the port authority of new york and new jersey …...2019/12/12 · 6% against 2018 and setting its...

(Public Board Meeting 12-12-19)

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Board Meeting Transcripts

December 12, 2019 [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Alrighty. The Board Meeting of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and its component units is now call to order. Earlier today, the Committee on Operations met in public. Its report will be filed with the official minutes of today's Board Meeting. The Commissioners also met in executive session early today to discuss matters related to propose, pending or current litigation or judicial or administrative proceedings, matters related to the purchase, sale, or lease of real property where disclosure would affect the value thereof or the public interest matters related to the personnel and personnel procedures and to discuss an act upon matters involving ongoing negotiations or reviews of contracts or proposals. At this time, we ask the Executive Director to provide his monthly report. [R. Cotton] Thank you very much. This is the last Board Meeting of 2019. And as such, in my report today, I want to recall for the Board the achievements and the events that the staff of the Port Authority has completed in the course of 2019. So to begin with agency-handled record numbers of customers and travelers at all our facilities in 2019, each of our three major airports and our airport system as a whole, when the final count is done, we will have handled record numbers with our airports up nearly 3% over 2018 and an all-time high of 142 million passengers. Our tunnels and bridges will have handled the highest number of vehicles in the last five years with steady growth at all six crossings. And with the Staten Island Bridges in particular, handling record numbers, and the new Goethals Bridge leading the pack up more than 6% against 2018 and setting its own new record. PATH saw the highest average weekday ridership in its history at 286,000 passengers with a steadily increasing number of weekdays when daily ridership top 300,000. That is clearly headed to be the new normal. The seaport hit new records of cargo, every month, and will finish the year with its largest volume of cargo handled in history. And based on this record volume, the seaport in 2019 once again became the nation's second busiest port for the first time in two decades. The World Trade Center campus has come dramatically into its own, as the opening and completion of the streets augment last year's opening of 3 World Trade Center. Even as the agency handled this growing record public use of our facilities in 2019, we made significant progress on our agenda to upgrade our legacy facilities and improve their operations. Throughout 2019, we have tried to assure that there is no area in which the agency stood still, and in many areas, I believe, we have left ahead. Let me turn first to safety and security. We are laser-focused on this area. We have taken safe facilities and made them safer in 2019. We trained and graduated two New Port Authority Police Department recruit classes, bringing the PAPD staffing levels to more than 2,100 officers, the highest level ever. We set multiple goals in 2019 in the security area. Totally rewriting and updating emergency plans, running multiple training exercises, creating 24/7 airport operation centers,


testing and piloting new cutting-edge security technology and continuing to implement the recommendations by our outside third-party experts in respect to facility security, cyber security, and emergency management. The agency accomplished all these goals in 2019. With respect to our Capital Plan, forward progress on our agenda to invest in and upgrade the agency's legacy facilities was never greater than it has been in 2019. The staff conducted a detailed and thorough review of the plan, conducted seven public hearings on the Capital Plan's revisions, hearings that also cover changes in the agency's fares, totals, and fees. As the Board knows, our current $37 billion is the largest Capital Plan in the agency's history. And we are now clearly committed in the context of that Capital Plan to the full transformation of our three major airports, LaGuardia, Newark Liberty, and JFK. Our work in 2019 demonstrate that the agency is now in the full swing of turning those plans into reality. LaGuardia is $8 billion-construction of a whole new airport continued its rapid pace in 2019. The airport has now opened its new West Garage, opened a new concourse at Terminal B, and 30 days ago opened a brand-new Delta concourse. This forward progress in 2019 means that today nearly one-third of LaGuardia's flights are now operating out of brand-new gates. Also at LaGuardia, the new LaGuardia AirTrain Project move forward. The Board gave final approval to full funding and the FAA initiated its formal environmental review. The agency's plan for transforming Newark also took major leaps forward in 2019. The new 2.7 billion, 1 million square foot state-of-the-art Terminal One project topped out its steel frame, and it is racing toward a fully enclosed building by mid next year on its way to a partial opening in 2021 and completion in 2022. The new $650 million consolidated rent-a-car facility and public parking garage broke ground in 2019. The Board authorized in 2019 planning for a brand-new Terminal Two. Board will consider today the authorization and implementation of a new world class terminal operator to take over concession operations in Terminal B. In September 2019, the Board authorized full funding for a $2 billion replacement for the Newark AirTrain and the agency has immediately moved forward on initiating environmental review and then needed initial engineering and design work. At JFK, the airport's transformation plan also gained key momentum in 2019. The TWA Hotel open to widespread acclaim in May. The Board approved last month, the fully negotiated lease for the brand new $7 billion, 2.8 million square foot Terminal One. American Airlines received the final sign off on the environmental approval for its $344 million Terminal 8 renovation a month ago, and we expect that project to break ground imminently. 2019's progress will yield the start of major construction on all of JFK's ambitious projects by the middle of next year. In short, 2019 saw our airports world class ambitions and plans make real world progress toward becoming a reality. At our bridges and tunnels, capital construction raced ahead. Following heart on the heels of the completion of 1.6 billion new Goethals Bridge in 2018 and 2019, the agency completed construction of the totally transformed 1.7 billion Bayonne Bridge. The Bayonne's new roadway of 4 modern lanes, with 2 modern shoulders opened in August of 2019. Also in 2019, TB&T completed capital projects to enable cashless tolling at both the Outerbridge crossing in April and at the Goethals Bridge in September. All three of the Staten Island to New Jersey bridges now utilize all electronic tolling. And the Board approved capital projects last summer to enable at


our three Hudson River crossings, and those projects are moving ahead smartly. At the GWB, the 1.9 billion restore the George program achieved all of its major 2019 milestones. And another critically important step, the agency in 2019 launched in late May, the formal environmental review process for the Midtown bus terminal replacement project. The agency received a multitude of highly substantive comments during the four-month public comment period, and an intense engineering and design analysis is underway to develop responses to the comments and continue to advance that project in 2020. In 2019, PATH initiated work on one of its largest Capital Plan challenges of repairing superstorm Sandy damage to PATH, to Trans-Hudson tunnels leading to the World Trade Center. 2019 also saw PATH embark on three other important capital projects. PATH completed and opened in June, the second head house of the new Harrison station. The first new PATH station to be opened in New Jersey in more than two decades. And the Board approved funding for construction at three other stations to enable 9-car operations on the World Trade Center to Newark line by mid-2022. At the port, in 2019 the agency completed construction of the fourth and final Express Rail facility, establishing a world-class intermodal rail lift capacity across all of the port’s major cargo terminal. This enhanced capacity positions of the port to be far more formidable as a competitor to attract cargo headed into the interior of the US. Also in 2019, the port completed its master plan that sets out the port strategic objectives for the next 30 years and maps out the capital investment strategy needed. At the World Trade Center, two years ago, two sites under the control of the Port Authority remained dormant and unfinished. The Performing Arts Center site, and the Tower 5 Center, and the Tower 5 site. As we finish 2019, the agency has taken aggressive steps to move those projects toward completion. The PATH construction is now well underway and with respect to site 5, an RFP was published in mid-2019, bids have been received, and an award should be made in early 2020. Beyond these major projects across the entire suite of more than 600 Capital Plan projects, the agency has achieved in 2019 extraordinary progress in delivering capital projects on time and on budget. Through excellent cooperation between the Chief Development Officer, Derek Utter, and our Chief Engineer, James Starace, and all of the five-line departments, in 2019, the agency has hit better than 90% of its schedule milestones on time and a skillfully manage capital spending, so that more than 90% of capital projects are proceeding as planned. This record represents a significant improvement on past performance. With respect to customer experience, one of our prime focal points, 2019 saw major efforts to improve customer experience at many of our facilities. At our airports, the agency in 2019 upgraded dozens of restrooms and installed the real-time electronic monitoring of customer satisfaction at every single airport restroom. We added customer experience stamp throughout the airports. Aviation train more than 30,000 employees across all airports on customer service orientation. Aviation created an online one stop shop for lost and found operations at all of our airports. Our airports improved Wi-Fi speeds across all terminals and putting all our airports on track to hit 100 megabits per second in early 2020. Wi-Fi was extended to the Customs Hall. We are in the process of overhauling and improving all of the airport signage and Wayfinding. The airports deployed online smartphone-enabled food-to-gate delivery technology at all our terminals. With


respect to our commitment to be family-friendly, all airports installed 28 nursing suites for mothers across our terminals as part of our family-friendly agenda. At our bus terminals, the agency in 2019 advanced the quality of commute program. At the Port Authority Bus Terminal with the complete refurbishment of all 17 public bathrooms, the opening of the facilities first ever family bathroom, the opening of a brand-new staircase and elevator lobby, and the installation of new ceiling and lighting on the second floor, which means that 75% of the South Wing ceiling and lighting has now been refurbished. Greyhound and Peter Pan bus services installed brand new ticket and customer service centers. The Port Authority advanced a retail agenda at the bus terminal opening Jay's Hallmark three new Hudson News locations and the new Frames, 9th Avenue Lounge. At the George Washington bus station, we opened a new community center that will serve as a Dominican cultural and educational hub. Also at the bus station, we opened eight new stores operated by local businesses and produced and saw an enthusiastic reception from bus riders and local residents. At PATH, the agency in 2019, completed in-station and on-platform countdown clock installations throughout the PATH system with over 260 screens now displaying next train information. PATH developed and announced the PATH Improvement Plan that will over the next 30 months increase capacity by 40% on the Newark to World Trade Center line, by 20% on other lines will reduce delays and will improve customer experience. As I summarize, at the beginning, the agency handled record-breaking operational values by Operational volumes that are facilities clear evidence of operational excellence, with respect to our sustainability efforts. In October 2018, as you know, the Board acted to make the Port Authority the first public transportation agency in the US to align its greenhouse gas reduction initiatives with the goals of the Paris's Climate Accords. The agency in 2019 took action to follow through. We achieved our 2019 goal of half of our airport shuttle bus fleet to be all electric, and we ordered another 18 buses for mid-2020, which will make the entire fleet electric. In 2019, the agency deployed 122 electric light duty fleet vehicles with the goal of putting the agency on pace to hit our target of a minimum of 600 by 2023. Agency executed agreements to construct solar installation at three of our facilities, agency completed an upgrade to energy efficient LEDs throughout the Oculus has part of its $100 million energy efficiency program. After, with respect to employer of choice, after hearing employee feedback through town halls and surveys, we made the decision to elevate the goal to be an employer of choice. In 2019, the agency launched seven separate initiatives to respond to this feedback, and we intend no letdown in 2020. Everything we do with the Port Authority rides on integrity. In the last two years, the agency has launched 21 separate integrity initiatives. And support of our commitment to sustain a culture of integrity and compliance, the agency took action in 2019 to launch a brand-new online integrity training platform for employees delivered multiple training modules, including conflicts of interest, reporting misconduct and protection from retaliation. And the agency trained 100% of non-represented and virtually all-represented staff specifically on sexual harassment prevention. In 2019, our office of compliance and integrity also issued a significant number of new integrity policies. With respect to diversity and inclusion, 2019 saw a multitude of actions reflecting the agency's full embrace of the value of


diversity and inclusion in our hiring and contracting practices. We reached the milestone of awarding close to $1.4 billion in contracts to MWBEs on the LaGuardia development program, awarding $178 million and contracts to the New Jersey firms as part of the Terminal One redevelopment at Newark Airport. Awarded more than $450 million of contracts to Queens Business as part of LaGuardia redevelopment. And we worked with the Council on Airport Opportunity and community partners close to LaGuardia to launch job outreach programs. In Newark and Elizabeth, we conducted multiple local business outreach events targeting both local and MWBE contractors for services at Newark's Terminal One project. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I would like to commend the Board's attention to the work of the Port Authority staff. All of the 2019 activities that I have described are the result of the staff's extraordinarily hard work. The staff and leadership at each of our five-line departments, Aviation, TB&T, PATH, the Seaport, and the World Trade Center. The staff of our critical staff departments, finance, law, security, technology, engineering, integrity, diversity, and inclusion, human capital, procurement, government and community relations, major capital projects, communications, and I would be remiss if I did not single out the Port Authority Police Department for their extraordinary contribution across the Board. None of this progress, of course, would be possible without the Board support and encouragement. And I look forward to our continued partnership in 2020. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you, Executive Director, for an extraordinary report. You know, 19 days from today, we are going to enter the 99th year of existence of the Port Authority. And we have talked about when the forefathers and foremothers back in 1920 and '21, We are thinking about what this agency was going to do. My guess is, Rick, they would have had some of those ideas that you just talked about. And it is breathtaking when you talk about some of the achievements that have been accomplished in 2019. When you talk about whether the, we were building three airports, all at the same time, rebuilding is extraordinary. We are adding up to 40% capacity in PATH. And you talk about the additions and successes in diversity and with our employee of choice. And the environment of the Paris Accord, and on and on and on, it is really almost like a wish list has actually got done in 2019. And it shows you what this Board can do, what this Port Authority can do when you have an extraordinary Executive Director, I mean that, Rick. You know, I have said this, you are the most amazing public servant I have seen ever in my 30 years of public service. You are driven, and you were focused. And sitting on the table on your Monday staff meetings is a lot of fun for a lot of us to watch in a very demanding fashion. And what you do, you demand excellence from everybody, but you demand the more from yourself than anybody, and those are so critically important. And when you see the red, green, you better have your homework done, folks. And everybody in this room knows as directors, you better have it done because at the end of the year, you are going to have to be accounted for what you did and what you did not do. I think this Board in particular, this Board in particular needs a debt of gratitude to be noted to you, Rick, for your extraordinary drive and vision and focus. Job well done, I am looking forward to 2020 working together.


[R. Cotton] Thank you. [applause] [Board Chair K. O’Toole] And at the same time, I thank the Board members. We have worked really well in 2019, looking forward to working together. I know with some bit of pride that I do not think there is been a single vote. And, Linda, you can correct me if I am wrong. I do not think there is been a single vote where we have had dissension. We have had a lot of questions, a lot of discussions, a lot of animated conversations. At the end of the day, this Board has worked very closely together. And that is the only way we are going to get things done. So to my fellow Board members, thank you very much for an extraordinary 2019 and for allowing the environment to breed the successes that Executive Director just talked about. Vice Chair. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] A special shout out to our Chairman, who has led many of the robust discussions that we have had, [applause] and always is able to bring consensus. So I thank you, Mr. Chairman. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you, Vice Chair, for being a wonderful partner. And this is working out, and I am hoping this period of Daytona works for a bit of time because we have a lot of things to do in 2020. And this is what the Port Authority was meant to do. So as we roll towards the 100th year anniversary in 2021, we are going to talk about this litany of things that we want to do, they will get done just by sheer will of this Board, and this Executive Director, and the management. And a shout out to Linda who handle us, informed us She is our Board Secretary. After 35 years at the port, she has decided to take a breather and take a retirement. And, Linda, job well done. And first of all, you represent the very best of all of the folks who have dedicated their lives for 35 years of life here. You have grown up and talked about what your dad's vision was, you work here hard and get a pension, go retire to Florida. I am not so sure you are ready for Florida, but I do want to tell you, Linda, it has been an extraordinary ride in the last 18 months serving as the Board Secretary, you have been extraordinary. On behalf of this Board, the Executive Director, and all the senior staff, thank you very much, job well done. [applause] [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Moving ahead, Diannae, we have a recognizing special employee today, Michael Shulman. And I want to talk about the extraordinary deed done by your employee. [D. Ehler] Be my pleasure. So Port Authority Tunnel and Bridge Agents known as TBAs are on


the front lines of operations of our tunnels and bridges, and they serve a critical function in the safe operation of these facilities. They serve as primary first responders, with respect to incidents at our bridges and tunnels, including disabled vehicles, removing disabled vehicles, they handle accidents, medical emergencies, vehicle fires. They are also responsible for the maintenance of traffic lanes. They do vehicle towing and recovery. These men and women are highly-trained individuals who are ready to respond 24/7 to any incident at our bridges and tunnels. Today, I wish to recognize one such individual, TBA, Michael Shulman, who on November 14th administered lifesaving aid to an unconscious individual when he stopped at an accident scene on Staten Island to render assistance on his way reporting for duty to the Holland Tunnel. Specifically, Michael acted to ensure the safety of the individuals at the accident scene and sought assistance from another individual on site to safely remove the unconscious man from his vehicle and administer CPR to re-establish breathing. Michael continued to render CPR until local EMT has arrived on the scene. And as a result of his quick and decisive actions, I am pleased to report that the individual recovered. Please join me in recognizing Michael for his actions and rendering lifesaving first aid. [applause] [Michael Shulman] Thank you. Thank you. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Michael, thank you very much. [Michael Shulman] Thank you. Thank you, Chairman. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Next order of business is the presentation by our Chief Financial Officer, Libby McCarthy, who will review the proposed 2020 Budget for consideration by the Board following the public speaker’s program. The budget was posted on the Port Authority's website on November 12, public comment. Our Chief Financial Officer will provide an overview of those comments as part of our presentation. Libby. [E. McCarthy] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And good afternoon, Commissioners. Before I get started and give that overview, I do want to thank our Management and Budget Department for its leadership and all of the finance folks in the departments across the organization for their hard work in developing this budget. The proposed 2020 Budget is a fiscally balanced plan, and it aligns with the Port Authority's mission to keep the region moving. We each year undertake a comprehensive planning process that considers both our mission as well as our key six strategic initiatives that Rick highlighted in his presentation. And we look very closely to reallocate resources, so that we can balance both our fiscal responsibility and delivering on those six strategic initiatives. Consistent with the Bylaws, you are being asked today to approve annual expenditure budgets for four different areas. One, the annual capital spending expenditures that


are consistent with the 10-year Capital Plan, operating expenses for the year, debt service support, debt service operations, as well as other activities, which are things like purchase of heavy equipment and computers, which are purchased and deferred and amortized over several years. Important thing for us is to balance the sources that we have to the uses and needs while maintaining our financial metrics. As you can see here, our source is total $8.6 billion, which is up 1% versus the 2019 budget, and our uses as well are at $8.6 billion. I am going to walk through each of the components here so that you will have a sense of what they are. [Incremental Operating Revenue growth more than offsets] [Incremental Operating Expense Growth] An important metric that we report to you regularly on both in our quarterly reporting of results and in our briefings with the Finance Committee is net operating revenue. This is what we use to be able to fund and drive our capital program. So as you can see here, another key metric that we have is to measure the growth in our operating expenses and to keep those core operating expenses budget growth in line with inflation. As you can see here, our incremental operating revenue growth more than offsets or incremental operating expense growth, which means that the bottom line, our net operating revenue is increasing in 2020 in the proposed budget by 13% when compared to the 2019 budget. Proposed core operating expenses for 2020 are at a measured growth of 1.9%. Again, consistent with inflation and that is $64 million. In addition to that, we are looking at funding certain incremental priority spending of $62 million or 1.9%. This is in order for us to be able to maintain and achieve first class operations, support our capital projects and to preserve or generate revenues. And I am going to as I walk through the different components of the budget, highlight some of those items in that incremental priority spent. [Proposed $5.8B Gross Operating Revenue Budget is increasing by 404M, or 7.5% versus the 2019 Budget] Just focusing a little first on the operating revenue budget, we are projecting that operating revenues will increase by 7.5% or 400 million versus the 2019 budget. You can see the mix of those revenues by category and consistent with where we have been for the long-term, roughly one-third of our revenues come from tolls and fares, with the remaining two-thirds from non-toll and fare-fee sources. And I will walk through those tolls and fares that are included in this budget reflect that cumulative inflation-based toll increase that the Board adopted in September of this year. If you recall, totals have not changed since 2015 and PATH fare since 2014. So that in addition to our projections of increased revenue, increased activity is reflected in this budget. Rentals are also included in here, and those reflect increase rental revenues and increase rental income mainly from our aviation facilities, World Trade Center facilities, import facilities. And then another large category here, aviation fees incorporates increased cost recoveries as a result of incremental investment into the airports and they move forward of our customer service initiatives, as well as the fact the AirTrain fare increase, the inflation-based AirTrain fare increase that the Board approved in September. And the implementation, the


planned implementation of a new ground transportation access fee in October of next year. We also have a modest net decrease in parking and other fees reflected in this budget. The proposed operating expense budget of $3.4 billion reflects in the inflation growth of 1.9% in that incremental priority spending. It is important to note here if you look at the categories of spending that 51% of this budget is toward operations and maintenance. And when you add in the safety and security budget, we were at 74%, so we are targeting our dollars to that mission and delivering on that. Operations in addition to the regular ongoing day-to-day operations and also this budget supports the breadth of that Capital Construction Program that we have going on right now particularly at the airport. So we do need operations, folks to help support those projects to make sure fluid access to our facilities while those are going on, and that is reflected here. Also reflected here is higher toll collection and E-ZPass processing fees as more people are migrating toward the E-ZPass programs. Safety and security, again, 23% of the budget. This supports ongoing activity for the police department. In addition to staffing up the AOC, the operation centers, the airports, the emergency operation centers, also that necessary police support for that construction program as well. Maintenance program includes in addition to our normal maintenance, increased operation and maintenance support for the AirTrains at JFK and at Newark. In addition to investments, maintenance-typed investments necessary to support the PATH Improvement Plan. Diannae spoke to you about the PILOT of the technology that may help us increase capacity at the Lincoln Tunnel That is in the management services budget, and then some support as well to PATH in implementing its PATH Improvement Plan. And then finally, rents and PILOTs are reflective of contractual increases. [The Proposed Budget invests in the Port Authority's six strategic priorities] Rick went through our six strategic priorities. I am just going to hit on a couple highlights of what we are continuing forward from what we have achieved in 2019 into the 2020 budget. Safety and security, I have talked about those. So we will continue to manage and maintain that program. The customer experience, in addition to what the resources we need from a police and safety and security perspective for supporting construction, we also need operational folks and those are included here particularly for the construction program at LaGuardia. We are maintaining many of the important customer experience initiatives that we have for Aviation as well as at the bus terminal and PATH, advancing that PATH Improvement Plan into its next phase and continuing the investment on the Port Authority Bus Terminal quality of commute program. Operational excellence, I mentioned the enhanced AirTrain operations and maintenance, PATH improvement's reliability. We are also importantly continuing the phased implementation of all electronic tolling, including picking up the Lincoln Tunnel, the Holland Tunnel, and the George Washington Bridge. And we will be moving those programs forward next year and advancing some of the recommendations in the Port Master Plan. All of the programs that Rick talked about in his presentation with respect to sustainability are reflected further into the 2020 budget. And in addition to that, the significant capital investment, we are continuing to make on the Superstorm Sandy projects, which will improve our resiliency in the long term. Employer of choice, we have


funding here to retain, grow, and attract our top talent and invest in employee training and development and recognition going forward. And then finally, we are going to talk a little bit about the $3.6 billion is being proposed in support of the 2017 through 2026, $37 billion plan. [Proposed $3.6B Capital Spending is in line with the 2017-2016 $37.0B Capital Plan] Here is that, $3.6 billion, you could see the mix by department. The largest department here is clearly the Aviation group, with 58% of the plan. This is reflective of the cycles and investment that we go through and the ramp up of full construction across the Aviation organization. [Proposed 2020 Capital Budget highlights] Here, I am going to just hit a few of the highlights in the budget, a little over $2 billion for Aviation. Some milestones we expect in 2020 is completing the LaGuardia Headhouse and 70% of the roadways. Advancing planning for the replacement of the AirTrain at Newark, advancing the early work on JFK development, including airside enhancements and roadway modifications. Continued planning and design for AirTrain at LaGuardia, construction of the new Terminal One at Newark, and advancing the planning for a new Terminal Two at Newark, as well as some Superstorm Sandy funding related to airfield lighting rehab. TB&T, roughly, $740 million. Again, we have got the suspender rope replacement program underway, and we will continue that in 2020. I have mentioned the cashless tolling, moving forward with that. We also have substantial, we have continued planning and design activities for the new Port Authority Bus Terminal, and some work on Sandy type related work and then building protections and resiliency protections at the Holland Tunnel. PATH has a $390 million program, and that is continuing the signal system replacement program. Planning and design for PATH to Newark. The PATH Improvement Plan. Capital investment, that includes, moving forward, the 9-car platform expansion, and advancing the modernization, and completion of elevator, and escalator replacements, Journal Square and Newport, and the Superstorm Sandy tunnel rehabs that Rick mentioned. $50 million at port. This is really reflective of a cycle and investment at the ports. They have just completed some large programs, and we are sort of phasing some down and ramping some up, so you can see we're going to have completion of the Global Intermodal Container Transfer Facility. Advancing the analysis of wharf reconstruction program at multiple facilities, and then some bulkhead rehabilitation and environmental review work with respect to the Cross Harbor Freight Movement Program. And then finally at the World Trade Center, this is kind of the wind down spending as it relates to construction support for the West Bathtub Vehicle Access Program, which is on the north side of the campus, and advancing the construction of the PAPD Command and Property Management facilities. [Proposed 2020 Budget reflects $1.4B in Debt Service-a $100M, or 8%, increase versus the 2019 Budget] Moving to the third category of spend, we are looking for authorization, and that is debt service, $1.4 billion, That is $100 million or 8% increase versus the 2019 budget. And this is reflective of the continued progress we make on delivering projects in the Capital Plan as we


placed assets into service, the debt service with respect to those will grow, and that is what is reflected here. [Three written public comments were received regarding the proposed budget-no changes are recommended] As you mentioned, Chairman, we did post the proposed budget online on November 12th, we issued a press release, we also made that notice on social media, requesting public comments through our public comment website. I provided the Board with an update of the comments that we had received through December 6th on Friday. And since then, we have received one additional comment, just going to highlight those comments for you here. There were three written comments with respect to the proposed budget through that public comment website. One offered some specific recommendations on the scope of certain projects included in the 2017 through 2026 Capital Plan. One offered feedback regarding expired PATH union contracts. And one comment requested that the Board consider that the Carpool Plan not be eliminated in January of 2020. And although, no formal comments were solicited on social media or email, eight were received via Twitter, Facebook, and email. Seven of those were observations of budget content with no specific recommendation and one recommended an adjustment to TB&T's budget. Given the nature of the comments received, no changes are recommended by staff to the proposed 2020 budget. [We request authorization of the Proposed 2020 Budget] So with that, I would request that the Board consider adoption of the proposed 2020 budget, which is fiscally balanced and aligns with the Port Authority's mission of keeping the region moving. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you, Libby. The Vice Chair has a question. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Good afternoon, Libby. First of all, I want to commend you and your staff for one more wonderful year of work. But I want to bring another statistic that you did not mention out from you because you maintain our AA minus credit rating. And you did in 2019, and I assume that you will do it in 2020. And what most people do not understand is that it provides the liquidity that is necessary on a weekly and monthly basis to do our capital projects and our operations. And you are particularly adapted, at executions in the debt market. So you know from time to time, I ask you cumulatively, how much have you saved in interest rates? The last time I asked I think it was a little bit over a billion. So for those of us who keep score, where are you today? [E. McCarthy] I think we are in about the 1.2 billion range. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Whoa! Very, very good. And I just want to bring that to everybody's attention.


[E. McCarthy] Thank you. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Mr. Chairman, back to you. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thanks, Vice Chair. Any other Commissioners have a comment or question? Okay, we are going to put this voting off until we hear from the public. Thank you very much, Libby. Okay, at this time, we will provide an opportunity for the members of the public to provide a comment or commentary on Port Authority matters. This public comment period, which may be limited to 30 minutes in total provides an opportunity for members of the public to present their views directly to the Board but does not provide for a dialogue. Members of the public wishing to discuss a specific matter with the Port Authority staff are advised to contact our Public Affairs, and we will direct it to the appropriate personnel. Speakers asked to comply with the fixed time of three minutes. We have 14 speakers listed so far. First one is Charlene Talarico. [Charlene Talarico] Good afternoon. On Monday, I was told by Jen Onofrio that Michael Farbiarz, the General Counsel of the Port Authority says it is unethical for anyone to talk to me because the pending litigation regarding the filming of my medical examination. Let us review. At the Lincoln Tunnel, I was forced to endure a hostile abusive environment, which culminated, and I being physically assaulted and injured by Diannae Ehler, the General Manager of the facility. From the moment I was assaulted, efforts and actions were taken to protect Diannae Ehler and discredit me, starting with a false police report. I said I was physically assaulted yet, the report states it was a verbal dispute. Criminal charges against Diannae were accepted by the court, which allowed me to receive discovery. Imagine my utter shock when I saw my entire medical examination was filmed without my knowledge or consent. The filming is an entirely separate matter that is being handled in federal court. In an effort to have the truth acknowledged of what occurred, the wrongdoing and cover-up stopped. I wrote numerous emails requesting assistance. I received some replies to my emails, including one just recently on November 8, from Michael Farbiarz. Not only did I receive email, but I also received meetings rescheduled. I met with Chief Bilich and Claudia Dickey on February 17th, 2018. I met with Debra Torres and Nicole Crifo on May 11, 2018. On May 21st, 2018, I met with Chairman O'Toole, Debra Torres, Nicole Crifo, Peter Simon, and others. I again met with Chief Bilich on September 16th, 2019. Please note, Chairman O'Toole, Debra Torres, Nicole Crifo, Peter Simon, all have law degrees. The lawsuit regarding the filming of my medical examination was filed on February 1st, 2018. Prior to any meetings and has nothing to do with the Lincoln Tunnel wrong doing cover-up issues for which I have been requesting assistance. Almost two years later, and after numerous meetings and emails, now Michael Farbiarz says it is unethical for anyone to talk to me. Unbelievable! If you ask me what is unethical is the Port Authority stating over and over, even this afternoon, that it all rides on integrity when the actions of this agency regarding the assault and injury I suffered at the hands of Diannae Ehler and the cover-up and wrongdoing that is


occurred since proves just the opposite. Michael Farbiarz, I have a question for you. Why is it lying and covering up wrongdoing unethical? Thank you. Good afternoon. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Yvonne Garrett Patterson. Is Yvonne here? Okay. Sean Mayo? [Sean Mayo] I do not have much time, so I will make this quick. Thank you, everybody, for your time today. The reason I am here today is as most of you know, our contract negotiations have been going on entirely way too long. I do not think what we are asking is unfair considering the fact that every single project, as you have all just mentioned, as you have all just mentioned, have been achieved. We have gotten zero credit for, we may get a letter here and there and that says thank you, but actions speak louder than words. I have a family. My family is everything to me. And I take this personally because when you are being this way towards us, you are affecting our families. Everybody keeps saying that we should accept what the Port Authority accepted. For years we have been told, you are path, you are not Port Authority. When we are here on snow duty, Port Authority gets paid for 24 hours, they are on 12, off for 12 and put in a hotel room. You know where we are? In a 10x15 bungalow, in a chair. During Superstorm Sandy, three weeks I was here without my family. What do we get? Nothing. We are being offered zeros for 2012 because that was the "Sandy" year. Overtime caps. I do not enjoy spending my weekends here, every single weekend. I would rather be home with my family. But because I am a good employee, and I stay here to get these jobs done, now you guys want overtime caps too. I say this because I started here 14 years ago, I was young. I saw a great opportunity here. This company was very good to me. I have two daughters, both born with heart murmurs. Every parent, I am sure There is a lot of parents in here, that is the worst nightmare to have a child born and have something wrong with them. And I was very grateful for this job because of the healthcare that I had, my daughters were both very well taken care of and they today have no problems. I do not understand. You should feel very, you should feel very good about the fact that you helped not only myself but many other employees, wives that have had cancer, kids that have had cancer. I have gotten the best treatment possible. I do not understand why you would want to take that away from us. We work in horrible conditions. A lot of people would go down there and would be sick to even look at where we work. But we do it. That is our job. And we do it very well. We keep this system running all the time. If there is any problems, we take care of it, right then and there. I do not think that we are asking too much for you to just negotiate a fair contract for us. Thank you, guys, for your time. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Thank you. [Sean Mayo] Ladies and gentlemen. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Robert Elijah. Robert Elijah.


[Robert Elijah] You know what, thanks, you all, because I cannot do nothing but piggyback off of what he just said. We do not want to fight. We do not want to, I got a sign here. This says, "Dedicated employees deserve a fair contract." I want to show you a little bit of dedication. When I first came here, I am 60 years old, I got 12 grandkids, and you know who Santa Claus is. When I first came here, when World Trade Center fell down, we were first responders with the PATH police and the New York Fire Department, first responders down there. Then when Superstorm Sandy hit, we had guys that dove in the 3-feet of water to open up valves to clear slumps, so that the water can be dissipated. This is a dedication. Anytime there was anything that affected the railroad, we were there, and we conquered. PATH training is probably number one in an area of being on time. They are probably number one in area of not having any derailment or cancellations. That is the PATH train. That is why the ridership is up so strong. It is because of us. We are little guys. We are the guys that is on the bottom. We are on the ground. We make sure the trains keep running. Without us, what is going to happen? What is going to happen? The contracts that you have set in front of our faces is garbage. And Stevie Wonder could see that. What we are asking for is fairness. That is it, just fairness. We do not want to fight, we just want fairness. In the medical, we work in tunnels. A lot of railroads do not have tunnels. We work in the tunnels, we have chromium in those tunnels, Steel dust, asbestos, and we are under the auspiciousness of all of those conditions. We just lost 17 guys. What? Last week. Seventeen dead guys, they had a tunnel fire. And when you have a tunnel fire, the whole tunnel goes up, and there is not nothing but smoke. We lost 17 guys, 17 guys is out just because of that. And you want to diminish our medical? You got to be kidding me. On one hand, you are offering us a 2% raise. A Long Island railroad got threes across the Board. And that is million. You offer us a 2% raise in this hand and then in this hand you say, "Oh, you got to pay 2% into your benefits." How do we feel about that? And then you want our copays to go up $20 and $40, $100 for a doctor's visits. How are we going to live? Who want to come in my grandkids when I die or if I die when something that affects me from working on this job on railroad, who will tell my grandkids? Who will tell my grandkids? I am sure every, probably, just about most of you all got grandkids. Who will tell my grandkids? [applause] [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you. Alexander Jones. [Alexander Jones] Good afternoon. I am here to talk about PATH workers. Right now, we have been out of contract for eight years. This is the longest any union on a passenger railroad has been out of contract in American history. You are asking us to make concessions that will negatively impact the rest of our lives. We do hard, dangerous physical work in extreme conditions. Sometimes, we work in 10-degree weather outside, other times, we work in 110-degree tunnels. We work in unimaginable filth, creosote, diesel smoke, asbestos, lead, chromium, bio-hazards, and 100-year-old dirt and garbage everywhere. When I get home, I


cannot hug and kiss my wife and son because I do not want any of the grease and wood splinters and metal shavings trapped in my clothes touching or scratching them. The effects of the metal dust, the fumes in the asbestos can take 30 years to show up. I am in my early 40s right now. I have longevity in my family, three of my grandparents lived into their 90s. I will spend the later decades of my life needing serious extensive medical care and you are trying to make that healthcare less affordable. I have a chronic elbow problem and will need regular cortisone shots for the rest of my life. I will probably need surgery sooner or later. And you are negotiating to make that more expensive. And I am one of the luckier ones. I have co-workers who have been burned, shot, hit by vehicles, fallen off of ladders, gotten infections, and been struck by machinery. Two years ago, eight of my co-workers retrieved the limbs of a passenger who was dismembered by a train. Last week, 17 of my co-workers were hospitalized after fighting a tunnel fire. We are not firefighters, we are not undertakers either. We risk our lives to keep the trains running. And all the public sees is a tweet about a delay because of a smoke condition or a signal failure, but you as our leadership know better. And if you don't know better, you should. We all sacrifice, our time, our health, our well-being. Please renew our contracts without changing the benefit plan. You are denying us money we know for a fact It is already been allocated for us. The changes are pennies to you and dollars to us, and it is a false savings that will make it harder to retain and attract good workers. Do the right thing. Thank you. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you. Anthony Pilla. [applause] [Anthony Pilla] Director Cotton, Chairman O'Toole, Board members and guests, I am Anthony Pilla. I represent the BLE 497 train engineers at PATH. Director Cotton, in the past two Board Meetings, I have listened to you speak with great pride about the relationship the Port Authority has building with the MWBE, the Minority Women's Business Enterprises. Giving women an opportunity to become successful is extremely helpful and important to our communities. Congratulations on your accomplishments. I would like to tell you about the women I represent. We currently have close to 40 women on engineers' roster, over 36 of them are minority women. They are responsible, reliable, certified FRA-licensed engineers. These women work hard and take pride in this skilled craft, moving our increased amount of passengers back and forth to the tunnels safely every day, and they deserve the same respect that the Port Authority is giving the MWBE community. They deserve proper wages for the past nine years that are in-lined with the increased cost of living expenses during that period. The pension contributions need to be adjusted, so the fun can last and give them security in their future retirement that we all deserve for the commitment we give at PATH. The whole healthcare contribution issue needs to be re-examined. To where the carrier said the plan has not changed, but it has due to the proposed quadruple increase to doctor visits and prescription plan, making it unaffordable for the members. Board members, we have 177 engineers on our roster, the women and the rest of our


members deserve a fair contract. You have the authority to make it happen. Please use the same energy and assistance that you are currently applying to the MWBE, the Minority Women Owned Business Enterprises to the skilled FRA-certified licensed engineers, that work here at PATH, safely moving our passengers back and forth from New York to New Jersey. Thank you. And may you take my word as consideration and give the commitment to union employees, engineers I represent through a fair contract. I sit here and every meeting, and I see the great things you are just doing, and I just do not understand why when it comes to union personnel on this property, especially at PATH about what we have gone through in the last 20 years. I do not understand why these contract negotiations had to become disrespectful. Like these gentlemen had just said, they do not want to fight. We do not want to fight. We love our jobs. I got my button to show you that. We love our jobs. We love the company. We would just like to be treated fairly. You guys have the power to direct your chief negotiator to do that. I would appreciate if you would. Thank you for allowing me to speak. You guys have a nice holiday. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you. Arthur Blakey. [applause] [Arthur Blakey] Director Cotton, Chairman O'Toole, distinguished members of the Board, my name is Arthur Blakey III. I am the Vice Chairman of BLET Local 497, and I have 15 years at PATH. I think one of the biggest things in this run-in negotiation that constantly gets overlooked up until my constituents over here brought it up this afternoon is the fact that we work on a railroad. A railroad that falls under the auspices, the rules and the policies of the FRA. This matter because if you are going to draw a comparison between an engineer or a dispatcher, or power rail man or a car inspector, I think that we should be compared to those occupations on other railroads too, Metro-North, Long Island, any railroad in the region. I do not want to take away from anything that the other Port Authority crafts do. I know they sign in and just like we do, they have jobs that we cannot do. They give it everything they have got. I'm not questioning anybody's dedication or their skill level or anything like that, but, I bet that a lot of the guys who work down at the GWB, I have probably never crawled under a train to extinguish a burning air compressor. I am pretty sure that nobody at the Holland Tunnel has probably walked a mile underground to get to a disabled train That is full of passengers on the PM to get it out of there. I am pretty sure that the vast majority of people have never stood in 2 feet of snow with a blowtorch on their back, melting snow and frozen switches just so they can get Harrison Yard moving, so they get the service in the morning. But do not take my word for it. I mean, it is nice that I am saying all these things, but all you have to do is look back to Presidential Emergency Board 244 written back in 2013 regarding the contract disputes between Long Island Railroad and its various unions. I quote, "The record contains no evidence of any historical linkage between wage and benefit adjustments or the absolute levels of pay and benefits granted to New York State employees on the one hand and those represented by the organizations of the carrier


on the other." They went to another PEB because they could not get it together five months later. And it stated, state employee agreements have virtually never constituted valid competitor or a pattern for commuter railroads. The labor market skills, history, and operations are completely different. Same thing for New Jersey Transit. So it was not in the past, so it shall be now for the BLE, IBEW,or RASA, ATDA. Kindly remind Gary Dellaverson to stop ignoring the past precedent in our region in our industry. Please tell him to remember that he was front and center for both of those negotiations between New Jersey Transit and Long Island Railroad, and he should be able to quote these PEBs chapter and verse. The PATH labor coalition unions or railroad unions, and they should be bargained with this such. Thank you. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you. Qiana Bartholomew. [Arthur Blakey] Unfortunately, Qiana could not be here. Her son became ill this morning and she had to stay home and take care of him being a single mother as I explained. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Okay, Ricardo Bowen. [Arthur Blakey] You sure? [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Ricardo. [Arthur Blakey] Yeah, he is declined to speak of this time. He recently had a death in his family. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thomas Degnan. [Thomas Degnan] My name is Thomas Degnan. I have been working for PATH for six years. I am the alternate Treasurer Secretary for BLET 497. Let me first start off by saying that I was very grateful I got this job. My father-in-law has worked for Port Authority for 35 years. And when I met his daughter, he was trying to get me to come here, but I worked at a newspaper at the time back in the early 2000s. But as you can tell now, newspapers are going out of business. So as the jobs waned away, I finally came down here, and I started applying, took me 4.5 years to get here. But I came here for the benefits. And now you are trying to take those away. Not take them away, but you are trying to reduce them. And when I first started the newspaper in 1994, we had excellent benefits, like we have here, like I have here today. And by the time I left in 2009, we had changed plans three times. I went from paying $5 and $10 to $250 a week. My first kid cost about $150 to have, my last kid cost over $5,000 at the same company. We change plans multiple times, It is horrible. And that is what I have been telling people here since I have been coming. Since I joined BLET that this is what is going to happen here. It is going to change, and it is going to get worse and worse and worse. Somebody like me who does preventive care, you are going to take what cost me in 2019, what you are proposing, what it would cost me in


2019 is about $1,400. What you are proposing in the contract will cost me over $8,800 in 2021 for the same services because I do preventive and some of my stuff is out of network. You are going from 1,000 to 3,000, 20% to 25%. You know, it is not affordable for me. So the raise will be squashed. But that is why I came here for the benefits, and I want to leave with a pension. I want to leave with my medical. And I cannot do 20 years because I started here late. So somebody else asked me to read this. I think I have enough time to read it. "Board of Directors, I was wondering what to say to the Board of Directors when channel 7 Eyewitness News reports that hero veteran Port Authority Police Officer, Victor Talamini, who once risked his life to stop terrorist bombing by tackling the suspect. Now he needs help fighting an insurance company United Healthcare to get new wheelchair for his permanently disabled daughter. He already pays percentage for his healthcare and gets treated like this shameful. PATH union railroad workers have given their all to PATH through 9/11, Hurricane Sandy, winter blizzards, automatic train project, rebuilding the World Trade Center bomb proofing, rail tunnels on the Hudson River, and we are left nine years without a raise. The fact is that Port Authority would rather pay an outside labor lawyer, Mr. Delvison, 25,000 monthly retain to corrupt, impede, and stale the collective bargaining process." Thank you for your time. Happy holidays. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you. [applause] Mr. Weissman. Mr. Weissman here at the back? And after Mr. Weissman, Mr. Grant, and Mr. Bodin. [Neile Weissman] Chairman, Director, Commissioners, good afternoon. Last month, I biked across the Bayonne Bridge. And today, I will compare that to biking across the George. Also to comment in agency bike policy, you have copies of extended remarks. Simply the Bayonne is great, 12-foot wide, no obstructions, simple entrances to get you on and off, but raising the main span means, you know, have a three-quarter mile climb with a 5% grade but that will certainly improve regional fitness. By comparison, the George has a user friendly 1% grade but also 7-foot wide path with columns every 60 feet, and on peak days traffic 20 times that of the Bayonne. So crossing can be an intense experience. And the coming growth and mode share and the agency's plan to encourage assembly at the entrances means you have a predictable exercise and dysfunction. The comparison beat would be like inserting a fourth runway at Newark between 4R-22L and 4L-22R with a playground at each end. This week, an agency memo surface sharply restricting bike access to LaGuardia Airport. The memo includes this sentence, "The only thing worse than being injured while riding a bicycle or scooter is being the driver of a vehicle that strikes the person or the scooter." Now having been injured, that statement is so wrong in so many ways, but mostly because it signals an agency biased that marginalizes cycling at LaGuardia across the George, and even to exclude bike parking at the World Trade Center campus, not even city bike. And it comes in a year when 25 New York City cyclists were killed by cars because they did not have the infrastructure needed to keep them safe. Last month, the


city committed to spend $1.7 billion to build out Vision Zero improvements to keep pedestrians and cyclists safe. Last week, Amazon, DHL, and UPS announced a pilot program to use electric cargo bikes to transport packaged goods. This is an obvious good idea, which the agency does not support. The agency got it right on the Bayonne, but it needs to get the overall bike policy fixed so that the region can get infrastructure needs at your terminals and crossings. Thank you, and good holiday. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you very much. Brian Grant. [Brian Grant]Good afternoon. My name is Brian Grant. I am a Principal of Grant Engineering& Construction Group in Newark, New Jersey. We are New York based surveying engineering construction management firm. I spent a lot of money in Newark, have been educated at Seton Hall Law School, NJIT on the engineering side. On the side of the business, I have been educated by Mike Messiah, Dr. Keith White and his group as part of the MWBE Outreach at the Principles Academy. I came here really to applaud the efforts of Mike and Keith in really holding prime consultants to the fire. What we are hearing, we are hearing a lot of big numbers, a lot of money being spent on the architectural and engineering side. We are not seeing it. I think the lessons learned from Terminal One, Mike and his team have really taken that and implemented some measures which I hope will lead to increase spend on the MWBE site for Terminal Two and the AirTrain such as the million dollar in discretionary spending, holding prime consultants feed to the fire in turn of denying their waivers when they said they can find qualified MBE firms. We are there. We want to participate. We want to grow the firm. I encourage the Port Authority and Mike and his team to continue to do what they are doing. Within the last year, We have gone from 8 to 16 people, and a lot of that growth has been the city of Newark and the mayor's initiative to grow local firms. I would like the Port Authority to really focus, you know, because it is Newark Airport, because it is a regional hub, to really pay special attention to Newark and Elizabeth-based minority businesses. We are looking to grow, we are looking to hire from the community for the engineers that work for my firm, a newer based engineer, graduates of NJIT, and really to support Mike and his team in their initiatives because it does make a difference. Having these bigger projects with longer life cycles, allow us to hire competent, highly-qualified engineers and pay them the money as opposed to the shorter life cycles we encounter when we start our company. A lot of what I did when I started up was small development projects, two-week to two months life cycles. Now that we are getting on these larger projects, It has allowed us to scale. And that is the impact of Newark Terminal Two and the AirTrain. It is a real impact, you know. So I just wanted to bring it down from the 30,000 feet level to where we are. And just to applaud again Mike and his team and the Commissioners and the Executive Director for holding the prime consultants’ feet to the fire and continue to give us opportunities. [Brian Grant] Thanks a lot.


[Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you very much. Murray. Last speaker. [Murray Bodin] When I went to bed last night, I had a complete program for today that I would spend days on preparing. And I got up this morning and printed out the agenda, I read one line and knew everything I had prepared was wrong. So I had to change it, and I came up with two items to talk about today. One was an ongoing project. The other one is new. I got very upset when the Harriet Tubman $20 bill was postponed from 2020 to 2026. So I went out, and I bought some 13-cent Harriet Tubman Stamps, pasted them on a $20 bill. And now my $20 Harriet Tubman bills, it is legal. And I have a bunch of 13 cent Harriet Tubmans that I bought. United States stamps which I will be glad to sell to anybody who would like to buy one at list price. The second item was I started reading the Wall Street Journal, I get the email every day. This morning, the article was internal FAA review, so a high risk of 737 MAX crashes. In 1956, I worked for Curtiss-Wright. I was on the team that built the first flight simulator using a real cockpit. Over the years, I have been in probably 100 cockpits, probably talked to 300, 400 or 500 pilots. And I watched the progression as we moved from, what we did then was wires and cables to the electronic fly-by right now. And what this report highlights is the fact that there are people who have been doing the same job for years and years and years and do not know how to change. I have said this to a number of other places. Some of the people that are on the Board have been here too long, right? Said that they turnpike the other week. My generation has to get off the stage and let it to my grandson. He is back again. He was in Florida for a year, came back, and he did not like it there and he staying with us. He has a new job in New York. And he is staying with us until. I have to find something here. Last Saturday, we went to my granddaughter's college in Pennsylvania to watch her play basketball. That is Emily scoring a three-pointer. Last night she played again. She scored 23 points, almost half the thing is her high for the year. I have the picture of her, I have the article. I can not send it to you and put it online. The world has changed. The Port Authority is changing. I would love it to change more rapidly, but you are changing. Keep it up. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you. We will now proceed with the voting on items for the Board's consideration, each of the respective Committee Chairs will provide a brief report prior to the matter being considered. The first, we will hear from the Chair of Committee on Finance, Commissioner Bagger, to start the proceedings regarding the 2020 budget. I will then present on behalf of the Committee on Operations followed by the Vice Chair, Jeff Lynford, and behalf of the Committee on Capital Planning, Execution and Asset Management in the World Trade Center. Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Thank you, Chairman O'Toole. I would like to recommend a resolution authorizing the Port Authority's budget for 2020 is outlined earlier today by our Chief Financial Officer. As you all know, the budget for 2020 includes both the operating budget and the capital


budget. The operating budget, which is proposed to $3.4 billion represents in our core operating expenses and increase at or below the rate of inflation just 1.9%, plus $62 million in targeted strategic investments, you know, highly aligned with the priorities outlined by our Executive Director. On that capital side of the budget, the capital spending is $3.6 billion for 2020, which is fully in accordance with executing on our 10-year $37 billion Capital Plan. It is interesting to note that in the Port Authority's budget for 2020, the investment in capital construction, say that good repair and new projects exceeds our operating budget. And then within that capital spending that a majority of the spending is paid as you go or is paid for from current revenues rather than from borrowing. So I would like to extend my appreciation on behalf of the Finance Committee to our Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer and the entire finance team for working on developing and bringing to this Board budget for that will deliver on the Port Authority's 2020 goals. So I would like to ask the Corporate Secretary if we have any recusals on this item. [L. Handel] There are no recusals. [Comm. R. Bagger] You have any questions or comments from members of the Board. [Comm. R. Bagger] Can I may have the motion? [Commissioners] So moved. [Comm. R. Bagger] Second? [Commissioners] Second. [Comm. R. Bagger] Any discussion? Roll call, please. [L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes.


[L. Handel] Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes. [Comm. R. Bagger] For the votes are in order and that item is approved. Mr. Chairman, back to you. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Thank you very much. As Chair of the Committee on Operations, I will now present several items under the Committee's purview. First, I recommend the Board approve a collective bargaining agreement between PATH and Local 641, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents about 100 PATH employees who provide clerical stock keeping and customer service support. The agreement was ratified by the union members on November 23, 2019. The major terms of the agreement, including wage increases and health costs are consistent with the terms of the agreements recently made by all the Port Authority unions, and we look forward to settling the long-standing contracts with the remaining PATH unions as possible. I believe if this gets ratified, I think 13 to 23 unions will be under contract which did not exist two years ago. I think about 80% of those who are being represented will have a contract which again did not exist 2.5 years ago. Any comments or questions? Any recusals? Motion, please?


[Commissioners] So moved. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Second. Roll call. [L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes.


[Board Chair K. O'Toole] Next order of business, I recommend that the Board approve the establishment of a program for non-representative PATH of Port Authority active employees assigned to the PATH rail system who are serving operating roles to ride PATH free of charge from commuting and personal use consistent with rail industry standards and the practices of other railroads throughout the region and the country. As a result of the Board's action in 2012, our represented and non-represented employees supporting PATH operations are treated differently. The proposed action is also expected to contribute to the safe and efficient operations of the PATH rail systems. It is in the agency's best interest to encourage active non-represented employees serving in an operating role to use the PATH rail system for commuting and incidental travel as these employees are best able to make knowledgeable real-time decisions during emergencies, interruptions in PATH service and cross honor events and can address customer issues. Madam Secretary, any recusals? [L. Handel] No recusals. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Any questions or comments from the Commissioners? [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Motion, please? [Commissioners] So moved. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Roll call. I am sorry, second. [Commissioners] Second. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Roll call. [L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Eve.


[Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Motion carries. The next item authorizes a supplemental agreement to amend to existing leases with Aero JFK LLC for buildings 21 and 23 at JFK International Airport. The amendments would extend both leases 30 months and resulted in additional rent to the Port Authority 42.3 million. Madam Secretary, any recusals? [L. Handel] No recusals. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Have a motion, please? [Commissioners] So moved. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Second? [Commissioners] Second. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Roll call.


[L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Item is approved. The next item which was discussed in Committee earlier today authorizes a five-year concession management agreement with the Fraport for Terminal B at North Liberty International Airport. Prior to making a motion, I ask the Corporate Secretary to note any recusals?


[L. Handel] There are no recusals. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Do I have a motion? [Commissioners] So moved. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Second. [Commissioners] Second. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Roll call. [L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes.


[L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Item is approved. Our next item authorizes certain changes to the fee agreements under which the Port Authority recovers its costs associated with the operation of the North Liberty International Airport. Madam Secretary, any recusals? [L. Handel] No recusals. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Any comments or questions from the Commissioners? Motion, please? [Commissioners] So moved. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Second? [Commissioners] Second. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Roll call. [L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes.


[L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Item is approved. The next item authorizes the first one year option of an existing contract with Cushman & Wakefield for continued management operation maintenance services for the World Trade Center site and funding for the 2020, and amount of $50.2 million for such services, which covers public spaces and centralized infrastructure. Prior to making a motion, I ask for any to note any recusals? [L. Handel] There are no recusals. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Any comment or question from any Commissioners? [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Motion, please? [Commissioners] So moved. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Second? [Commissioners] Second. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Roll call.


[L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel]Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Item is approved. The next item which was also discussed in the Committee earlier today, authorize a proof of concept demonstration program to assess the potential for using autonomous technology for bus drivers utilizing the Lincoln Tunnel,


exclusive bus lane and estimated cost about $4.8 million. Any recusals, Madam Secretary? [L. Handel] No recusals. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Any comments or questions from the Commissioners? Motion, please? [Commissioners] So moved. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Hear a second? [Commissioners] Second. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Roll call. [L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel]Commissioner McDonald.


[Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Item carries. The next item modifies the previously approved phase out of a Carpool Plan, the George Washington Bridge, and Holland, and Lincoln, until such time as an all electronic tolling has been implemented at a specific facility. Any recusals? [L. Handel] There are no recusals. [Board Chair K. O'Toole] Before we vote, let me just say that we have addressed this issue in the past. There has been, Congressman Gottheimer, in particular, has been very aggressive in the last few weeks as others, and they have asked us about the looking at emerging technologies with regard to, when you have cash was totally, you could actually count the multiple occupants. When we passed this in September, it was my understanding, the Board's understanding that the technology did not exist. And frankly, having heard some of the complaints and outcry, this Board is determined, what we are going to do is, we are going to postpone the implementation of this program until such time to we go to cashless. And in the meantime, Congressman Gottheimer and others have said they want to put forward ideas of technologies from various places in a country that we will study. If we will get it, we will review it. And if it is credible, we'll take it under consideration. But this motion here is to put off the implementation of a carpool until the cashless toll is in place. Any other comments or questions? [Board Chair K. O’Toole] We have a motion? [Commissioners] So moved. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Second? Roll call. [L. Handel]Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford.


[Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes. [L Handel] Commissioner Horwitz. [Comm. D. Horwitz] Yes. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Okay, the item carries. Next item modifies an existing Port Authority policy to require that assigned binding airport labor harmony clause be included in all future agreements between airport concessionaires, concession managers, and the Port Authority. Madam Secretary, any recusals?


[L. Handel] No recusals. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Any comments or questions from the Commissioners? Motion, please? [Commissioners] So moved. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Hear a second? [Commissioners] Second. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] That is the second. Roll call. [L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Comm. J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Horwitz. [Comm. D. Horwitz] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes.

[L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes.


[L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Okay, the final portion of the public meeting. Vice Chair Lynford is Chair of the Committee on Capital Planning, Execution and Asset Management, World Trade Center Redevelopment Subcommittee will provide his report on the remaining items for their consideration. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Thank you, Chairman O'Toole. As Chair of the Committee on Capital Planning, Execution and Asset Management and the World Trade Center Redevelopment Subcommittee, I will now report on items under the respective Committee's purview. This item authorizes $1 million and planning to develop a project to rehabilitate runway 19, left 19 at Teterboro Airport. Prior to making a motion on this item, I ask the Corporate Secretary to note any Commissioner recusals on this matter? [L. Handel] There are no recusals. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Do any Commissioners have questions or comments on this item? [Commissioners] No. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Hearing none, I request a motion and a second on this item? [Commissioners] So moved. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Second. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Thank you. I request the Corporate Secretary to call the roll for voting on this item. [L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole.


[Board Chair K. O’Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Horwitz. [Comm. D. Horwitz] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] As the votes are an order, the item is approved. The next item would


reauthorize two projects at the Port Authority Bus Terminal. The first provides the replacement of the primary electrical service. And the total project cost over $23.7 million, which reflects a $6 million increase. The second provides for a placement of the South Wing heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning units, at a total project cost of $70 million, which reflects a $15.2 million increase. Increases are attributable to a variety of factors including delays caused by redesign of certain elements of the projects on a dissipated and unexpected field conditions and coordinating a work in the manner that minimizes the impact on the bus terminals operation. Prior to making a motion on this item, I ask the Corporate Secretary to note any Commissioner recusals on this matter. [L. Handel] There are no recusals. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Thank you. Do any Commissioners have any questions or comment on this item? Hearing none, I request a motion and a second? [Commissioners] So moved. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Second. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Thank you. I now request the Corporate Secretary to call the roll for voting on this item. [L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Horwitz.


[Comm. D. Horwitz] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] As the votes are in order, the item is approved. On behalf of the World Trade Center site Redevelopment Subcommittee, I will now submit an item that authorizes improvements to the World Trade Center, Central Chiller Plant and River Water pump station in order to maintain a state-of-good-repair and optimize a Central Chiller Plant operations. The estimate cost of this project is $7.3 million. Prior to making a motion on this item, I ask the Corporate Secretary to note any Commissioner recusals on this matter? [L. Handel] There are no recusals. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Do any Commissioners have questions or comments on this item? Hearing none, I now request a motion and a second? [Commissioners] So moved. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Second. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] I request the Corporate Secretary to call the roll for voting on this item.


[L. Handel] Chairman O'Toole. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Yes. [L. Handel] Vice Chairman Lynford. [Vice Chair J.H Lynford] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Bagger. [Comm. R. Bagger] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Eve. [Comm. L. Eve] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Horwitz. [Comm. D. Horwitz] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner LaBarbera. [Comm. G. LaBarbera] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McCabe. [Comm. K. McCabe] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner McDonald. [Comm. G. McDonald] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Pocino. [Comm. R. Pocino] Yes. [L. Handel] Commissioner Rosado. [Comm. R. Rosado] Yes.


[Vice Chair J.H Lynford] As the votes are in order, the item is approved. Back to you, Mr. Chairman. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Thank you very much, Vice Chair. There being no further business, I move to adjourn. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] May I have a second? [Commissioners] Second. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] All in favor? [Commissioners] Aye. [Board Chair K. O’Toole] Motion. And carries. Meeting is now adjourned. See everybody next year. Happy Holidays, everybody.

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