IPTC Regular Board Meeting - December 18, 2025
IPTC Regular Board Meeting - December 18, 2025
The Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation (IPTC) held its final regular board meeting of 2025 on December 18, presided over by Chair Greg Hahn. The meeting began with a roll call establishing a quorum, followed by employee recognitions and the retirement tribute for ATU Local 1070 President Roy Lester. The board then reviewed and unanimously approved eleven action items covering budget adjustments, capital project change orders, utility reimbursements, software renewals, fleet acquisitions, and service contracts. The meeting concluded with an information report on November 2025 finances and a proposal regarding the 2026 officer election process.
Consent Calendar
- No formal consent calendar was listed, but the following routine items were approved via voice vote or unanimous motion:
- Entry of Finance and Service Committee reports from December 11 and December 12 into the record.
- Approval of the Board Minutes from November 20, 2025 (Motion: Approved unanimously).
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments or member of the public testimony were recorded during this session; all remarks were limited to board member questions and staff presentations.
Awards & Recognition
- Safe Drivers of November 2025: Recognized with National Safety Council patches and certificates.
- Ricardo Oxley: Highlighted for 26 years of service and 16 years of safe driving.
- Sylvia Walker: Named Operations Employee of the Month for excellent attendance, initiative in assisting new operators, and effective collaboration in the radio control room.
- Roy Lester (Retirement): A special guest was honored for 28 years of service to Indigo, including 18 years as President of ATU Local 1070. Board members and staff expressed deep appreciation for his "tireless advocacy," "dedication, compassion," and commitment to the motto "Together We Are Stronger."
- Appellants/Staff Positions: Board members and CEO Jennifer Pierce expressed full support and immense gratitude for Mr. Lester's legacy and partnership with the agency.
Discussion Items
- Fiscal Management (Action Item A2): Budget Manager Andrea presented a motion to transfer appropriations and carry forward outstanding encumbrances for Fiscal Year 2025. The total amount to roll forward is $334,411,056.20, which includes $3 million transferred from personal services to other services. The board discussed the necessity of this to preserve the 2026 budget. Board Member Director Quick sought clarification, confirming the $3 million transfer is part of the larger $334 million encumbrance.
- Position: Board members expressed support for the procedure to maintain budget integrity.
- Capital Projects (Action Items A3, A4, A5, A9, A10):
- 1501 Trench Drains: Senior Project Manager Sarah Stins presented a third change order of $126,395.50 due to fuel lines being shallower than as-built drawings.
- CTC Handrails: A change order of $67,988.02 was proposed due to unforeseen issues with hidden rusted plates and inaccurate as-built drawings from 1984. Director Hahn questioned responsibility for the drawing inaccuracies. Stins explained that while original installers should have documented changes, the agency accepts shared responsibility when information is not updated over time. The board noted a new closeout process is being implemented to prevent future issues.
- North Parking Lot: Contract authorized for repaving with Howard Companies ($218,443.50) expected to begin between April and June 2026.
- Blue Line Utility Relocation: Director Matt Duffy presented a reimbursement request of $284,000 to AES Indiana for work completed before station location changes (from West Street to Schumacher Way). Board members expressed concern that AES was not immediately notified of the pause, but Duffy clarified they were engaged immediately, though work had already commenced.
- BRT Reliability Study: Contract approved with Parsons Transportation Group ($170,000) to assess system management and KPIs.
- Gillig Bus Purchase: Director Devon Smith presented the purchase of 11 (potentially 10) 40-foot E-Gen Flex Hybrid buses ($14,436,474). The board discussed tariff fluctuations (5% proposed) and the strategy of slowly reducing the diesel fleet size from 167 to 144 vehicles.
- Software & Services (Action Items A7, A8, A11, A12):
- HASTIS Renewal: CFO Bart Brown and COO Annette Darrow recommended renewing the HASTIS software contract ($368,380) for cloud hosting and operations support.
- Transit Signal Priority (TSP): Contract approved with Kimley Horn ($64,000) for TSP implementation at Pendleton Pike and Post Road (Purple Line) to develop a replicable solution for state-controlled signals.
- Wireless Communications: Extension of contract with Step CG LLC ($188,000) for two additional years.
- Tow Service: New contract approved with Hana Towing ($257,800) for a two-year period, replacing Zor Tow. The board emphasized the vendor's 45-60 minute response time requirement.
- Financial Report (I1): CFO Bart Brown reported that while Personal Services and some operating categories were under budget for the year, Passenger Service Revenue was approximately $342,123 under budget, and Total Revenue was $6.7 million over budget largely due to DPW contributions. Overtime expenditures were noted as the lowest since 2019.
- 20th Street Conversion (I2): Director Matt Duffy presented an update on the 29th and 30th Street two-way conversion project, noting it is the third amendment to the 2018 interlocal cooperation agreement and is funded by the 2026 operating budget.
- 2026 Officer Elections (I3): Chief Legal Counsel Robert Fry proposed an election process where directors submit nominations in writing by January 9, with the final election taking place at the February meeting. The board expressed support for this streamlined process.
Key Outcomes
- Resolution 2025-10: Approved (Roll Call Vote). Authorized transfer of appropriations and carry-forward of outstanding encumbrances for FY2025 ($334,411,056.20).
- Change Order #3 (1501 Trench Drains): Approved (Unanimous). Authorized change order of $126,395.50 for R.L. Turner.
- Change Order (CTC Handrails): Approved (Unanimous). Authorized change order of $67,988.02 for Advanced Restoration Contractors.
- North Parking Lot Contract: Approved (Unanimous). Authorized contract with Howard Companies for $218,443.50.
- AES Indiana Reimbursement: Approved (Unanimous). Authorized reimbursement of up to $284,000 for Blue Line utility work.
- BRT Reliability Study Contract: Approved (Unanimous). Authorized contract with Parsons Transportation Group up to $170,000.
- Kimley Horn Task Order: Approved (Unanimous). Authorized task order of $64,000 for Purple Line TSP.
- HASTIS Software Renewal: Approved (Unanimous). Authorized one-year contract with HASTIS by Giro up to $368,380.
- Fleet Purchase: Approved (Unanimous). Authorized purchase of 11 Gillig E-Gen Flex Hybrid buses (cost not to exceed $14,436,474).
- Step CG Extension: Approved (Unanimous). Authorized two optional years of contract up to $188,000.
- Hana Towing Contract: Approved (Unanimous). Authorized two-year contract up to $257,800.
- Election Process: Motion Carried. Board agreed to the nomination and election process proposed by Chief Legal Counsel for the 2026 board officers.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Greg Hahn, and I'm chair of the uh Indianapolis Public Transportation Corporation, and we welcome you to our annual what's not our annual meeting, our monthly meeting, the last of our annual meetings for 2025. And uh at this point in time, we'd like to do a rule call. And our uh brilliant uh chief legal counsel, Bob Fry will do the rule call. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I don't think the word brilliant was in your script. I appreciate that. Um directors, please indicate your attend. That's when I call your name. Director Smith. Director Quick. President. Director Fagan, Director Wilson, Director Gardner, President. Director Hahn. President. Uh we have a quorum, Mr. Chair. Thank you, Robert. Uh, next is uh awards and commendations on our president and CEO, Jennifer Purz, will present uh any words and commendations that we have uh tonight. So uh the Jennifer Pierce, president and CEO. Uh, we'll start off as we always do with our safe drivers. So our November 2025 safe drivers are shown up on the screen. Congratulations to all of you. Um, these folks were recognized for their safe driving for the month of November and received a National Safety Council patch pin and certificates. I'll highlight from that list Ricardo Oxley, who I feel like I've highlighted before. He's been great, great uh safe driving for a long time. 26 years of service to Indigo, and uh 16 of those for safe driving. So congratulations and thank you for your service, Mr. Oxley. Next, I will highlight our November operations employee of the month, Sylvia Walker. Sylvia is in our radio control room as one of our dispatchers. She has um she I received the following in her nomination. Sylvia Walker has an excellent attendance record and consistently takes initiative to assist new operators who may be lost on their routes. Her work ethic is exceptional and she collaborates effectively with her co-workers. Sylvia provides guidance to help streamline operations in the radio room. Her dedication to her job sets a standard for her peers, and she maintains a high level of professionalism in every aspect of her work. Congratulations to Sylvia. And then we have a special guest who has not made it yet. So I'm gonna hold this next one for when he re arrives. But we are going to at some point tonight celebrate our ATU president Roy Lester as he retires at the end of this year. So if I can come back to that, Mr. Chairman, at some point, that would be great. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. Um without objection, we will enter into the record the finance committee report for its meeting on December 11th and the service committee report for its meeting on December the 12th. Any objections? Okay. Let the record show there isn't, and they'll be entered into the record.
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