Minutes 06-07-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Town limits of Chapel Hill. All of the investment within Durham County will be paid for by Durham County. Regarding the bus rapid transit in Chapel Hill, there is a park and ride lot on Eubanks Road and Chapel Hill Transit is proposing some bus-only lanes on Martin Luther King from Eubanks Road down to Estes Drive, which is three miles. The preliminary cost is $25 million for this. Commissioner Gordon said that Triangle Transit staff was helpful in getting her information and she had asked for some specific information that needs to be shared with the Board of Commissioners. She then shared some information about the cost of the rail line. For the segment of the line in Orange County, the cost for 2.89 miles is $223 million; in the part of Chapel Hill that is in Durham County, the cost for 0.88 miles is $73 million; and in rest of Durham County the cost for 13.47 miles is $911 million. She thinks that all of these numbers need to be verified. She said that the cost per mile that Orange County is paying is more than the cost per mile that Durham is paying. She thinks that this is an excellent overview, but some of the details are still needed to fully understand this. PUBLIC COMMENT: Patrick Mulkey is a resident of Bingham Township. He said that there has been change since the election in 2008 and every level of government is suffering. He said that he does not share the optimism for the economy that the speakers have. He said that they are in for some long-term changes in how things are done. He said that this is a multi-million dollar plan over a 20+ year commitment. He said that in the past, the County Commissioners have always said they cannot make those types of long-term commitments. He knows that this %2-cent sales tax will eventually come up on a referendum, but he does not think this is the time. He also asked if the 3.6% sales tax growth was per year. Patrick McDonough said that, with the sales tax growth, they are looking at long-term and short-term growth rates. The 3.6% is not until 2015. Regarding borrowing, the rail infrastructure in Orange County will be $330 million. They are looking at borrowing 10% that will begin in 2019-2022. He is happy to share the financial information with anybody. Chair Pelissier clarified that the capital investment for the light rail presumes federal and state monies, which is why the County would not be borrowing that sum of money, because it presumes that there would be money from other sources. Chair Pelissier said that the County Commissioners have before them a request from the Durham County Board of County Commissioners to adopt in principle the financial plan. She said that the Orange County Board of Commissioners has not said that it is comfortable with the financial plan. She asked what it means to adopt the financial plan in principle. She is concerned that this financial plan makes assumptions about cost sharing, and if it is adopted in principle, she is worrying that it is agreement to a cost-sharing. John Roberts said that he would recommend that the Board of County Commissioners not adopt anything in principle until it has been reviewed by the Finance and County Attorney's offices. Commissioner McKee said that he is not yet comfortable with the financial plan. He is concerned that if the County Commissioners adopt anything in principle that it would mean that they are implying that they are supportive of the plan and signaling that a %2-cent sales tax would be put on the ballot. He would prefer to have public hearings about this. Commissioner Gordon said that it would be hard to adopt tonight without due diligence about this plan but there is another meeting on June 21St, which is before the MPO vote on 14