Trans-Talk

TransLink’s (aka South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority) newly appointed Board of Directors met for the first time on February 5, 2008, behind closed doors. Whereas the previous board published full meeting minutes with relevant staff reports, the new regime offers a synopsis and excludes anything it deems “confidential.”

Board members will be paid as follows:

• Chair Annual Retainer: $100,000 flat fee
• Director Annual Retainer: $25,000

plus,

• $1,200 for each meeting attendance
• $3,000 annual retainer for committee members
• $8,000 annual retainer for Audit Committee Chair
• $5,000 annual retainer for chairing other committees

Directors set their own remuneration as part of the Articles which they adopted to govern TransLink board meetings, and which also will contain the “skills and experience profile” for the “professional” members desired by the current provincial government.

The Articles don’t call for regularly scheduled meetings, but it appears the board plans, for the moment, to meet monthly. Items under consideration by the board are to be listed and published five days in advance of a meeting on TransLink’s website. (Notice of any March meeting has yet to be published.) The board will allot one hour on the day of a board meeting to receive public input, limited to five minutes per presentation. Board members are allowed to “attend” meetings by teleconference or other electronic means. Follow the TransLink hyperlink below to see the full 6 pp. Articles of the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority.

Business transacted at the February board meeting included:

• Appointments to four standing committees:
  • Audit Committee
  • Governance Committee
  • Human Resources and Compensation Committee
  • Major Capital Projects Committee
• Appointment of a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) Search Committee
• Funding approvals for:
  • $4,500,000 to replace or upgrade the existing compressed natural gas fuelling station equipment at the Port Coquitlam Transit Centre
  • $4,040,000 to temporarily relocate specific functions within the Burnaby Transit Centre North to alleviate current overcrowding issues resulting from the fleet expansion.
  • $885,000 for Expo Line Station lighting upgrades
  • $3,226,000 to expand the scope of the bus communications system to provide automated announcements on all buses

Outgoing CEO Pat Jacobsen says:

Through the spring, directors are being asked to focus on the 10‐year plan, the CEO search, the Evergreen Line project and building confidence with the major funders (the Province and the Mayors’ Council) to get the funding critical to transit and road expansion.

(Source: TransLink Board Meetings)

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