Minutes 03-22-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Foushee left at 8:23 PM. Craig Benedict went through the agenda materials which he had distributed. He said that due to the delay, the bus hours have been decreased from about 50,000 hours. The goal is how to reprioritize the hours on the plan. The excel spreadsheet shows 19 projects that could be accomplished. Craig Benedict went through three different categories of projects, and explained the pie chart with the percentages of 64%, 24%, and 12% for Chapel Hill Transit, Triangle Transit, and Orange Public Transportation, respectively. He said that about 34,000 hours are fundable under the new financial plan draft. If 6000 hours are used for existing services, it would actually be about 28,000 new hours Commissioner Gordon asked Craig Benedict some questions of clarification about the materials he had presented, which he then answered. Commissioner Gordon asked if this was the last meeting to discuss this before the outreach meetings. Craig Benedict said that the first public outreach is April 3�d, so this is probably the last time it will be discussed before then. There is another work session on April 19th, which is after the two public hearings. Commissioner Gordon clarified that the "Draft Financial Plan for Bus and Rail in Orange County" is the draft "enhanced" financial plan. There is also a "core plan", which is what the Board saw at a work session. The core plan should be put out there for public input, but there should be a note that "additional bus hours could be increased instead of funding all three bus capital projects." She said that people really want more bus hours. Commissioner Jacobs made reference to the handout with dark stripes and existing services and asked how these are supported. Craig Benedict said that, as it is planned now, these 6,000 hours were intended to be funded by the $7 vehicle registration tax, and the funds would have to be apportioned back to the entities that have transit according to population. Commissioner Jacobs said that the dark lines add up to 28,000-34,000 hours and those are all within Chapel Hill. He asked how this is equitable for a County in which a third of the people do not live in Chapel Hill. Frank Clifton said that the County Commissioners need to discuss this. Chair Pelissier suggested that the Board take one of the charts and concentrate on giving direction to staff. The public needs to know the draft proposal of bus hours in the first three years, and then the next two years, and up to the end of the plan. She thinks that the Board needs to give general direction. She suggested following the principle of rural hours, urban hours, and regional hours during the first three years. Commissioner Gordon said that the Board just got this information tonight and she does not see how it is possible to decide tonight when there is no staff input yet. She wants to get something together to send out to the public. She suggested that the staff come up with some principles. Commissioner Jacobs agreed with Chair Pelissier but he also agrees that they do need some guiding principles and proportionality. He said that the County Commissioners are trying to represent everyone in Orange County, and in principle he would like to say that they would like to see the hours divided up on a proportional basis, based on population to the most feasible extent possible. He would like to see public comment on the routes, specifically. Wib Gulley, General Counsel from Triangle Transit said that they have not seen this information before either. He said that he could provide a plan that gives some specificity about how the bus money will be spent.