dry runs to test the timeline of the installation to ensure this plan works and will then have a better idea of how long the shutdowns will need to be. 

A staff member reminded those present that the first new railcar is still being built. The conversion on the Red Line is targeted to start in August 2027 and on the light rail in August 2028. Terry asked for a schedule update to be prepared.

Schirmer Construction LLC is the recommended vendor, at a cost of about $11 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.

5. IFB Procurement – a presentation of a competitive procurement to make the necessary modifications to CRMF to support the new railcars. 

Tereba presented. The existing railcars receive maintenance from underneath. The new railcars will require maintenance from above. RTA needs to build infrastructure to access the top of the railcars. This project will build four new service balconies with fall protection and safety gates.

Standard Contracting & Engineering, Inc., received the staff’s recommendation at a cost of about $9.5 million. The committee voted to advance the update to the full board for future consideration.

Ad-Hoc Compensation Committee:

This committee called the roll and then moved into executive session at 11:01 a.m. 

Members returned from executive session. The meeting was adjourned at 11:56 a.m.

Coming Up: Future board meeting dates can be found here.

These notes are by Documenter Jamie Harman.

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If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@signalcleveland.org  with “Correction Request” in the subject line.

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Telecoms tycoon Patrick Drahi has relaunched the sale of his 50 per cent stake in German superfast broadband network OXG Glasfaser, as the French-Israeli billionaire continues to explore ways to cut his debt pile. 

Drahi, whose Altice unit partnered with Vodafone’s German operation to launch the network in 2023, sent teaser documents to buyers in recent weeks, according to three people familiar with the matter. OXG is valued at about €2bn, according to estimates from New Street Research. 

The attempted sale, which follows an earlier effort to find a buyer last year, comes as Drahi explores options to relieve a debt pile of more than $50bn. The tycoon is considering a sale of his €7bn French fibre network XpFibre and in October rejected a €17bn bid for French mobile operator SFR. 

OXG committed to spending €7bn to roll out fibre broadband to more than 7mn homes in Germany over a six-year period following its launch in March 2023. However, progress has been slow, with the network reaching just 500,000 homes by the end of 2025. The speed of the network rollout is expected to accelerate this year. 

Infrastructure funds such as Antin Infrastructure Partners, which lost out to Drahi when the network was launched, could be interested in a renewed offer, according to a person familiar with the matter. Antin declined to comment.

However, any agreement to sell his stake will require Drahi to gain approval from Vodafone, which may complicate an attempt at a quick sale process. Vodafone declined to comment. 

Drahi, who built a telecoms empire including operations in France, Portugal and the US via a $60bn debt-fuelled acquisition spree a decade ago, has come under increasing pressure to refinance and restructure his debts due to rising interest rates.

Last year he finalised a deal with creditors to Altice France to cut the company’s debt burden from €24bn to €15.5bn, while a similar deal could be struck to reduce the €8bn of debt held against his Altice International operation. 

In November the billionaire infuriated Altice International’s creditors by moving the bulk of the group’s assets — including those in Portugal and the Dominican Republic — out of their group of collateral, meaning they could not call on them should the debt not be repaid. 

The move was seen by analysts as a threat to creditors ahead of a potential restructuring, in order to generate a more favourable deal for Drahi.

James Ratzer, analyst at New Street Research, said that although investors had been “sceptical” about other German fibre investments, OXG was a more attractive opportunity.

“We are more optimistic of better returns [from OXG] given the potential to build a longer-term monopoly,” he added.

Altice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.