Minutes 04-17-2012 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Will Raymond thanked the County Commissioners for slowing down this public input process. He said that he is not against robust regional transit options. He is asking the County Commissioners to be selfish with the Orange County tax dollars. He said that, as an economic driver, the transit plan fails. He asked who this would profit and said that the only thing he can come up with is that Durham will profit the most from this. He said that the 15- 501 corridor has the best economic options, but the economics of it have not been quantified. He would like to see how many properties there are in this corridor, who owns them, and who stands to benefit if the alignment is on 15-501. He said that until this question is answered, the Board should not move forward with the referendum. Bonnie Hauser read a prepared statement from Julie McClintock (Chapel Hill resident and former member of the Chapel Hill Town Council) Statement to Orange County Commission: I favor common sense transit. I call on the County Commissioners to rethink the Transit Plan and Financial Plan for funding it. Given that the Commissioners are considering adding yet another tax we need to be reassured that the Transit plan and route makes sense. A route that misses most commercial nodes in Orange County will not benefit our economy or help people get places they are going. We all know a long time horizon is needed to do big important projects. However, sometimes plans such as TTA's by now ancient route and plan to provide light rail from Durham to Chapel Hill becomes out-moded and can be overtaken by new growth patterns and more pressing needs of the population. Add to that fact, we need to make smart choices in uncertain economic times. We want common sense transit and don't want to see our tax money poured down the drain toward a modal choice and route that won't serve most citizens. I do not believe that a strong case can be made to tax ourselves to support a light rail system. The County needs to put our precious resources toward a rapid bus system before we support expensive technologies that will not solve our congestion problems. I attended all the East 54 workshops. The Consultants on the East 54 study said less than 1% of the congestion on 54 would be relieved by the building of the proposed light rail. Please consider revamping the funding plan that presently puts over 90% of the money toward an inflexible expensive technology incapable of serving a county that is still remarkably rural. Rail lines need to be built were the people are. The majority of any tax that is approved by the votes should put the majority of funding toward rapid bus service which is much more suited to meeting the needs of Orange County. I encourage the Commissioners to adopt a plan that the majority of Orange County voters can support. Thank you. Julie McClintock 614 Beech Tree Ct Chapel Hill, NC 27514 919-967-3661 mcclintock.iulie(a-)-gmail.com