it will be enormous and totally unique to san francisco and the transit center project. finally, we are working with the los angeles artist born in the bay area, tim hawkinson, one of the most important contemporary artists today. his idea was to create a giant welcoming sculpture made of the rubble and debris of the demolished former transit center. we have very carefully called 40 pieces of concrete with our contractors so that they can be reassembled as a 40-foot high structure welcoming people to the transit center. finally, of view of the transit center from the air and from neighboring buildings in the evening. >> thank you. are there any questions? director sartipi? director sartipi: i do hope bus

operations were considered in the design, as well as the consideration of future changes if they take place in operations. >> bus operations have been a critical factor at the bus deck level and on the ground floor. they continue to be a subject of much discussion, as you can imagine, a very complex undertaking, but that has been one of the driving considerations throughout the entire design process. director metcalf: this is going to be an incredible building. the expressiveness of it will be a wonderful contrast with the buttoned-up, downtown architecture we have. that is, in fact, an important principle in san francisco, urban design. private buildings are supposed

to be stayed, and we reserve public buildings for that expressiveness. i think the biggest risk in this design, in my opinion, remains the park. we want it to be like the high line, but what if it ends up like being like freeway part in seattle, like so many failed public spaces in america? we have learned a lot in the past 40 years about elevated parks, but there are many more failures than successes and american cities, and many failures by the greatest designers of landscape architecture. it may be handled by good

policing, to keep it safe, but it is so lacking in ways to get theire, especially from outside the building. i love the idea of bridges to the building, as a way to meet open space requirements. if there ends up being a lot of those, that will be a neat design feature, sort of breaking the rule that we do not do bridges over public streets in san francisco, but in this case, we will. i know you are in construction drawings and it is too late to change anything, but that is the thing that i hope you continue to develop more. >> as you can imagine, the success of the park is as important to us, as it is to san francisco. it has been the proposal since the day the competition. we have spent a lot of time

working toward its success, and it has several aspects. one is accessibility. it needs to be readily accessible, in many ways as possible. there are some-20 ways to get to the park. that is important to us. secondly, your development is perfectly timed, in the sense that you're able to influence a member of the adjacent buildings. already, we are being asked by adjacent property owners -- one is in the room today -- how can i bridge over, how can i get to the park? we have some designs for bridges that make it very easy to access the park at the upper level. the transit center tower will cover an entire restaurant floor at the park level, with a very large bridge connection. so already, adjacent property owners are seeing that as a tremendous advantage.

third, safety is critical to us. it is a very visible, sir available park, one where we have multiple levels of security considerations. finally, we are packing it with activities. several restaurant and cafe locations, and and the media that can seat as many as 1500 people, availability for weekend film festivals, conventions that spill over from mosconi to the park itself. what is being created is a perfect instrument, when programmed well, to be a phenomenal addition to the life of the city. it is fortunate, we have the high line currently being so successful in new york, we are well beyond the program abilities. the high line has two activities at most. we are going to have some-15 possible activities. so everything we are doing it

will be bent toward the success of the park. director sartipi: good answer it have any other questions or comments? i always thought that the -- director kim: i always thought that the design was great, especially how you articulated it. i was thinking the same thing about the park. it is beautiful and you want to make sure that we allow maximum utilization. we do not want to see an empty park in the middle of downtown. some of the issue that you had brought up would be helpful. i have been to the high line part, and i think it is amazing, and i think that it helps that it is connected to some of the buildings in the area. i agree, as much accessibility and activity as possible would help activate that upper level space. i am not sure how the wind is in that area, and whether that has

influenced the design. >> win, availability of sunlight, changing weather conditions, are all part of the design brief. i will say, i think director metcalf has put his finger on, by using examples of the ones in seattle, allow me to make another distinction. i could talk about this for another 45 minutes. what is happening here is you are inserting a public space 70 feet in the air in the middle of a city. larry halpern did not have that opportunity. seattle's park is actually a covering over a freeway. we are in the middle of one of the most dynamic and beautiful cities in the world, with a view to the bay bridge. that, alone, will attract people, make this a unique destination. i think we are on the verge of

something really extraordinary here. and i think it will be a success. director metcalf: is it possible to add the bridges that are not designed, in advance? that is how you have designed it? >> absolutely. fortunately, with san francisco's blog configuration, you can kind of predict, within a range of five, 10 feet, where a bridge might go. we are highlighting those places right now, inviting people to make that bridge connection. even an existing building could make a connection, if they wanted to. it is not a difficult problem. you just need to be prepared for it. director kim: we also appreciate the diversity of artists, local, national, as well as women. thank you for the report. at this time, i want to move up items 10, 11, 12, acknowledging

we have directors who need to leave. 10, 12, 13. >> downtown extension redevelopment project. final environmental statement. environmental impact report for the proposed bus grant component of the transbay program. >> if you have any questions, bob can answer. director kim: could reduce its summer for the public? >> two primary elements to this modification for the bus ramps. at the point at which the bus ramps connect to the fremont street off ramp, we are widening the points of connection so that the buses have a wider aisle in which to exit.

that is requiring us to modify the existing caltrans structure. that is the impact being reviewed. the second issue, as the ramps approached the transit center, when we worked with high-speed rail, in the fall of last year, on the radii for the throw structure coming into the bus ran, that increased offset between the last column structure and the transit center itself. so we will be -- it became a distance of almost 200 feet, which was a distance we could no longer cantilever the bus structure into the transit center. that last segment is going to be a cable-supported structure entering the bus ramp. those are the two changes that are evaluated in this eir.

director kim: any questions regarding this item? roll call police. -- please. >> [roll call] item 10 is approved. item 11, authorizing an amendment to contract no. 00804. construction manager general fund services for construction of the transbay transit center building and related structures with webcor/obayashi to increase the time for services to 160,000 hours and adjust the contract sum to justify the cost of services under amendment 2. >> bob will also brief you on the item, briefly. >> our time and materials-based service with webcor/obayashi, we

originally had a top-down construction and moved to the bottom-up construction we are now using incorporating the train box. at that time, we made an amendment to the contract and have developed a work plan going all the way out through the sale of the properties, advertising and award of construction trade packages. this is based on work plan for webcor/obayashi services through the completion of preconstruction. director kim: director ortiz. director ortiz: that is a 300% increase in the hours from the original? >> the original contract, it is 300%, but the figure based in the original contract was a preliminary evaluation for the basis of comparing the fee

proposals, not based on a specific board plant, a basis for comparing the three components in the original contract. the markup on construction services, hourly wage for construction services, and the bonding cost. as it turned out, webcor/obayashi submitted the lowest cost on each of the three components of the proposal. the work plan was subsequently developed after the switch to the bottom-up construction. director kim: any other questions? seeing nothing, roll call on the item. >> first and second. [roll call]

no members of the public wanted to comment. item 11 is approved. director kim: item 12 please. >> approving revolution -- resolutions to remove local government services as an intermediary for benefits and payroll between the tjpa and tjpa staff. >> directors, this item includes five revolution irresolutions and is a continuance of the item we -- resolutions and is a continuance of the items we discussed last week. public employees retirement system. these are the second steps you approved two resolutions in november. this is the approval of the final contract with calpers. two of the resolutions are for calpers health benefits. one is agreeing to join their system and make a contribution toward employee health and

retiree health care. the second one is a resolution that allows survivors of deceased employees, if they were to pass away before eligible for retirement, would allow their survivors to purchase health benefits through the calpers health system. the fifth resolution is simply replacing lgs with tjpa in everyones employment agreement. i want to emphasize there are no additional fiscal impacts to the tjpa. the overall result of this change will actually be significant savings to tjpa, over $90,000 a year is but we anticipate we will save in human resources management. i also want to point out salary and benefits are just 2% of our overall program budget and we have never utilize powerful saturday -- salary and benefits

budget. >> i know the staff report is like the. having to answer any questions you have. director kim: you will not have to increase any of your own capacity for human resources once we eliminate lgs as an intermediary? >> that is correct. we are working with adp as a peril provider and part of their services include human resources in. significantly less cost than we are paying lgs now. >> in the two resolutions subject to mental health care, one is offering the ability of employees from the tjpa, passing with prior to retirement. is that a customary thing for calpers to provide? >> it is up to agencies that our

contract with calpers. an optional benefit. it does not cost the agency anything, but is a nice thing for employees to know, should anything happen before they were eligible for retirement, that their family could continue to purchase health coverage. again, it does not cost the agency anything. families are responsible for medical premiums. director kim: any other questions? simenon, roll call on item. -- seeing none, roll call on item. >> we need a motion. >> seconded. >> [roll call] item 12 is approved. item 13. approving the minutes of the november 10, 2011 meeting. the members of the public wanted

to comment on the item. >> motion to approve. >> second. >> no members of the public wanted to comment. all in favor? any opposed? seeing none, i will approve the minutes. if you would like, we could go back to the other items. director kim: acknowledging that two members need to leave, we will not have a quorum, which we do not need for these items, suggesting that we move item 8 to the january board of directors meeting, which i support. >> we can do that, but we have to present item nine. director kim: please call item 9. >> presentation of the audited financial statements for the fiscal year ended june 30, 2011 and report to the board of directors.

>> this will be a quick item. this is our eighth consecutive year of having clean, unqualified audit opinions on our financial statements. before i introduce our auditor to address you, i just want to thank our staff that puts a lot of work into producing the financial statements and keeping our accounting records in a state that you can produce clean and financial statements. internal controls -- you can have internal controls written down, but it takes staff following and respecting them in order to produce your clean accounting reports. with that, i would like to have ahmad, from our independent contractor in company, to address you for a moment or two. >> good morning. i am the department in charge of the audit at the transbay tjpa.

under government auditing standards, and general accepted accounting principles, the financial statements are presented to you, alongside three opinions. one of which is on the fair presentation of the financial statement, as well as the couple more opinions. one of which is on federal compliance. the agency receives a significant amount of federal funding, as well as reporting to you any significant deficiencies or material weaknesses in internal control. i am pleased to let you know that we issued a clean opinion in all 3 areas. no audit adjustments as it relates to the financial statements. we had no internal controls, no material deficiencies noted in the regular audit, as well as the federal compliance audit that we have performed for fiscal year 2011. the financial statements you see

here are financial's at present the overall position of the agency as of june 30. it has a balance sheet, statement of revenues, changes and expenses of net assets, as well as a given transactions that have occurred. i will be more than happy to answer any questions. >> congratulations. director kim: thank you, director. >> thank you. are there any other items before us? >> you decided to move item 8 to january. that concludes the business before you today. >> we can do that without opposition. if there are no other items, then at the meeting is adjourned. thank you.

supervisor mirkarimi: good morning. welcome to the san francisco

county transportation authority meeting to i am ross mirkarimi, a chair. i want to thank sfgtv for their ongoing excellence. madam clerk, would you please read the roll call? >> >> supervisor avalos? present. >> supervisor campos? present. >> supervisor chiu? present. >> supervisor chu? present. >> supervisor cohen? present. >> supervisor elsbernd? present. >> supervisor farrell? present. >> supervisor kim? absent. >> supervisor mar? absent. >> supervisor mirkarimi? present. >> supervisor wiener? present. we have a quorum. supervisor mirkarimi: very good. item number two, please. >> approval of minutes of the november 15, 2011 meeting. this is an action item. supervisor mirkarimi: any discussion? any public comment? seeing none, public comment is closed. roll call, please. >> item number two. >> supervisor avalos? >> supervisor campos?

>> supervisor chiu? >> supervisor chu? >> supervisor cohen? >> supervisor elsbernd? >> supervisor farrell? >> supervisor kim? >> supervisor mar? absent. >> supervisor mirkarimi? >> supervisor wiener? item passes. supervisor mirkarimi: all right. please read items number three four. >> 3 commenters report. four, executive director's report. these are information items. supervisor mirkarimi: colleagues, this is my last meeting as chair of the transportation authority. i want to thank you all for allowing me to serve you for two years. as i look back over the last year, but in particular the last two years, i think it is important that we can all take pride in some major milestones that we were able to achieve together, such as the completion of the environmental impact report for the van ness bus a rapid transit line. i project this is poised to move

into implementation, and one that i believe will change for the better, the way people see public transportation in san francisco. on high-speed rail, we spent a very productive year forging a unified san francisco position in the face of rapid change them in the policy environment both in washington, d.c., and in san francisco. i believe we will see caltrain electrification in high-speed rail kunduz san francisco at center than most people predict. we only realize the dream, the downtown high-speed rail terminal, but we're also known to show the way for the rest of the state. our coalition building worked in this area, and it will be a major legacy. i am proud of the work we have done on the presidio parkway. we're poised to open the first phase to traffic in early february, and our work on the public-private partnership has said legal challenges all the way back to the state supreme

court. again, we are blazing new trails in project delivery. they will benefit not just the city but the entire state. we have made significant progress in presenting a unified front in the region on san francisco's infrastructure needs related to the proposed sustainable community strategy, scs, and raising their readiness for pungent housing policies that can provide governments to make the right decisions to enable us as the region to make the most of our investments in transportation and infrastructure and do our part in addressing climate change. aside from the passage of prop k, that when the first general it -- revenue-generating measures in 2003, weaver also successful in putting forward the first ballot measure to transportation authority, and that was proposition aa, which passed last year. thank you, colleagues, for pursuing that it also, the

transportation authority in providing the dollars to conduct one of the first shared audits of the mta, as the ta has been tapped in helping address some of the larger chronic problems certainly experienced by a sister agency, the municipal transportation authority. i believe that many of these are big topics in the legacy, and the progress we have made will be measured are the next several that it did not want to thank supervisor campos and supervisor mar and all of you for the focused energy and clarity have brought to the discussion of the many important policy issues that we have faced at the transportation authority over the past 12 months and previous 12 months peter i am grateful for the opportunity to work closely with the authority's executive director and staff. i greatly appreciative of the due diligence and excellence that ta staff have provided a

there is plenty yet to be accomplished, but i leave with a clear sense that we have moved the agenda forward. it has been in awarding experience. thank you for the trust you have invested in me and for the opportunity to serve as the authorities chair. i look forward to seeing the operatives work from the fourth floor and promise to keep in touch. thank you. mr. executive director -- >> mr. chairman, commissioners, a good morning. i am the executive director. my report is on your chair. many take a moment here to bank and acknowledge the outgoing chair for his distinguished role as the steward of the jurisdictional authority over the last year. we have worked very closely with him and have never been disappointed