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ITD Mailbox

Valuable public transportation asset

To Pam Lowe
Idaho Transportation Department

This letter is to acknowledge the hard work and dedication of one of your grant officers in the Division of Public Transportation. Mr. Butch Ragsdale has worked with Treasure Valley Transit, Inc. for many years, and through his technical assistance we have achieved great coordination throughout District 3.

Butch has taken the time to work closely with our board of directors as well as many others to offer information and clarification of the different grants and their state and federal requirements which can be very complicated and often confusing. He is thorough in his research and has been instrumental in our success in working with our elected officials in all areas we have grown to serve.

Our latest coordinated project was establishing service in Idaho and Oregon within the cities of Ontario, Ore., Payette and Fruitland. Butch and his Oregon Department of Transportation colleague Jean Palmateer worked diligently to see this service happen, and on time. The new system began on September 15, and the kickoff event was on the 12th. Butch spoke on behalf of ITD and talked of the vision of public transportation, both past and future. He brings optimism and realism to the forefront, which is a necessary combination in today’s economic world.

Treasure Valley Transit has taken a proactive role in the IMAP process, and though it is still in the formation process, we believe with the leadership of Mr. Ragsdale and the IMAP team under Administrator (Randy) Kyrias we will be an example for other districts to follow.

In conclusion, it is a privilege to work beside Butch; know that we are truly achieving our mission to provide a viable public transportation system where the need is great and access is limited.

Judith A. Watkins
Treasure Valley Transit
Board of Directors

Thanks for sponsoring architecture conference

Pam Lowe, ITD Director
Darrell Manning, Idaho Transportation Board Chairman
Roy Jost, ITD Environmental Section

I am a month late in expressing my thanks for ITD’s sponsorship of an excellent, information-packed architectural symposium that is one of the first to address the thorny issue of evaluating modern architecture that sits in project APEs.

We live in or grew up in “modern” and now find it difficult to assess in terms of National Register eligibility – our thinking being that we know it only too well and surely it has no merit, or that it is simply downright ugly. Eligibility consideration and assessment protocol are therefore difficult, but the time has come that we do both in spite of our own personal history of living in it.

Your cultural resource staff, architectural historian Dan Everhart, is also a leader in statewide and community preservation efforts. His success in this arena translates to his success as the symposium coordinator. He did an excellent job of nationally advertising the event and composing a roster of outstanding authorities, all of whom proved to be outstanding speakers.

Full and efficient scheduling of the symposium’s two days and evenings meant that the many participants who traveled from across the country were able to make the most of this unique opportunity.

The event provided participants a rare chance to learn from the slate of architectural and preservation experts, to share experience and insight and to problem-solve with colleagues from elsewhere. That there was such a registration waiting list indicates the nationwide interest this symposium generated.

Again, my sincere thanks to ITD for making this opportunity possible in a time of tight budgets.

Pam Demo, Archaeologist
P Demo CRM Consulting
Boise