upper left-hand picture and they actually created a set of tracks to run a dolly across the reinforcing steel to move that seismic joint and several hundred points there. and you can see the column

above the tressel and the crane is certainly and moving from the first street through to freemont will begin in february and we believe that the section will begin in october of next year. >> and the construction on the left there and to actually get a picture of the cast nodes that will be up at the park level connected to the two steel columns and ground smoothed and primes and so that looks like a seamless connection and like it was always meant to be that way and that is the way that a lot of the steel will come out, unless there is a lot of steel weld that needs to be completed and just another example of the steel, and you can physically see the sign-off of the inspectors on that one beam and that happens on every piece of steel that has a significant weld. and you need the inspection, process and the column on the

lower left is up in (inaudible) and the cast nodes, we are over 50 percent, and with the expectations to complete, close to the original schedule of one year of foundry work and that will be next march or april and the final nodes will shift and so that is great progress there. and as i mentioned the utility relocation, and sorry i jumped ahead there and the bus ramps starting up and we talked about this the last meeting and the piles and up on the via duct section will begin around the 13th, with the installation of the casings and we also expect the work to begin on the pile on nine which supports the bridge over howard street to start also on the 13th and two different contractors doing the work. and then some of the preparation for that, and the demolition on the right and the set up to guide the pile, completing of the pile on nine. and utility relocation, and we mentioned that the work is

behind us and everybody is happy about that, and no more work on mission street and the plan is to pave it out this weekend and all things working in our favor, it should get down, in the next 30 years, the lower concourse decking and continue the foundation walls and the third left walls and that rebracing and continued the bus, ramp work and the pile and nine work started and of course, the steel erection, and by the end of october, and in the november and on through the next 90 days that will be on the list for a long time. as far as the labor, we remain of 63 percent is considered local labor. and the numbers have not changed much and we still get the great coverage at 18 percent of the labor force from san francisco. and the aprin tris, and the 33 percent of the hours coming from san francisco.

and over all, about 2139 total people hitting the project through the payroll system. and that is the end of the conclusion update, and steve, is from the web course and is going to come out and talk about the bidding process and the survey that we conducted, and if there are any questions, i will be happy to answer those now. >> if not... >> thank you, steve. >> no problem. >> good morning, and earlier this year, tjpa retained the associates to conduct the dinner out reach survey and that was presented to the board in may and is this a brief update and the findings of that report and the recommendation can have a recommendation, that have been implemented. there we go. i think that it is important to

note that the recommendations that came from this report, were really are not confirming what we already knew. and the specific recommendations are that we actually implemented, were in the works prior to the report being issued. so there were really not any surprises for us and the first recommendation that came out of the report was that the construction estimate be updated at the time that the estimate was over 2 years old. and we received 100 percent construction drawings last april and our 100 percent cd estimate was completed in february and reconciled with the other estimates of tjpa. and the second recommendation to review the construction documents and bit manual to eliminate the design build and response responsibility and that was really with the bid packages at the time that were originally issued, the documents were less than 100 percent complete and it was

unclear as to what extent the bidders will be required to fill in the blanks and complete the documents as the things developed, the documents were completed by the engineer, and record and issued as aden um and were no longer necessary to carry the language in the packages and so it was deleted. and the next recommendation was to provide the flexibility for the use of the performance specification and this was really specific to the w1 awning system and the packages, and they were technically designed build, but the designs were very per scriptive but there was little opportunity for the design build, to actually change the design, and that has sense been corrected and the w1 system is procured through a qualification based, selection process, and we received those proposals, and week and a half ago, we will be presenting those to the board next month and according to the packages they are off to bid as a true design build.

>> review the packages to the scope of the trade and we have been careful to review each of our bid packages and to make sure that the scopes are comfortable to the bidders, clear and that we are not including the work that the bidders might otherwise not want to bid. and review general requirements, and we had large early bid packages and the bse, and the below grade concrete and the structural steel and if there were general requirements included in those packages which was appropriate at that time and as we migrated to more specific trade and subcontractor bid package and those requirement haves been eliminated. and survey sbe available for trade packages. we have i have made the adjustments to the goals for the specific trade packages while maintaining the over all 17 percent goal. and additional bidder out reach, clarifies the scope of work for upcoming trade

packages. we have done out reach to get the bidders qualified and keep them interested through the bid process and that has proven to be successful in some of the recent bids and stream line the bidding manual, with the entire team and made the recommendation to clarify the intent, of what was in that manual, and we made a number of changes that we think helped that along. and minimize the redesign you to incorporate the value and engineering; and that has been done and some of these recent bid packages have included the documents that have allowed us to proceed with the bid while the design team is completing the changes in their construction documents. and subguard has been implemented and it does not tie up the bonders and the bidding capacity and the stream line pavement processing and we had a lot of improvement in working

with tjpa and to obtain more payment and subcontractors and they are going aggressive sbe out reach and we have been successful, i think in maintaining our goals and getting the participation that we have targeted. questions? >> director reiskin? i think that it is excellent and i think that it is great that you have undertook this work and you have implemented the recommendations, you made the reference to seeing more bidders, i think, and the one that is before us today and it looks like we have a pretty good sized number of bidders. looking forward, are you seeing the fruits of implementing these recommendations manifesting? and... >> i think that answer is clearly yes. and you know, we have had more success than others in trade packages in terms of getting bidders and some of the trades they are eliminated a number of bidders in the market place, that are interested in bidding the project, just given to the market conditions, but, in many

cases we have had good success in the number of bidders as we did the packaging as we did today. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> okay. and now we have dennis, who is giving the quarterly project labor agreement update. >> thank you, good morning, directorers, i am here to report on the third quarter are of the pla report from july first to september 30th. and we are going to go through the update for operation and labor and the trade packages that are upcoming and the progress for the students and veterans and adults and the aprin tanses that we have seen. >> on the administration component, we did have all reading august 28th with the trades. and it was very successful, and it was very full meeting, where i went through the construction progress, and upcoming trade packages and presented so they knew what was coming out on the streets soon and they talked about each of their updates and

a lot of the discussion on the veterans which i will get to shortly. >> under labor, we had no work stoppages and that has not affected the work progress as well and all scale labor has been met. and there was an incident and i would say, an unsanctioned event that happened, pretty much a month ago, and with some members and part of the iron workers union that were outside of our party and they had nothing to do with the, and it was the iron worker union itself and they took it upon themselves but to show the unity to the pla we actually had the president of the iron worker's local, out there at 3:00 in the morning insuring that it was not affected by any of these members that were not, and we are dealing with an unsanked event and so it actually through the event today the solidary to the project. and also, and it has been reported through the steve rules reports the last quarter we had two and the one lost

time was that he referred to as a broken wrist. >> and so, our upcoming trade package and it will be present to the trades and also as a heads up to the board themselves we have over the fourth quarter here there are 12 package and one of them coming today and we have six for november that are slated as of web corp schedule just this past friday and the november one that totals about all of the packages total 130 million. and the december trade packages that are five of them and we anticipate, them coming in and this is approximately around 34 million and there is going to be some active board agendas here in the near future and the same with the first quarter of 2015 and we have another. and large group, january has five trade packages and only 6 million and so the smaller ones and february, it has nine trade packages at this point, coming,

and totaling 90 million and in march has two trade packages of 25 million and so there is more of a heads up and it will be a busy five to six months and giving out mat jorty and there is still more after that, but, i just want to give you a heads up to that. >> and wrap up, since the summer internship program ended on this quarter, very successful and i think that we had a great, and showed the kids a lot of good experience, and it was a very successful with the ten interns that we had on the project. and property agrees to meet with the veterans there is and the project team has been working with the city bill, and united contractors,? trying to place the veterans and there has been a fair amount of successes recently, and there has been effort to try to stream line the process. and hiring process, and the screening process to get as many veterans so there has been a lot of work on that, and i think that one of the biggest scream lining is going to the basis itself as to get to the veterans to come back and try

to get them what is available to them. >> and regarding adults, the operating engineers and it was actually cat lityl and they refer to the apprentice program is active now and they have been placing them on the project, and to meet the needs and the carpenters and peter, and reported that he has been, and they have had a very successful program and the 2000 candidates applied in the last few years, and that they are starting to work with the veterans and so there is some cross connection going with the carpenters and the plumbers presented that and he is placing the apprentices and they have a robust application process, and they have had 40 recently graduate from the program and then, have been hired right away. and then, city build was a part of our meeting as well.

and they are going to continue the assistance and continue the laborers and of course, mike with the building and the construction and trade council is continuing with the program over at john oconnol and the journey men and the program, and there are the percentage numbers for the non-labor and operators, all of the other trades have been clicking very well, and they are almost to 21 percent and so they are meeting the needs and exceeding on that. and our regional apprentice trends have continued as reported before san francisco in the lead with the 33 percent. and my last two slides, labor,

and programs are continued to have the laborers, and now with their program and hopefully they will be able to bring the numbers up as other trades, you know, the other projects and bus ramp really start and bring up those laborer's numbers and our operators numbers for apprentices has been very good, for the last year, and so that trend continues. so, with that, are there any questions? >> director harper? >> well, most of the questions is as it is a comment and we have got about 20 trade packages in the next few months, and i am really ignorant about what my discretion is, when i look at these things, i mean that i have had some legal practice and public contracting but not much. i know that there are some places where the legal requirements to add here to what is happen and then mr. are

places where discretion exists i presume and why is it in front of us at all. and i need some education. and if i am going to really do some sort of public job, and say, here is a series of contractors. and now, here is the one that we are recommending and here is the one that was cheaper but we think that they are not conforming and that is happening today on this one that we have got. i don't know what my job is, supposed to be in over seing this. i think, okay, well, there is this factor, but do i have any discretion to say, or did you have any discretion, when we see the report coming in like that, and it says, here, or, discrepancies and it would be good for me to at least see here is one in which we exercise the discretion. and then i could look at it and say, here is one, where no, we really got for discretion and this was just outside of the bounds of the... and of the rfb

or whatever, and was out there. >> i don't know, it is not and i don't know where one begins and the other leaves off. and exactly, how it is that a board here, is supposed to look at these things and say, okay, let's ask some questions, i don't know what the questions should be, i got a couple on the next one. but i, and we need, maybe a session and maybe i will get it myself and maybe some time to come down but i need the education, about how to look at these contracts and these bids when they come in, and decide for myself, what it is that i have some propriety in asking questions? and when, you know, i don't, and let's just and, let's just move on. and at this point, i feel like, you more of a rubber stamp than anything else because i don't

have that education. >> we are happy to set up with the counsel. >> okay >> one question is the laborer numbers have recently been low over all to date, are they hitting the goal? >> over all, at this point, they are about 13 percent, and so, they are trending a little low at this point, but, you know, in fact if you look at the chart and it shows that they have had good spikes for a while and then the trades in the field and have changed and now that we have the various packages coming out and it has been discussed and they are aware that they need to bring those programs for the laborers up. about 13 percent at this point. >> so we don't need to over shoot going forward to recover back to the goal. >> right. >> they have not made them available, but not not the

apprentice themselves. >> >> thank you, that concludes my report. >> thank you. >> and so could we call the next item, please? >> the next item is the citizen's advisory committee update. >> thank you. >> and i see that our vice chair, bruce aggott. thank you for being here. >> this report will focus on two items as a focus to the report at the last board meeting on september 11th. and the first item is regarding the formation of the special task district for the transbay, district, and it is

disappointing the developers, backed out of the tentative deal, discussed in early september. and however, we are pleased and we want to thank the board of supervisor and all involved for approving the resolution, for the formation of the special tax district up holding the cfd tax rates as outlined in the tcpd and it will be unfortunate and disappointing if the developers move forward with any lawsuits that will jeopardize the completing of the transbay, transit center, and the top park and the downtown extension and the improvements and on the second item, regarding the opportunity to revisit the uniform height and level boarding for cal train and high speed rail, i attended the cal train rail panel discussion, in mountain view on september 29th. >> and the panel members, were dave cal train, and ben from high speed rail and brian from

the tjpa project team, and thompson from the high speed rail group and jillian the director of the policy of the city and county of san francisco and this panel was moderated by dina, and when i attended that discussion, really reaffirmed that the issue must be and that issue must be studied closely, providing the funders of the high speed rail and mou and the opportunity to collaborate on upcoming decisions. we must maximize our operational flexibility and capacity, and passenger accessibility. and it is critical, that the appropriate agencies and funding partners, be informed

on the assumptions, alternatives, trade offs, and decision-making criteria to make the best decisions now. decisions to design and build in any up front constraints must be analyzed closely and approved at the highest levels and the key issue now is front and center is the question of uniform height and level boarding, which will drive the vehicle procurement decisions and these decisions will impact transportation, options, and our economy, for decades to come. and i am glad to see the discussion has proceeded to this point and that an update will be provided at today's board meeting and we look for toward to your questions, thoughts and suggestions, on a path forward. and thank you so much for this opportunity, to present, and our report and i will be happy to answer any of your questions. >> thank you. >> thank you so much for presenting it and also for your comments on the upcoming presentation, and i will also have the same questions, and any discussion or questions?

>> thank you, mr. vice chair, and thank you. >> and the next item. >> public comment, and you have camille lawrence. >> and so we are calling public comment and we do have one speaker card come up. and if anyone else would like to speak, just line up. >> your name was just called. >> ladies and gentlemen, of the audience, and commissioners, chair kim, and mr. harper, i am here today for the same reason that i was almost a month ago. going back to 2009, the sfmt, director as well as the mayor's city and county of san

francisco, started appointing cronies to the sfmta taxi commission or taxi services authority or agency. and they have been advising you on the taxing matters on this construction project. people with no capacity whatsoever, in the taxi business and the attorneys from the mayor attorney office payroll some of them are in and out of substance abuse tanks on a monthly basis and have been giving you advice on what to do with the taxi business in the city and county of san francisco and on a transbay, joint power authority and i am here to tell you that i have started an investigation with the civil service commission. and to how the sfmta hires for the taxi business, as well as their own personnel and i have asked for an investigation of the civil service hiring practices of san francisco and almost how every department in this city can bypass the merit

system and the civil service system to pick the political and crony appointees in the department with no background checks whatsoever, i am not here to discuss that, i am here today to tell you and give you seven to 8 copy ts of the letter that i submitted to the civil service commission on this fact and here, on that that i am glad to hear, that there are veteran programs here to promote this project and work within this project because in the nine years that i have been speaking for the taxi agencies, i have never heard them talk about the veterans once. and i am a united states naval veteran and we have the wife of the president of the united states coming to town to make sure that some of these guys are not homeless and some are them are well trained and some of them have problems, yes, but i am glad to see that you are putting some of them to work. i am happy with that. it is a big issue today.

and last but not least is this, i thank you for the letters that you have given me and the 8 years thatvy spoken before the sfmta and they have have not responded with one letter as if i don't exist on this earth. but i do. and so i am going to leave with you that and i am going to leave you with 7 copysies and ies they will go before the ethics commission and i thank you for this. >> and thank you, for your comments, and thank you also for your advocacy for the veterans here in the city and a very important issue. and is there any other public comment? >> seeing none, public comment is now closed. >> and can we please call on the first item on the regular calendar? >> item 8 requestcy presentation by the california high speed rail authority and the peninsula corridor joint

powers board on boarding height. >> good morning, directors. and thanks for the introduction. and i just want to lay where we are at this point, and the up front negotiations between the parties are now under way which is the good news. the current layout of the platforms are what we negotiated with high speed rail and cal train, and some four years ago. and it is not perfect, and it has two platforms for the tracks and the high speed rail with the high level boarding at 50 inches and two platforms for the cal train with a 24-inch and we have not built any of these platforms and we are not going to build anything until phase two when we actually know

what vehicles we are going to get. so just, to look at where things are, worldwide, high speed rail has throughout europe mandated a 30 inch platform height. and the vehicles are used and are not 30 inch height. and they are 50. and so you have put on a tgb, and you have to walk on the level and then drop the stairs to actually get where you want to go, and fine if you don't have the long legs. and on the other hand, the two differences from that, that is five... because they have to have the same platform height for the different countries they don't have ada. we do. and we need to do or abide by it and building a new facility. and japanese system of 40 or 50 years ago and it is designed the trains and the platforms to be identical and that is the 49 inch that they use. and the united states has one

example that they expressed on the east coast where they are using 48 inches and the rest of the world is doing it differently. now, i have yet to introduce the subject but we are talking about the benefits of boarding heights, and with the transbay. and just as you see, when you start off with the commuter rail in the morning, and there are the long distance rail, you need the trains of either end and you cross off from one end and the dead ahead. and 50 or 300 miles. and in storage for start up will be better if we can store the trains of different platforms, and they are all the same height and we can get more trains in here. remembering the initial system is looking at only two high speed trains per hour and so