Minutes 12-08-2011 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Chair Pelissier asked Triangle Transit what they were envisioning about cost-sharing agreements. Craig Benedict said that, originally, at a minimum there needs to be an agreement between Orange County and Triangle Transit. If the parameters of that agreement talk about the revenues through the %2-cent sales tax and expenditures within the realm of what the County can pay, then the agreement could be narrow enough to be between Orange County and Triangle Transit. If the moving parts of the rail are more delicate, then the agreement may need to involve others. David King said that the idea is to have an interlocal agreement that commits Triangle Transit to be the implementation:agency. Things will change and they will either have more or less tax revenue than expected. He said that there is interdependence between counties, but he does not see an advantage of having a two-county plan because both counties' financial plans will incorporate the agreement however the cost will be shared. Commissioner McKee said that he remembers that the transit authority as constructed will receive the tax proceeds. He said that anything that is not specifically addressed in the agreement, he is not comfortable that the Board of County Commissioners will have any teeth in the agreement to impose the County Commissioners' will in the benefit of Orange County. David King said that his° ~~nderstanding is that the plan that will be approved specifies deployment of bus service on MLK in Chapel Hill and a connection between UNC Hospital and Durham along the corridor that has not been nailed down yet. This plan, based on the financial assumptions, is what Triangle ~transit 'will be charged to do and it will be exactly what the County told them to do. As thfiir~gs change the County Commissioners can communicate to Triangle Transit and talk througki'~thi`ngs. He said that Triangle Transit's job is to implement and not to play games with the plan: '' Commissioner McKee said that he is concerned about the citizens paying transit taxes and there should be some mechanism if the will of the Board should diverge. He does not see a mechanism in place. He has a r~agging feeling that there should be a mechanism in place. Chair Pelissier said that she sees some of Commissioner McKee's concerns being addressed in an agreement. She said that Commissioner Gordon as the representative would be the one to address the conc~rns of the Board to Triangle Transit. Craig Benedict said that -k~t the coming months the staff will take the elements of the bus and rail plan and try to reduce them to a threshold. Craig Benedict went through Section B. He spoke about the diff~rent proposed routes from Alamance to Durham and Chapel Hill. Frank Clifton said that t~troughout the terms of phasing of the development of bus service, Orange County will hav~~`to have continuous discussions with Chapel Hill, Carrboro and UNC. - Commissioner McKee said ~that this plan assumes that both of these components of the plan are in place - the bus service and the rail. If the rail does not work out, then the plan would not work out. He asked if there was any indication about the number of hours needed if the rail component did not work out. Chair Pelissier said that there has not been a discussion on that issue yet and everything has been premised on having the light rail. She said that there can be a plan that is not dependent on light rail. '"~ Commissioner McKee said that he would like to have a fall-back plan where the rail is not the focus. ~~''` Chair Pelissier agreed.