Minutes 02-04-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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process, and the early results are quite good. He said changes will always come back to the various entities to review and approve. He introduced several staff and committee members. He said the hourly cost for bus service was down from $107 to $103. David King said, with regard to the train station in Hillsborough, the town owns the property, and it is the right property in the right place. He said the Town of Hillsborough funded an environmental process to lock down any environmental issues. He said up to $150,000 has been pledged out of Orange County money. He said a capacity study must be completed in order to get started, and this began about a month ago. He said once this is done later this year there will be a clear picture of how many tracks will go past that point and where they will go. He said this will then define where to put the platform and the station. He said the competitor for federal and state money for this project is Lexington. He said $8 million has been budgeted for the Hillsborough project, and 10 percent or $800,000 of that is from Orange County's funding. He said Lexington's project is much higher, which provides an advantage to Hillsborough. He said it will be possible to have a functional train station at half that cost, with a modular unit and less landscaping. He said there are ways to get this project done, and TT will keep the Board posted. He said the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) has this as part of their ranking at the state level and that comes out in early summer. David King said there is a new program called Tiger that contains over $600 million in funds. He said funding could be requested from this program for the Hillsborough station if preparation and planning can be completed. David King said work is also being done on the Durham Light Rail project. He said a request to enter project development was submitted in December. He said once a submission is allowed in the Start process, the environmental process must be completed within a 24 month window. He said TT hopes to hear about this within the next 10 days. Commissioner Gordon asked if the application and letter could be made available to Orange County. David King said yes, this is public information. Commissioner Gordon asked if there could be an emphasis on bus hours for the transit dependent population as the plan is modified. She thanked Triangle Transit for presenting tonight and for bringing staff that have worked on this project. David King said the staff working group is functioning smoothly. He said one of the issues that needed fixing was the $3.00 vehicle registration fee. He said Commissioner Gordon and Commissioner Pelissier joined with others on the Special Tax Board last week to work on this. He said the intent is that their board will be able to levy this tax in both Durham and Orange County starting in March. He said there will be a public hearing in February. He said Wake County has not moved forward, so authority was requested and gained from the legislature to levy the tax in the other two counties. Commissioner Pelissier said in the future it would be good to hear about the implementation of some of the other bus services from Chapel Hill Transit. Commissioner Pelissier said she would also like a report on what is happening on MLK. Patrick McDonough said he participates on the steering committee for the MLK alternatives analysis. He said a consulting firm was selected in the summer. He said Chapel Hill was also looking at an ongoing fiscal capacity exercise for Chapel Hill Transit, due to the age of their fleet. He said the goal was to start the MLK work in November, but this has been postponed into 2014, and the exact date is not known. He said work will begin as soon as Chapel Hill Transit is ready to move. Commissioner McKee expressed thanks for the updated plan and the prioritization of providing geographical equity. He said this is important to him, as someone who lives in the