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Board workshop to focus on department's strategic plan

The Idaho Transportation Board will discuss the status of ITD’s strategic plan when it meets in an all-day workshop Wednesday, the day before its monthly business meeting at Headquarters.

A staff presentation to the board will focus on the four focus areas of the plan: Investing in Our People; Leading through Agency Performance; Improving Customer Service; and Expanding and Enhancing Partnerships.

The board will look specifically at performance measures. The goal of the Performance Management Team is to provide research and technical support for the board and Executive Management, with the ultimate intent of adopting approximately 10 externally oriented performance measures.

A number of other topics are also planned for the workshop, including the vision for public transportation and its funding, partnerships with other agencies in the technology arena and the Long-Range Capital Improvement Plan.

The business meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. Thursday in the Headquarters Auditorium.

Board agenda items

Annual report of outdoor advertising signs
At the Thursday business meeting, the board will review the annual outdoor advertising sign report. Statistical data is presented for off-premise outdoor advertising signs, including the number of appeals, the number of newly permitted signs, illegal signs and non-conforming signs.

Illegal signs are those that do not comply with state and federal law and must be removed.

Non-conforming signs are those that at one time complied with state and federal law, but because of changing standards or conditions – such as a change in roadway alignment or a change in rules – have lost their conforming status. Non-conforming sign structures are allowed to remain in place, but cannot be improved.

As of Sept. 30, out of 1,197 signs statewide, 47 were considered illegal and 167 were listed as non-conforming.

District 5 has the most illegal signs, with 28. District 3 made a concerted effort during the past federal fiscal year to address the sign inventory and removed 90 illegal outdoor advertising signs, leaving 13 still standing. There are no illegal signs in districts 1 and 6.

District 3 has the most non-conforming signs with 61, followed by District 6 with 32. District 2 has the fewest – 5.

Annual report of the Dealer Advisory Board
The Dealer Advisory Board (DAB) is required by policy to report its activities to the Transportation Board on an annual basis. The DAB is composed of eight members appointed by the governor to assist and advise ITD in the administration of the Idaho Dealer and Salesman Licensing Act. The board also provides input on other motor vehicle related programs that are administered by the Division of Motor Vehicles.

In fiscal year 2008, the DAB concurred with the department’s recommendation for revocation of a dealer license in Post Falls. It worked with staff members on legislation about principal place of business, but the Senate Transportation Committee suggested that a more appropriate approach might be to increase the dealer bond amount.

The DAB, in pursuing that recommendation, found that Idaho has a lower dealer bond amount than any of the surrounding states. Dealers who had been in business less than two years accounted for 43 percent of the total bond claims filed. New orientation and training procedures were created to address this segment of the dealer population.

The procedure will ensure that more time is spent with newly licensed dealers, with frequent reviews to try and resolve problems early in their business operation. The DAB has deferred increasing the dealer bond until the new measures have been fully implemented and can be evaluated to determine their effect.