Agenda - 11-20-2012 - 5a - Laserfiche WebLink

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26 1 boards, but do have representation on the MPO. Therefore, the MPO should be part of this 2 agreement. 3 Commissioner McKee said that he does not believe the MPO should be a party to this 4 agreement as a signatory because the Board of County Commissioners was elected by the 5 citizens of Orange County and Triangle Transit is the transportation authority, so these two 6 entities are the two responsible agencies. He said that he needs someone to explain to him 7 how not having the MPO as a signatory to this agreement will cause this plan to crash and 8 burn. 9 Mark Ahrendsen, staff from the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro MPO and Chair of the 10 Technical Coordinating Committee, said that the legislation called for the development of a plan 11 to be approved by three parties—the MPO, Triangle Transit Authority, and the Board of County 12 Commissioners. 13 Commissioner McKee asked what would happen if the MPO were not a signatory. 14 Mark Ahrendsen said that basically two parties could change the plan that three parties 15 approved. This is the fundamental reason. 16 Commissioner Jacobs said that he is in favor of having the MPO to be a part of this 17 plan. 18 Commissioner Jacobs asked Jim Ward about the underlying issues on the agreement 19 and item#7. He asked if the disagreement had to do with supplantation or the ability to access 20 additional funds beyond what is currently committed to Chapel Hill Transit as part of the plan. 21 Jim Ward said that the level of funding will be maintained and the Town of Chapel Hill 22 is not asking to supplant any funds with these new revenues. The issue is that there are a 23 number of elements within the Implementation Agreement which are above and beyond what is 24 legally required. The main issue is keeping the floor at the current level of service that was 25 added in 2010. 26 Steve Spade, Chapel Hill Transit Director, made reference to supplantation and 27 hopefully increasing the amount of funds and said that Chapel Hill Transit has supported the 28 cost allocation recommendations in the plan that break out the percentages of the funding that 29 would go to the bus systems after paying for rent. The concern is how to use the funds that the 30 plan allows them to have. Chapel Hill Transit is in support of adding new services, but there are 31 also needs to continue the current operation. He said that they are not out to get more money. 32 Commissioner Jacobs clarified with Steve Spade that it is an issue of reallocating funds 33 within a pool of funds. 34 35 A motion was made by Chair Pelissier, seconded by Commissioner Jacobs to direct 36 staff to include the MPO as a signatory and to include the appropriate language. 37 VOTE: Ayes, 5; No, 1 (Commissioner McKee) 38 39 Frank Clifton clarified that this vote means that all three parties will have to agree 40 before changes are made. 41 John Roberts said that the signatories to the agreement were the main sticking point 42 between Orange County staff and Triangle Transit, and since that has been resolved they can 43 bring the other smaller details back later. 44 Chair Pelissier said that at the Triangle Transit Operation and Finance Committee 45 meeting there was some discussion on this issue and there is a difference between making a 46 legal determination on the definition of supplantation versus a policy decision on supplantation. 47 She said that there was grave concern at this meeting that if Orange County allowed the use of 48 the Y2-cent sales tax that it would probably stop Wake County from ever doing anything and 49 putting it on a ballot. There is a lot of mistrust of government and if the County sells a plan as