Houston Daily

Gulf Coast Rail District Board of Directors met Oct. 14.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

A meeting of the Gulf Coast Rail District Board of Directors was held on Tuesday, October 14, 2025 at Houston TranStar and via video conference. In attendance at the meeting were Directors Angelique Bartholomew, Ronald A. Beeson, Faustino Benavidez, Stephen Gilbreath, Jack C. Hanagriff, Kendric Jones, Jon Keeney, Jean Mann, and Allen Owen. Absent were Directors Robert A. Fry, Jr., Veronica Chapa Gorczynski, and Jeff E. Ross. 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.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: It’s 2:07, and let’s go ahead and get started, and if Mayor Keeney gets here, we will modify the schedule back, but we’ll go ahead and take care of everything that we can then, if needed. I will do the roll call and other things required.

I’m Ron Beeson, presiding officer of the Gulf Coast Rail District. I call the meeting to order at 2:07 on October 14th, 2025. The meeting is held in person at Houston TranStar, 6922 Katy Road, Room 120A, and via videoconference on Microsoft Teams with the link provided to the meeting invites and the agenda and the public postings. In accordance with policy, the use of AI notetakers is prohibited during this meeting. The meeting is open to the public during public comments. Each speaker has three minutes to address the board. Please approach the podium or raise your hand online. Board members may participate via videoconference as per Section 551.127 of the Texas Government Code. Members must be visible and audible for the attendance and for voting. Telephone-only participants do not count for quorum or voting. I’m present for the meeting, and I will go ahead and conduct roll call unless Mayor Keeney has arrived virtually, which I don’t think he has. So, please respond when your name is called.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: For Position 1, that’s Ron Beeson, and I am here in person. Position 2, Jack Hanagriff?

Director Jack Hanagriff: Present in person.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you. Position 3, Faustino Benavidez?

Director Faustino Benavidez: Present.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you. Position 4, Steven Gilbreath?

Director Stephen Gilbreath: I’m present virtually.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you. Position 5, Jeff Ross? Okay, we know Chair Chapa Gorczynski is not here. Position 8, Mayor Jon Keeney?

Ms. Katherine Parker: He’s driving up.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Okay, we expect him any minute.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Position 10, Mrs. Bartholomew? I see her.

Director Angelique Bartholomew: Present.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you. Mayor Owen, Position 11?

Director Allen Owen: I’m here, but my camera’s not working, so I’m not visible (at this time). Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Okay, alright.

Director Allen Owen: I’ll try to get it to work somehow.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Alright. Position 12, Kendric Jones?

Director Kendric Jones: Here.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Alright. Kendric, will you be able to be visually present as well or not?

Director Kendric Jones: Yes, sir. I’m just sitting outside an office building.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Okay, thank you.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Alright, Position 14, Jean Mann? I don’t have audio for her. Ms. Lisa Patke: She’s on mute.

Director Jean Mann: Here.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Alright, thank you. Alright, and is Robert Fry on?

Ms. Lisa Patke: No. He’s not attending.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Okay, thank you. Let’s see, that is one, two, three, four, five, six, seven visual, so we are good on quorum.

Ms. Lisa Patke: Yes. Could I interject?

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Yes, you may.

Ms. Lisa Patke: Our audio, the mics are casting over to the next room. Can we not use the mics for right now and just speak loud?

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Okay.

Ms. Lisa Patke: And hopefully everyone can hear us online.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Alright, let’s try that.

Ms. Lisa Patke: Okay.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Those online, if you can’t hear me, let me know. We’re going to turn the audio off and go without the mic so we don’t bother our next door neighbors.

Ms. Lisa Patke: Okay, now try it. See if they can hear you.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Okay.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Are you able to hear us now? You can hear us?

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Okay. Alright, let’s see.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Agenda Item 3 is to confirm meeting posting compliance? Ms. Lisa Patke: It is. We are in compliance.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: We are in compliance, thank you.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Okay, Item Number 4 is public comments, I believe we have at least one.

Ms. Lisa Patke: Yes.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Ms. Williams, would you like to come forward?

Ms. Lindsay Williams: Yes.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you.

Ms. Lindsay Williams: Do you want me to actually be at the podium since I can’t use the mic?

Ms. Lisa Patke: You can use it. I think you talk loud enough that we’ll be able to hear you. Ms. Lindsay Williams: I’m pretty loud. I think it’ll be okay.

Ms. Lisa Patke: Okay.

Ms. Lindsay Williams: Alright. My name is Lindsay Williams. I serve as president of Super Neighborhoods 64 and 88 representing Greater Eastwood, Lawndale, and Wayside, and I’m also president of the Eastwood Civic Association. I’m here today to address three critical issues affecting our community’s relationship with rail infrastructure. First, I want to continue my call for a community seat on THE HART board. Currently, THE HART has stakeholders making decisions on behalf of our community without direct community impact, and we would like to see this change. The decisions made by this board directly impact our neighborhoods, our safety, and our quality of life. We don’t want to be talked about. We want to have a seat at the table where decisions are being made. Our community deserves a voice, not just an afterthought.

Second, I want to address how we prioritize at-grade crossings. Too often, I see prioritization based solely on the vehicular traffic counts, but this narrow approach ignores the real human impact. Just this week alone, we’ve experienced numerous hour-plus stops in the Galveston subdivision in the West Belt, blocking crossings, trapping residents, and delaying emergency response. A proper prioritization process must use a weighted average that considers multiple factors, proximity to schools, the safety of children, pedestrian routes and walking patterns in our neighborhood, daily average freight train frequency, proximity to rail lines, and other proximity to existing grade separations. When we only count cars, we overlook what matters most, the people in our community who are affected every single day by blocked crossings, safety risks, and limited access to their neighborhoods.

Finally, I want to address the proposed merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. The Surface Transportation Board is currently accepting comments on the procedures for assessing the merger. These aren’t comments about supporting or opposing the merger itself, but they lay the groundwork for how the entire process will unfold. Organizations such as YMCA and Little Leagues and others are submitting comments, and I would love to see one from the Gulf Coast Rail District. Houston needs a seat at the table. We need public hearings here in Houston, not in Beaumont, not somewhere distant from the communities that will bear the greatest impact. These hearings need to be scheduled multiple times to allow working residents, parents, and community members to attend their shared perspectives on the merger and how it will impact their lives. These three issues are a common thread. Our community’s voice is being left out of decisions that directly affect us. Whether it’s rail transit government, crossing priority, or major rail mergers, we’re asking for something simple and fundamental, meaningful community impact, not just as an afterthought, but an integral part of the decision-making process. Thank you.

Director Jon Keeney: Can you do that again?

Ms. Lindsay Williams: I can, if you need me to.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you, Lindsay. Were there any others that have joined us online, possibly? Just making sure.

Ms. Lisa Patke: Clay Dippel.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Clay Dippel, would you like to, one, introduce yourself, and proceed with your comments?

Mr. Clay Dippel: Hi, thank you. Yes, my name is Clay Dippel. I’m familiar with Lindsay’s work, and I’m also a member of the Eastwood Civic Association, but I work with Jack Hanagriff on the East End Rail Safety Task Force as well. I just want to reiterate the desire to kind of emphasize what Lindsay just shared with you, the hope that the Rail District maybe can ask in some formal way to weigh in on the potential merger of the two rail lines and to ask that those hearings be held in a way that benefits Houston residents and that allows your board members to weigh in on the potential impacts that that merger would have on rail fluidity because rail fluidity helps both rail lines get their freight through easier, but also make sure that the burden that citizens face is going to be something that’s manageable and in a way that we can plan for. So, again, thank you. Just a brief comment, and I’m glad to be here. Thank you for opening the opportunity.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you. I don’t see anyone else. Do you?

Ms. Lisa Patke: No. Allen Owen has joined us visibly.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Hi, Allen. Alright, we have Allen visually. Thank you, Allen. Okay, we are going to move on to Agenda Item 5, which I have the honor of doing, and that is to recognize Bruce Mann, and I would like to read a statement from the Board. It is in recognition and appreciation of distinguished service the Gulf Coast Rail District presents this resolution letter in honor of Mr. Bruce Mann. Whereas Mr. Bruce Mann has served as Port of Houston Authority of Harris County, Texas, appointee for Position 9 on the Gulf Coast Rail District Board of Directors since October 9th, 2018. And whereas in furtherance of this organization, Mr. Mann graciously contributed his time and expertise and provided invaluable insight, perspective, and guidance to the Board of Directors to assist the District in fulfilling its mission. And whereas throughout his Gulf Coast Rail District Board appointment, he serves as chair of the Houston Area Rail Transformation, also known as THE HART, co-chair to chair for the Railroad and Roadway Projects Committee, and committee person for the Legislative and Funding Committee. And whereas during his tenure, Mr. Mann led the Board to successfully establish the Houston Area Rail Transformation, THE HART, and therefore be it resolved that the Gulf Coast Rail District acknowledges and extends its gratitude to Mr. Bruce Mann for his distinguished service to the Gulf Coast Rail District Board of Directors and expresses its deepest appreciation for the outstanding contributions during his tenure. And this certificate I’m going to present to Bruce was signed by our Chair Chapa Gorczynski and Katherine Parker, our Interim Executive Director, on August 12th of 2025. So, I will stand up here. Bruce, if you’d join me, I’d like to give this to you, and we’ll get a quick picture.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Katherine, come on up here. Come on, Katherine. Let me get back so people can see us.

Ms. Lisa Patke: Yes, you’d have to go back a little ways to do that.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: No, that’s alright. Well...

Ms. Lisa Patke: Okay. You can go and... Alright. Hold on. Alright, one, two, three. Alright, got it.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you so much.

Ms. Lisa Patke: Thank you.

Mr. Bruce Mann: Okay. I’ll just say this really quick. I actually joined the Board 10 years ago because I was staff support for the Port Commissioner. And when I started here, it was adversarial with us and the railroads in a lot of ways. And I take a little bit of pride in the fact that now we’re partners and we’re working together on THE HART. We’ve come a long way as an organization since I started here 10 years ago. It’s taken all of us to do it, but we’ve got here, and THE HART has some traction. So, I’m looking forward to really what happens from here.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you. Many of you all know Bruce through the years, but he has been a volunteer in so many organizations supporting rail transit as well, and it’s a pleasure for me to participate in this and acknowledge him. So, thank you, Bruce.

Mr. Bruce Mann: Thank you.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Number six, discussion and possible action items on minutes for the September 9th meeting. Mr. Keeney?

Director Jon Keeney: Do we have any additions or corrections to the minutes?

Ms. Lisa Patke: Don’t use the mic.

Director Jon Keeney: No? Hearing none, all those in favor?

Board: Aye.

Director Jon Keeney: Any opposed? It’s unanimous. Thank you.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Okay. For Items Number 7 and Number 8, I will pass to Director Owen to lead us in discussion and possible action on Resolution 25-20 ratifying payment.

Director Allen Owen: Thank you. Arleste is on here, I know I can see her, so they’ve got our report for us.

Ms. Arleste Pietrofeso: Good afternoon, everyone. Can you hear me okay?

Ms. Katherine Parker: Yes.

Director Allen Owen: Yes.

Ms. Arleste Pietrofeso: Okay, great. You should have the bookkeeping report starting in your packet on page 35, but we’ll actually get started on page 36. This is the cash flow report for your checking account, and we have no receipts this month, but we have checks 2765 through 2767 for your approval today, and after those disbursements, it leaves just over $87,236 in your checking account. Continuing on to page 37, this is the cash flow report for your time deposits. You can see there we’ve got the wire out to Texas A&M Transportation Institute, and after that wire, it leaves just over $1.6 million in your time deposits account. Continuing on to page 38, this is your account balances, and you can see the amounts we have in your CDs, your money market, and your checking account for a total of $1,693,425.99 in your total operating amount. Continuing on to pages 39 through 40, this is your actual versus budget comparison, and everything is on trend here, nothing out of the ordinary to report. And that takes us to the final pages 41 through 44. This is your grant status report with no changes from last month. And that’s all I have for you, unless you have any questions for me.

Director Allen Owen: Anyone have any questions for Arleste? If not, I’ll entertain a motion to approve Resolution 25-20 ratifying your payments.

Director Jon Keeney: So moved.

Director Allen Owen: There’s been a motion. Is there a second?

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: I’ll be glad to second.

Director Allen Owen: Alright, I’ve got a motion and a second. All those in favor? Board: Aye.

Director Allen Owen: Alright, Chairman, back to you.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you. Okay. We will move on to Agenda Item 9, which is THE HART Regional Crossing List and Grade Separation Readiness Update. Director Parker?

Ms. Katherine Parker: Thank you so much, Director Beeson. I already have to talk a little louder, as I know my voice is a little softer. First, I have a presentation that’s pretty much together with my report, but we’ll start with this Regional Crossing List and Grade Separation Readiness Update. Next slide. It’s really kind of a cue-up to what Bruce will be talking about right after. When we began this process of THE HART, there were many conversations about grade crossing lists, what was priority for different counties or cities. Next slide. And so, this list is a culmination of multiple sources—THE HART members, TxDOT lists, the crossings that are not on the TxDOT list, or the off-system projects. There are over 163 priority rail crossing locations identified. There are some duplicates throughout from our submissions. And lastly, our stakeholders, of course, are our local governments, transportation agencies, and regional organizations that have collaborated on improvements. Next slide. So, this slide represents the proposed railroad and roadway improvements from the Houston-Beaumont Freight Rail Study. So, you have 29 infrastructure project upgrades, 59 grade separation projects, and 22 crossing closure projects. Our focus right now is on the grade separations, which is equaling a little over $1.8 billion. Our work towards Senate Bill 1555, as you can tell, there is definitely a deficit, but we needed a list, and we needed a dollar amount to work towards and know where we’re lacking. This number represents just the Houston-Beaumont area. Next slide. This list is THE HART’s TxDOT Phase II Study list that we began with. As I said, there are duplicates, so some of these crossings are part of all of these lists, but the list that THE HART basically approved is $349 million. Okay. So, that still puts into perspective the money that’s needed just for our region. We know that the Senate Bill 1555 is $250 million for the state. So, we have reached out to each of our counties and cities just this past week. I gave them until October 24th, 2025, close of business, to provide any updates to their original list. If there are crossings that are not represented in the list that we have, this will be our opportunity to add them to that list. Our goal is to have a ready list for submission or to be able to pick crossings or corridors off of for any type of funding opportunity to include Senate Bill 1555 or possibly other grant submittals. So, this is where we talk about readiness. Do they have a local match? Has it been, if you will, vetted through communities? Is it an urgent need for your community? So, each of the representatives on the Gulf Coast Rail District, your counties have been sent a list. So, please make sure, and I may reach out to you all to make sure that those contacts who are usually in your engineering departments will respond and give us updates on the crossings that are considered to be a priority for their entities. Next slide. So, Senate Bill 1555, this is the latest update actually from probably about two hours ago. On the 15th, which is tomorrow, the Transportation Code Rules will become effective. So, it will be posted in the Texas Register. The program webinar will be October 28th. There’ll be more dates announced on the 24th, but this QR code is the link to TxDOT’s page where the webinar will be up and running on the 28th at 10 a.m. And the call for projects will open November 3rd. The grant announcement will be determined after that. So, we are asking that each of our... Somebody probably has two on. If you could mute, that’ll help us out. Thank you so much. So, on the 28th, the webinar will give all the information about the call for projects. So, that will be information that I will talk about as well at THE HART Advisory meeting on tomorrow, but this is an opportunity with this first call for any of the crossings to be submitted since there is no cap on the dollar amount for submission. This first one is a trial run, if you will. But we’re hoping for future calls that we’ll be ready to be able to just pick off our list that we’ve gathered and updated throughout this process. And as always, in that small corner I have, dates are subject to change. When I came to you all last month, there were a few different dates, but TxDOT, since that time, has updated. Alright then. Next slide. So, these are the remaining dates for THE HART, which will be on this next slide, that will meet here. I just talked with Bruce. On tomorrow, we probably will be virtual since we just recently received this update. And we’re giving time for each of the entities to produce any updates on their list. That represents all I have for this portion. And Bruce will talk a little bit more about it. That last slide, I’ll come back around at the end. Any questions?

Director Jack Hanagriff: I have one. Who did the feasibility of the crossings?

Ms. Katherine Parker: HNTB for TxDOT.

Director Jack Hanagriff: Yes, that was interesting.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Yes. That last, that $349 million, that’s 2024 dollars. So, I went through and called out that information just so we can kind of get a picture for our regional cost. Director Bartholomew?

Director Angelique Bartholomew: Thank you so much, Director. I wanted to ask if you will share the QR code slide for the application dates and if that is postable to inform the public about the application time. And that coming from GCRD, I think, is of benefit both collectively and to the organization to show that we’re putting that information out there. So, I’d like to see if it’s possible for us to agree to get the slide to post maybe to LinkedIn or other agencies for it to be shared with so that that application is viewable and readily available to the public as intended. And then secondly, on the dates or the dates that you have there listed for THE HART, is that where you’re deciding on the reviews? Or what are the dates, again, for the application that you just shared prior to the QR code slide?

Ms. Katherine Parker: Those are just the remaining dates for the year for THE HART Advisory Committee meeting. We meet once a month with the Advisory Committee, so those are just the remaining dates.

Director Angelique Bartholomew: Okay. And then I wanted to ask if… it keeps slipping my mind. Never mind. It will pop up in a minute.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Oh, no worries.

Director Angelique Bartholomew: It was two questions, but I was trying to wait until we got that. But if we could share the slide and if... Okay, never mind.

Ms. Katherine Parker: We can, understanding that only cities and counties are applicants. So, it would be just information purpose for the communities and cities, so they understand what is required to even be in the process for applying for grade separations.

Director Angelique Bartholomew: Understood. I mean, I think that it just really, number one, puts GCRD out there as an informative agency or board. But, I mean, I’m pretty sure that agencies and counties are aware and that’s the target. But if that’s able to be shared, it would just be a good informative piece for us to show that we’re connected to those opportunities and connecting agencies to them. Oh, I do know my question.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Okay.

Director Angelique Bartholomew: Have you heard from Fort Bend Engineering Department with regard to the contact to data? Are you speaking with Stacy within Fort Bend or what is the contact?

Ms. Katherine Parker: Yes, that’s who I sent it to, Stacy Slawinski. Yes, that’s the contact, yes. I’ve only heard back from Brazoria County, but they have until the 24th of October to provide comments to the spreadsheets whether to update the crossings that are on there or to add crossings. All of that is a request.

Director Angelique Bartholomew: Was I copied on that one to Stacy with regard to the ones that he’s including or they’re possibly looking to include?

Ms. Katherine Parker: I didn’t, but I can copy each representative from each county. I can do that and send that out, so you know what crossings they are reviewing.

Director Angelique Bartholomew: I would definitely like to be informed and on that communication so that I understand what Fort Bend is doing and which crossings are targeted for that and even follow up to ensure that they get our response back.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Okay. Thank you. I appreciate that.

Director Jack Hanagriff: How long ago was feasibility studies done?

Ms. Katherine Parker: 2021 was the first year and then the technical memo with the update to cost and a few improvements was 2024. When we started conversations about the TxDOT or THE HART list, we asked that they give us a little bit more information on those particular crossings. So, that’s what that technical memo and those dollar amounts that you see, that’s what that represents. Any other questions? And if you think of anything, you can always email me, and I’ll get back with you. But I’ve taken notes from the comments they’ve provided.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Alright. Thank you, Director Parker. Moving on to Item Number 10 is THE HART Advisory Committee update from Bruce Mann.

Mr. Bruce Mann: Thank you. So, I’ll try to keep this high level. So, Katherine took a lot of what I was going to say already, so I’ll keep this short. One of the things we’re trying to do is come up with a prioritized list. So, what we’re going to do is come up with high priority, medium priority, low priority. And this is done by the jurisdictions of the cities, the counties, how they view it. So, high priority, medium, low priority, relative ranking to their list. And then short term, medium term, long term. So, we get all of those lists from everybody, along with all the other information that Katherine is asking for, and the updates and the costs. And then we’re also going to go and look at, we’ve started looking at what did CREATE use to rank and evaluate their projects and kind of the criteria that they use, and we’ll probably come up with something similar. It’s not going to be an exact, but it’ll be something similar. And to the comments earlier, it’s not just traffic. It’s looking at other factors other than just how many trucks or cars are going down the road every day. We’ve had some conversations with the brain trust about how we engage the community. There’s been some conversations with CREATE on how they did it. CREATE really did it kind of project based. Certainly, the community has to be involved in any project. We’re looking at potential alternatives for engagement at a higher, more strategic level, not just a project-based level. There’s a couple of different thoughts about what that might look like. So, we’re still evaluating what those options are and how to bring the community into this. So, Lindsay and Clay, we’re not ignoring you. We’re just being very thoughtful about the process because we want to make sure that it works. So, the community engagement is obviously a big part of it, just as important as how we rank projects. So, we’re going to take this evaluation criteria and then look at those buckets, the broad buckets, and say, okay, within those buckets, how do we rank the projects? And I don’t know if it’ll be perfect 1 through 10 or 20, but it’ll probably be tiered because it’s really hard to get to a 1 through 53 on a list. It’s probably going to be tiered projects within broad categories. But the having a list is important. Having a prioritized list is important. It’s one of the reasons CREATE’s been so successful, and we’re shamelessly ripping off from their model. So, I think that’s probably a high level of update of where we are now. Certainly involved in trying to push people along on SB 1555 and making sure there’s submissions for projects from our region. The City will be submitting a project November 3rd, I think is the date, or at least the opening date. So, there will be a project certainly from the City and hopefully others in the region, not just the City of Houston. So, with that, I’ll stop if there’s any questions.

Ms. Barbara Koslov: Okay. Can I ask a question?

Mr. Bruce Mann: Yes, you may.

Ms. Barbara Koslov: Okay, so just real quickly, I know in previous meetings that we had H-GAC’s Sydni Ligons speak, and I noticed she’s not here today, but she talked at length, and she did talk at the workshop, too, about her catalog of all these grade separations. Is that being used at all to help inform? Is her data consistent with what we’re hearing from HNTB? I’m just curious how that all comes together because she’s gathered a wealth of information, and I want to make sure we’re at least informed by it.

Mr. Bruce Mann: Yes, no, we are going to use that information. Our list is fundamentally going to be different from H-GAC’s because we’re also putting in capacity improvement projects and operational improvement projects and trying to figure out how we can put together public and private projects together and leverage cost share from railroads for a public project. So, fundamentally, the lists are going to be different, but the data that we’re pulling is in large part going to come from H-GAC and from cities and the counties.

Ms. Barbara Koslov: Yes, I get that. Sometimes my concern is there’s a lot of work being done, and how does it all tie in together?

Mr. Bruce Mann: Yes.

Ms. Barbara Koslov: Because I’ve been asked that question, and I’m like, well, we have different objectives and priorities, but hopefully there is some synergy where we can package the findings at different levels.

Mr. Bruce Mann: Yes, so we’re all tied at the hip.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Sydni is a part of THE HART. She’s one of the H-GAC representatives, so we share quite a bit of information. The catalog, which they are working on and will have a grant opportunity as a result from that work through H-GAC, is funded at 100%. So, like he said, that’s a little different. Most of the grants that we are working with, they’re usually a 80/20 split or some version that has to be a local share. But there is a lot of sharing of data, and we’re trying to make sure that we can fill in the gaps. If they are able to get planning studies done, then we can move on to what’s next on the list, so that we’re covering as much of our region as possible.

Mr. Bruce Mann: I’m a big fan of working smarter, not harder.

Ms. Barbara Koslov: Right, I get it. That’s kind of what I was thinking, the same thing.

Mr. Bruce Mann: Yes. No, to the extent that we can get them to do work for us, we will have them do work for us.

Ms. Barbara Koslov: Okay.

Mr. Bruce Mann: Any other questions? Thank you.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you, Bruce. We will move on to Agenda Item 11, which is a US 90A update from Barbara.

Ms. Barbara Koslov: Okay, I’ll give you a quick update. Speaking of H-GAC. Unfortunately, they have hit a little bump in the road in working with their consultant. They were supposed to complete their study and have a draft report at the end of September. Well, that did not happen, and I’ve been in communication back and forth with Thomas Gray, who’s the project manager at H-GAC. A little bit of the problem is we asked them to do some new work because we weren’t happy with some of the findings we were hearing, and a little bit of the problem is they had one project manager at the beginning of the study at HDR, and then he left and someone else took his place. So, they had not completed the report by October 7th, and we kind of said, “Well, we need to know if you have something that we can put on the agenda.” He has told me when it is complete, we’re going to get it immediately. We’re going to get to review it, the board—the board of directors here, and comment and make sure we are satisfied with it. Hopefully, that will be early November, and maybe that will come in for our next board meeting in mid-November, but they’re not going to take, according to Thomas, unless something changes, he’s not going to take it to TAC or TPC at H-GAC until we, the GCRD, has had a chance to review what they’re presenting, and we feel comfortable with it. So, I think this is going to push the process out a little, and my biggest concern will be if they don’t have anything to present to us for our next board meeting, which is in November, and we don’t have a December board meeting, we’re looking at January for some final pieces. I have also mentioned that we, and he said okay, that we want to talk to METRO, and to be honest, I do some consulting work at METRO. They don’t have a whole lot going on, and it would be great to jump in now with this project and talk to METRO and see if there’s something we can ignite, while METRO’s still figuring it out, but again, it needs to be coordinated with the other community, Fort Bend County, Missouri City especially where the Park & Ride is, but I said please include us if you start discussions with METRO, and he said he would. But those discussions, other than at the high level with their president, Tom Jasien, this planning has not been brought into that process yet. And that’s my report, unless you have some questions.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Any questions for Barbara? Seeing none, we will move on to Agenda Item 12, which is the East End Rails Project update from Jorge Bustamante from Harris County Precinct. Jorge, are you on?

Mr. Jorge Bustamante: Hello, everyone.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Alright.

Mr. Jorge Bustamante: Can you hear me okay?

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Yes.

Mr. Jorge Bustamante: Great. Hi, everyone. Thank you for having me. My name is Jorge Bustamante, and I serve as senior planning manager at Harris County Precinct 2, Commissioner Garcia’s office. I just have a quick update here on the East End Triangle Plan that we’re working on. We’re still pretty early in the process, and so I’m happy to give you a quick summary of the project and then a brief status update. So, if you guys remember, this is grants that we received from the FRA for $2 million, and both the city and the county are putting in the match, which is $500,000, so that’s a total of $2.5 million. And we are working on a comprehensive study of what we’re calling the East End Triangle. So, we had a number of community members this morning talking about the East End and how this works. We have the most impacts and most crossings that are challenged. So, I believe it’s somewhere like 5 out of the top 10 crossings are part of this, the Triangle. And so, the scope of the project is to do a study to basically compile all the efforts that have been done and that are ongoing, and then do a ton of community engagement, right, understand sort of how the community feels, the needs and the constraints, and then come up with a set of sort of short-term recommendations so we can continue to move forward, and then a package of new future grant opportunities so we can go ahead and apply again for implementation funds. And so, yes, that’s the plan. We are making progress on that.

We recently executed the grant agreement from the FRA that was able to get done before the shutdown. So, we’re very grateful for that. I know we also wanted the commission’s support, and we just met with the FRA last week to go over the scope and some grant reporting and to figure out inter-local agreement between the city and the county for that little bit of match we’re putting in. And lastly, the next step is to set up an RFQ process to hire a consultant. And so, once we have a consultant, that’s when really the fun will begin, and we’ll be coming back to this board with updates and a lot of what I’m sharing as we get going. So, with that, I’m happy to take any questions.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Are there any questions? Okay.

Mr. Jorge Bustamante: Alright.

Ms. Katherine Parker: Thank you.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you, Jorge.

Mr. Jorge Bustamante: Thanks so much. I appreciate it. And I’ll be back with a little bit more updates as it develops.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Thank you so much. Alright. We will move on to Agenda Item 13, and that is an update by the Ad Hoc Committee. And I will share some preliminary information, and then I will ask the other two participants, Mayor Keeney and Mayor Owen, for their comments if they would like. We have posted the executive director position. I believe everybody has likely seen it, all the directors on LinkedIn or elsewhere. And the position was posted on Friday, October 10th. And the postings were to the Gulf Coast Rail District homepage under Announcements and to the LinkedIn pages. Lisa posted it to her personal LinkedIn account, and I’ve seen several people have reposted it. As of yesterday, I saw at least three. And then reposted by Katherine as well, as admin of that account. Also to the United Way Job Bank. And I’m not familiar with this fourth item, the TexIT...

Ms. Lisa Patke: ITE.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: ITE (TexITE) Job Board as well. So, Lisa’s looking into several other options, but they are not finalized regarding any potential public job boards related to GHP or H-GAC, Houston Business Journal, Women in Transportation Job Board...

Due to technical issues with the recorder, the remainder of the meeting was not recorded. Ms. Katherine Parker provided a brief update on the East Houston Rail Impact Congressional Tour Roundtable. Vice Chair Ronald Beeson announced that the next meeting will be held on Tuesday, November 18, 2025 (moved to third Tuesday) and that there will be no meeting in December. Vice Chair Ronald Beeson requested a motion to adjourn the meeting. Director Jon Keeny: Motion.

Director Allen Owen: Second.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: All in favor?

Board: Aye.

Vice Chair Ronald Beeson: Meeting adjourned (at 2:57 p.m.).

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