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TO: |
Board of Trustees |
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THROUGH: |
Jay Fox, Executive Director |
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FROM: |
Viola Miller, Chief Financial Officer |
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PRESENTER(S): |
Monica Howe, Director of Fares |
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TITLE:
title
Contract: Independent Contractor Agreement (Tonya Crook)
end
AGENDA ITEM TYPE:
Procurement Contract/Change Order
RECOMMENDATION:
Approve and authorize the Executive Director to execute a six-month contract and associated disbursements with Tonya Crook to provide ongoing support for the Electronic Fare Collection (EFC) system 3.1 deployment not to exceed amount of $24,999.
BACKGROUND:
Pursuant to UTA Ethics Policy 01.01, The Board of Trustees must approve the award of any contract or amendment for any goods or services with entities that hire former employees or who are represented by former employees where the former employee left UTA employment within the previous 12 months.
Tonya Crook, our primary expert on fare data, after several years of employment is retiring from UTA. Her retirement creates a critical gap at a pivotal moment for UTA’s Fare System Replacement project, the deployment of EFC System 3.1. As the Fares Department’s primary subject matter expert on fare data, she brings deep knowledge and highly specialized technical expertise that is essential for preparing the complex data migration files required for the transition from the legacy system to the new Scheidt & Bachmann fare collection system. The timing of her departure aligns with a sensitive project phase, where continuity and precision are especially important to maintain schedule and avoid disruption.
UTA’s fare data environment is inherently complex, involving multi-modal fare structures, intricate pricing rules, and tightly interdependent system configurations. Preparing migration data is not a routine task, it requires extensive experience, advanced technical skill, and a detailed understanding of both historic system decisions and new platform requirements. These capabilities have been developed over years and cannot realistically be replaced or replicated in the short term without introducing significant risk to data integrity and system functionality.
DISCUSSION:
Retaining Tonya as an independent contractor provides a practical and low-risk solution to ensure project continuity while also enabling a structured transfer of her institutional knowledge to other Fare employees. This approach strengthens internal capability, reduces long-term dependency on a single expert, and allows for deliberate succession planning without disrupting critical project deliverables.
Additionally, this strategy supports broader workforce optimization by allowing Tonya’s headcount position to be reassigned to another area within the Fares organization where resources are needed. Overall, engaging Tonya on a temporary contract ensures the EFC 3.1 deployment and Fare System Replacement milestones remain on track while advancing both operational stability and long-term organizational effectiveness.
The proposed contract includes providing virtual training and support for Fares staff, developing the data migration files for the EFC system 3.1 deployment, and converting existing SSRS reports to align with the new data tables. It also covers support for system acceptance testing, development of ad-hoc SQL/SSRS/Excel queries for KPI metric reporting, and responding to fare data requests. Additionally, the work includes updates to documentation to reflect system changes and new processes.
CONTRACT SUMMARY:
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Contractor Name: |
Tonya Crook |
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Contract Number: |
26-04049 |
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Contract Start/End Dates: |
June 10, 2026 - December 9, 2026 |
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Total Contract Value: |
$24,999.00 |
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Procurement Method: |
Sole Source |
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Budget Authority: |
Approved 2026 Operating Budget |
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ALTERNATIVES:
Not contract with Tonya Crook as an Independent Contractor and risk a schedule delay which could push back the anticipate launch date of the EFC system 3.1 deployment, and risk losing training opportunity critical to data migration.
FISCAL IMPACT:
$24,999 expense for 2026 to Cost Center 6500.50353.92
ATTACHMENTS:
• Contract: Independent Contractor Agreement (Tonya Crook)