Gulf Coast Rail District Board of Directors met May 10

Gulf Coast Rail District Board of Directors met May 10.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

A meeting of the Gulf Coast Rail District Board of Directors was held at Houston TranStar and via video conference. In attendance at the meeting were Directors Ronald A. Beeson, Michael Dyll, Abigail M. Gonzalez, Veronica Chapa Gorczynski, Carol Abel Lewis, Allen Owen, Tina Arias Peterman, Jim Robinson (joined at 2:11 p.m.), Jeff E. Ross, and Dennis Winker. Absent were Directors Trey Duhon, Christopher Lane, Bruce Mann, and Richard L. Muller, Jr. Written notices of the meeting including the date, hour, place and agenda for the meeting were posted with Harris County, with the Secretary of State, and at the Gulf Coast Rail District office located at Houston TranStar in accordance with the Texas Open Meetings Act. The inaudible portions of the recording were removed from these minutes.

Chairperson Lewis: Hello, everyone. My phone reads 2 o’clock. Lisa, how are we doing with quorum?

Ms. Lisa Patke: We need two more.

Chairperson Lewis: We need two more people. You counted me, right?

Ms. Lisa Patke: Yes.

Chairperson Lewis: One, two, three, four.

Ms. Lisa Patke: Oh, we’re at quorum now.

Chairperson Lewis: Okay, awesome. Fabulous. Thank you, everyone. Delighted that we’re all here today. We’re going to call our meeting to order, Gulf Coast Rail District. We conduct today’s Gulf Coast Rail District meeting with options to participate in person or by video conference due to health and safety concerns related to COVID-19. Let me ask, can everyone hear me just fine?

Director Owen: Yes.

Chairperson Lewis: Perfect. The meeting is open to the public but restrictions regarding masks, allowable room capacity, and seating arrangements are in place. The public meeting location is TranStar, 6922 Katy Road, Houston, Texas. We’re in briefing room 216. I am Dr. Carol Lewis, presiding officer of GCRD, and confirm the following members are present physically: Carol

Lewis. The names of other people participating by video conference in accordance with the provisions of the Texas government code will be read to us in just a minute as we check for quorum by Director Winkler. The video conference will be conducted with software known as Microsoft Teams. Individual panelists’ invites and links were sent out to GCRD board members to participate in the meeting. Other attendees or public can join the meeting by clicking on the link provided on the agenda to join the meeting on a computer, tablet, or cell phone. If your computer has both audio and video camera capabilities, you’ll be able to speak and be seen during the video conference. Based on the Open Meeting Act requirements, the GCRD board members participating in the Microsoft Teams video conference will need to be seen and heard throughout the meeting for attendance and to record voting. Therefore, members calling via telephone will not count toward a quorum or voting. The public will have an opportunity to address the board with a limit of three minutes per speaker. So, thank you all with that. I will ask Director Winkler, would you help certify our quorum please?

Director Winkler: Chair Lewis, I will. It looks like we do have a quorum, but I am going to ask for a roll call to validate that. Would you please acknowledge when I call your name? Director Beeson?

Director Beeson: I’m here.

Director Winkler: Director Dyll?

Director Dyll: Present.

Director Winkler: Director Gorczynski?

Director Gorczynski: Here.

Director Winkler: Director Gonzalez?

Director Gonzalez: Here.

Director Winkler: Director Ross?

Director Ross: Here.

Director Winkler: Director Peterman?

Director Peterman: Here.

Director Winkler: Carol Lewis?

Chairperson Lewis: I’m here.

Director Winkler: Director Winkler is here. Director Muller? Director Owen?

Director Owen: Present.

Director Winkler: Director Lane? And Director Robinson? So, we do have a quorum? Chairperson Lewis: Okay, awesome. I think Director Mann is also not attending today.

Director Winkler: I’m sorry, I passed over his name because it said he would not be attending, and I also passed over Judge Duhon.

Chairperson Lewis: Right, exactly. Thank you. So, moving on, Ms. Patke, would you confirm the compliance with the Open Meeting Act for us, please?

Ms. Lisa Patke: Confirmed. It was posted.

Chairperson Lewis: Okay, great. Thank you. So, we’re moving right along to item 4, discussion and possible action on Resolution 22-06, Recognizing Harris County Appointment of Ms. Veronica Chapa Gorczynski to Position Number 3 on the Gulf Coast Rail District Board of Directors. Delighted that we are officially welcoming Director Gorczynski today. She was with us last meeting, but we did not have all the paperwork which we now have. You will note that in your packet, there is detail for her, resume for her, which lets us know that she is the president of the East End District which serves approximately 16 square miles east of downtown. Her bio is in there too telling us where she’s from, in the Rio Grande Valley, universities that she attended, her organizational relationships, and her familial relationships. So, all that is there for us and for you to read during your reading pleasure. Delighted to have her, I’ve worked with her on other boards and know that she is going to be a valuable addition, just as the rest of you.

Chairperson Lewis: So, could I get a motion from someone?

Director Winkler: So moved. It’s Winkler.

Chairperson Lewis: Okay, Winkler.

Director Ross: Second, Ross.

Chairperson Lewis: Winkler and Ross, thank you. Any discussion, questions, conversation? All in favor?

Board: Aye.

Chairperson Lewis: Any opposed? Super welcome! Just delighted that you are here, and next item we’re going to talk about—getting you to work.

Director Gorczynski: Yes, ma’am, and thank you.

Chairperson Lewis: Alright. You are welcome. The next item is discussion and possible action on Resolution 22-07, Ratifying the Committees for the GCRD Board of Directors. If you notice in your packet, a couple of things. We’re asking Director Chapa Gorczynski to participate on what we’re going to call Passenger Transit Committee and then the Railroad/Roadway Projects Committee. To comment, I was thinking about the Commuter Transit name and recognize that we’re not wanting to just serve commuters. Commuter means going from home to work, and that’s not all we want to do. We want to serve passengers in transit, so I’m suggesting that name as we go forward as well. When you look at the count, just to make the point, our quorum is seven. On Passenger Transit, Director Robinson is ex officio so he does not count in that number as we’re making up the number. And then secondarily, the other folks from UP do not count toward the quorum, so we’re in good shape there.

Chairperson Lewis: So, I would open that up to either questions or a motion.

Director Ross: Motion to approve, Ross, and welcome to the Passenger Transit Committee. Director Beeson: Director Beeson will second.

Chairperson Lewis: Alright, thank you. Motion and second, all in favor?

Board: Aye.

Chairperson Lewis: Okay. Any opposed? Alright, thank you. That passes.

Chairperson Lewis: The next item we have is discussion and possible action on our minutes for April 12th, 2022. Director Winkler, please?

Director Winkler: Yes, everybody has reviewed those, I’m assuming, and if anybody has any changes, please let us know now. If not, we’ll take a motion to approve the minutes. Motion to approve?

Director Beeson: Director Beeson will motion to approve.

Director Winkler: Second.

Chairperson Lewis: Lisa, did you record the name of the second? No. Please state your name for the second, please.

Director Winkler: That was Winkler seconding.

Chairperson Lewis: Winkler. Okay, great. Thank you. All in favor?

Board: Aye.

Chairperson Lewis: Any opposed?

Director Gorczynski: Veronica’s in abstention because I wasn’t really allowed to be there. Chairperson Lewis: Okay. Alright, noted. Motion passes, one abstention. Thank you.

Chairperson Lewis: Director Owen, report from the treasurer.

Director Owen: Yes, ma’am. Madam Chairman, I would ask Chris Palis to give us our report for our financials.

Mr. Chris Palis: Good afternoon, everybody. If you look here at the bookkeeper’s report dated May 10th, 2022, you can see on page 2 you started with a cash balance of $113,375, showing interest of 64 cents, and then total disbursements of $4,611, leaving an ending cash balance $108,765. The next page, page 3, is a listing of all your CDs and money market and checking accounts, so you can see a total balance of about $1.4 million there. I believe last meeting, Director Peterman had a question on the CDs, so I wanted to touch base on that and what was going on there on the investment on those. And so, I was advised by the investment officers over at Municipal Accounts that they at the moment are not putting any District funds or anything right now into CDs based on the Fed trying to fight inflation with raising the interest rates. And so, they are projecting that by the end of this year, that the Texas CLASS interest rate is going to be between 1 to 2% which is more interest than the CDs that the banks are offering. So, right now for the remainder of this year, they don’t want to have any funds held up in those CDs and lose out on the interest. They’re being advised right now to tell everybody that right now, anytime a maturity happens on that CD, they’re going to just put it back in that Texas CLASS and keep track of that and make sure that the districts get the most value out of those funds being invested. So, that’s an update on that. Page 4 is your actual verse budget, so you can see total income for the month of April, about $513, and then total expenditures of about $3,200. Page 5, you can see the pro bono contributions there on the bottom. And pages 6 through 9, nothing’s been updated since the last meeting here, so those would be the same. And in this month, starting on page 10, I don’t know if it was separate, but there’s a quarterly investment report that we issue every quarter. And this just shows the activity in the money market and CDs of all the interest and the activity that occurred there, so you can see total interest earned from the CDs for the first quarter 2022 on page 11 of about $942, and then the interest/money market at $278.

Director Peterman: This is Tina. I do have some follow-up questions. I’m curious, what are the one-year CD, what is that yielding right now?

Mr. Chris Palis: On page 3, it shows the interest rates right now, so no CD right now that the District is holding is a half percent. So, you can see the interest rates there.

Director Peterman: Right, right. So, the last one we bought would have been April, is that right? Mr. Chris Palis: That’s correct.

Director Peterman: And that was at 40 basis points?

Mr. Chris Palis: That’s correct.

Director Peterman: Okay, but the Fed just moved 50 basis points last week. I don’t know, I’m struggling a little bit. I understand that they think that the Fed funds rate... or the Texas CLASS will be 1% by the end of the year, but we’re losing time between now and the end of the year. I’d like to kind of do some independent analysis and see what is the opportunity cost of staying in cash and waiting until those short-term rates make their way up.

Chairperson Lewis: So, let me say, Director Peterson, this is not my lane, so I am 100% relying on your expertise. So, what would we do? Where would we potentially move to? Would that be to a money market earlier or what would that option be, potentially?

Director Peterman: Well, I mean, I’d like to know what CDs are yielding currently, right? Chairperson Lewis: Okay, right.

Director Peterman: Because the Fed just moved another 50 basis points. And the Fed fund’s overnight target rate last week, I would have expected that to have an impact on short-term investment rates. Maybe it hasn’t worked its way through yet. Yes, I’d like to know what can we earn today in a CD.

Chairperson Lewis: Got you.

Director Peterman: There are other investment alternatives that comply with the Texas Public Funds Investment Act that I would like to look at. I can’t tell you right now what they are. But I’m kind of struggling... I guess it’s not that much money we’re talking about, maybe $500,000 that’s uninvested right now. But as these CDs continue to roll off, it’s more money that’s sitting there uninvested. Is that Texas CLASS, is that 47 basis points, is that right? Because I’m showing it’s at 28 basis points right now.

Mr. Chris Palis: Yes. That’s what the investment officer, that’s what they’re showing in their system as that date. But I can go back and ask. Ghia Lewis is the investment officer that handles all the investments for the districts, and so I can ask her what Texas CLASS is showing as of today. But that should be the amount that they have in the system, but I’ll definitely check up on that.

Chairperson Lewis: So, let me say that I absolutely appreciate you’re asking these questions, and to me the money we have is worth maximizing, for sure. Because we don’t have necessarily a lot of it, so what we have we need to make sure we optimize. So, I appreciate that. And if there’s anything any of the other directors can assist with as that occurs and/or if you need to talk more with Mr. Palis and his colleagues too, I’m sure that Katherine would be happy to help facilitate that.

Mr. Chris Palis: Yes, any question you have, you can shoot an email over to us, and I can get right to the investment officers and see what... Yes.

Chairperson Lewis: Right, exactly. Perfect.

Director Ross: This is Commissioner Ross, and I’d be glad to sit in on a little committee meeting with Tina because I think the issue is are there short-term CDs that will give us a higher interest rate while we’re waiting for the state program to open up. Are we maximizing the amount of money, without taking additional risk, that we can make on this money? But I don’t think we need to get the whole board involved in discussion. Why don’t a couple of us work something out, bring it back to the board, and let the board then make a judgment on it?

Chairperson Lewis: That’s true. So, appreciate that offer, Director Ross. And then we would open it as well to other folks who are on Legislative and Funding.

Director Dyll: If I may?

Chairperson Lewis: Yes.

Director Dyll: I went through just recently with a 503(c)(1), whatever, a charitable organization we were in.

Chairperson Lewis: Oh, excuse me. Oh, I’m sorry. Okay, Director Dyll, Yes. I was looking. I’m sitting here and I had to see who we’re talking... Your MD is real big, but your Michael Dyll underneath is... We’re with you.

Chairperson Lewis: Please continue.

Director Dyll: Can you see my camera? I thought the camera was on.

Chairperson Lewis: No.

Ms. Katherine Parker: No.

Director Dyll: It’s not?

Chairperson Lewis: No. Please—and you can try to get your camera on if you’d like, but we welcome you to continue. I’m sorry to interrupt you but I just wanted to...

Director Ross: We can see him.

Chairperson Lewis: Can you?

Director Dyll: He did something like...

Director Ross: Yes.

Chairperson Lewis: Oh, so they can see, we just can’t see you in the room.

Director Dyll: Hmm.

Chairperson Lewis: Director Owen, you cannot see him either?

Director Owen: No, I have an MD. That’s all I got.

Chairperson Lewis: Yes, that’s what we have. Well, that’s what we call technology. And maybe Director Ross has a more up-to-date computer or an older one, one of the two. Alright. Director Dyll, please.

Director Dyll: Yes, sorry. We bought CDs in a staggered fashion, it’s like dollar cost averaging. So, if you think rates are going to go up later, but you want to capture some money now, put in $10,000 this month, $10,000 next month, etc., so you’re not putting the whole kit and kaboodle

in one CD right now, and then losing out on higher interest rates later. I just wanted to throw that out there.

Chairperson Lewis: Okay, great. Thank you.

Director Dyll: You’re welcome.

Chairperson Lewis: Any of the other directors? Alright. Thank you for that report. If there’s nothing else from the treasurer’s report, we’ll go on to number 8. Director Owen, please.

Director Owen: Madam Chairman, I would ask that Resolution 22-08 Ratifying our Payments be approved.

Chairperson Lewis: Motion.

Director Ross: Second, Ross.

Chairperson Lewis: Okay. Thank you, Owen and Ross. All in favor?

Board: Aye.

Chairperson Lewis: Alright. Any opposed? Okay, great. Thank you. That passes.

Chairperson Lewis: Number 9, Public Comments. Is there anyone joining that represents the public who would like to speak to the Gulf Coast Rail District Board at this time? Alright, hearing no one, we will move on to item 10, Report from Executive Director Ms. Parker.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Good afternoon, directors. I have just a few items here to discuss for us on today. The first of which is the 2045 Regional Transportation Plan or the RTP Plan. You can do the next slide, thanks. I sent an email out just before our meeting asking that you all would share and also if you can, participate in the meetings that are coming up. They’re in-person meetings and virtual meetings as well for each county. Fort Bend County’s last meeting was May 5th, but there will be an all-county meeting June 2nd, 2022, and that email has all the details in it. But the RTP is an opportunity for the region to identify needs, goals, and policies over the next 25 years. And so, it sets a framework for a balanced and forward-thinking system with the identification of major investment strategies supporting traditional modes such as roadway improvements, alternative modes such as mass transit, bicycle, and pedestrian facilities. With the assistance of transportation planners, engineers, elected officials, and the public, this document helps to identify transportation facilities and services needed for the region’s anticipated growth. So, this ties in exactly with what we do at each of our meetings. So, we’re asking that any of your stakeholders, and you of course, to be a part of this plan and giving your input.

Next slide. And so yes, that will be what I sent you in the email. You’ll see that flyer, and you’ll be able to click on there and either do input or look at the schedule for the upcoming meetings.

Chairperson Lewis: So, if I could, Ms. Parker, just kind of bring to everyone’s attention that this will be the 2050 plan, so it’s going to take us out another five years. It sounds like it’s a long time coming, but it will be here quickly for those of us who have been around for a while and remember developing the 2020 plans, and that was already two years ago. So, just it’s the update of 2045, it sounds a little almost Star Wars-y to say that it’ll be the 2050 plan but that is the one it will be.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Alright, next slide. The Port of Houston, Port of Beaumont, and Port Arthur are working on a mega application, and our board member Bruce Mann is asking the District for a letter of support. They are calling it the GULFSTAR Freight Network, and that acronym represents Generating Unparalleled Leadership in Freight and Sustainable Transportation for American Resiliency—it’s a mouthful. It’s a collaborative effort, a regional effort shared by the Port of Houston, Port of Beaumont, and Port Arthur. GULFSTAR will involve public/private partnerships as well, de-risking investments needed to improve freight transportation, accelerate clean fuels and technology adoption, and expand economic opportunities. He wanted me to share with you this is the first time that the three major ports have come together for a grant opportunity, and he is asking that we provide just a letter of support for their application going forward.

Two other meetings that I wanted to give you all information about. This week, May 11th... No. Thursday, May 12th, I’m sorry, there will be a Joint TTI Transportation and Infrastructure meeting, Quality of Life, City of Houston Council Meeting. This is the second meeting. The first meeting, I presented, and we talked about the Gulf Coast Rail District, the FRA involvement, and Union Pacific. This second meeting will involve BNSF, its rail operations in Houston, funding and priorities for rail there will be a presentation by Houston Public Works, and then also Smart Railroad Crossing Monitors Pilot Update Program, which is the Mayor’s Office of Innovation and Performance. And also, our colleague who’s on today, Jack Hanagriff, has worked on that quite a bit, he’ll be a part of that presentation team. So, there’s an opportunity for you to view that meeting either in person or attend. Also, it’ll be recorded, so if you’re not able to attend on Thursday, May 12th at 10:00 a.m. there in council chambers, you can go back and view. But I’ll be sending this invite out as well to the board members.

And lastly, TxDOT 2050 will have their workshop. In-person workshop will be May 17th, 2022, at the TxDOT office right here at 7600 Washington Avenue. It’s also an opportunity to provide input to TxDOT. It’s an in-person freight workshop specific to the Houston region to receive input from freight shippers, carriers, facility operators, and other stakeholders to develop the 2023 Texas Freight Mobility Plan, the TFMP. So, lots of acronyms. They’re asking for feedback on freight flows and forecasts, freight needs and challenges, solutions and recommendations, which is really the basis of all plans that we work with. We’re looking for input from people who are affected by it daily. So, I will also send this as an email, and I’ll try to space them out, so it doesn’t look like I’ve bombarded all of your email from GCRD. But we are asking that you would participate and share with those who are in your sphere of influence, your stakeholders, so that we can have a broad base correspondence and input. I think that’s all I have. Thank you so much.

Chairperson Lewis: Okay. So, questions, thoughts, comments on Ms. Parker’s report? So, I’m going to ask what you all think about the supporting letter for Port of Houston, Port of Beaumont, and Port Arthur—those three ports?

Director Ross: Well, this is Commissioner Ross. I don’t really know much about what grant they’re going after, and so we’re sort of writing a blanket endorsement without a lot of information as far as what I have right now, that I’ve had a chance to look at. I’d also like to see if this is somehow tied to whether the port’s going to financially participate in our organization any longer.

Chairperson Lewis: So, it was not something that I had advance knowledge about either, so I can’t answer any of the questions. Ms. Parker had talked with Director Mann, so she may know a tad more.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Right. And I received it just before our meeting. So, I can send that information of what he sent to me out. We did not talk about it being tied to funding for the Rail District. It was just an ask about a support letter, and a template to be filled out basically, adding in our District’s name, but I can send that. There’s a deadline of the 11th, but...

Chairperson Lewis: That’s tomorrow.

Ms. Katherine Parker: That’s tomorrow. But because we received it in such short notice, I mean, when we can provide it, I think that will work as well. And if we opt not to, then that’s just the response that I give.

Director Gorczynski: This is Veronica Gorczynski. And I typically… I know it’s my first meeting but when I asked for a support letter, I would at least like to know from a staff perspective if it matches goals or a plan or something that we’ve outlined. And so, I feel like we’re more than flying without a net, so I’m kind of nervous from the same kind of perspective, but I don’t know practice has been typical with you here.

Chairperson Lewis: We don’t have a practice of doing support letters. I don’t necessarily remember us ever doing one. I don’t remember when Maureen was executive director if we had done any, and I don’t know if Katherine can recall.

Ms. Katherine Parker: My research was… it’s been some years. And we were a part of a resolution for one of the counties, that’s the last one. Most times, we are asking for the letter of support, not actually writing it. But there’s nothing in what is presented, there’s no funding commitment. It’s really pretty broad. I don’t think that the application is complete. They’re just trying to prepare in advance, but definitely I understand, and that’s the first thing that I was looking for…. definitely even with the ports’ participation or really, non-participation to this point.

Chairperson Lewis: I was going to say there’s a little bit of a backdrop to that is when we were first asked, Ms. Parker and I talked about what our practice was in Gulf Coast Rail District, so that’s what she’s referring to. She went and looked in the files to see if Gulf Coast Rail District

had done this before. We also are going to ask Director Muller specifically for guidance, but he’s out of town, and we were unable to get in touch with him in the time allotted. So, that was just, again, a little precursor to her conversation.

Director Ross: This is Commissioner Ross. I would move to defer this item except that it’s not on the agenda to begin with.

Chairperson Lewis: No, it’s not. Okay. Alright. So, I don’t think we take a motion for something that’s not on the agenda, but we will take your suggestion to defer, and I got a thumbs up from Veronica. I don’t know that anybody... I’ll open it and see if anybody on the District board wants to speak in favor of it, just as conversation but not anything official. Alright. So, I’m doing my hands...

Director Peterman: I guess the only thing...

Chairperson Lewis: Thank you, yes.

Director Peterman: Dr. Lewis, the only other thing I would say is I think that the time that we were given to consider this, it’s not unreasonable for us to defer this item and try to get a little more information about it.

Chairperson Lewis: Alright. So, I will take that under advisement and talk to Director Mann and kind of express what the sentiment of the board is about this at this moment. And kind of Director Gorczynski was saying does it match with our goals. So, I would say that in the broad umbrella sense, one would say that it does, because our goal would be to do everything, we can to improve freight and logistics within the region. So, from the broad perspective, we don’t have anything sort of in a micro way that focuses on waterways, so it would be a big umbrella sort of thing, not a micro activity of ours would be how I would answer that. Alright. Anything else? Any other questions or thoughts about anything Ms. Parker shared? Alright.

If not, we’ll move on to item 11. The thing I would mention is that last week, Director Ross, Dr. Robinson, myself, and Ms. Parker met with METRO to discuss the extension to the Westpark BRT, as we had discussed with you at our last meeting. That conversation went very well. METRO is very supportive of our continuing from their end. We’ve called it roughly Wilcrest, but they gave us another sort of terminus but it’s not far from there, into Fort Bend County. And they spoke very favorably and optimistically about what that kind of extension could do for mobility in the region. At the very end of the call, they want to work with us also, and they will, on whatever is occurring with 90A as part of H-GAC. So, they’ll clearly be a big stakeholder on that project as well. So, I don’t know if Director Ross wants to do any more specific comments from that meeting?

Director Ross: Yes. I think that’s it. Alan Clark, who had been at H-GAC for most of my engineering career, now works for METRO for Tom Lambert, who’s the CEO of METRO. And so, Alan has asked to be our point of contact as we put this together. METRO’s so far along with the piece they’re doing from the northeast side to Wilcrest that they don’t want to hook these two up, but they absolutely want to have them coordinated. But they don’t want to slow their deal down, because they’re chasing some of those federal dollars. And so, we thought that was a good logic they presented, and we gladly take whatever help they can give us.

Chairperson Lewis: Exactly. Any questions on that from anyone?

Ms. Katherine Parker: I have a meeting request into Mr. Clark for us, so we should hear something soon.

Chairperson Lewis: Okay. Sounds great. We also have a meeting scheduled next week again with HCTRA and the City and ourselves to continue conversation about Commerce/Navigation. So, every month, I kind of promise something on that, and it never quite happens, but I will continue to be optimistic about it because what I can tell you without doubt is that it is not going backwards. It’s not going forward as rapidly as I would like it to, but it is not regressing in any way. And quite frankly, to just be clear about what the issue is, it is making sure that we have all the money. So, that’s where that is. I think we’re scheduled to meet again on the 17th, that’s what I recall. Next Tuesday, we’re scheduled to meet again.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Yes, three o’clock.

Chairperson Lewis: Yep, exactly. Alright. That’s it for me in terms of announcements. Our next meeting is scheduled for June 14th. I’m doing this because I’m thinking I might be out of town that day, but we’ll get with Ms. Parker, as I have to check my calendar. Yes, I think I’m actually flying out of town that day, so we actually may not meet in June. If we don’t have anything pressing, we might just hold. The biggest items that would be retarded would be some of our ratification of payment things, but we’ve missed months before and have proceeded well in that regard. So, that will be it. We’re scheduled as it is now for June 14th, but we’ll get back with you with more information about that. Anything from anyone online, any parting comments before we adjourn?

Director Gorczynski: This is Veronica. I would just like to say that the East End District had the honor to hire, and he came of his own free will, Mr. Jack Hanagriff, who you know in the community for a long time in Houston. And he was going to retire, and I pleaded that he not.

Chairperson Lewis: Oh, wow.

Director Gorczynski: So, he’s giving us some time in retirement as the railroad safety coordinator with the East End District, along with some other independent projects.

Chairperson Lewis: Okay.

Director Gorczynski: So, he’ll be teaching me as I sit here, so that I’m a smarter, better director for you.

Chairperson Lewis: Okay. That’s awesome. Delighted that you’ll be sitting second chair, as they call it, right?

Mr. Jack Hanagriff: Yes. Thank you very much for allowing me to attend. I’ve been an asset to the Gulf Coast Rail District for many, many years. I worked very closely with Maureen Crocker, and then I also worked closely with Katherine Parker, and apparently, I’m still working closely with Katherine Parker.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Yes, sir.

Mr. Jack Hanagriff: I’m glad to still be in support of you at the Gulf Coast Rail District, so thank you for having me.

Chairperson Lewis: That’s awesome. There’s nothing like passion to get things moving. Ms. Katherine Parker: Thank you, Jack.

Chairperson Lewis: Thank you very much. Okay, anything else? Alright. Let’s call ourselves adjourned (2:39 p.m.), and I will see all of you either in a month or two, and then there’ll be some interim meetings with others. So, everybody have a good rest of the day and week.

http://www.gcrd.net/docs/GCRDMinutes.05-10-2022.pdf