Agenda - 05-08-2014 - 6a - Laserfiche WebLink

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10 1 sales tax will start at $6.2 million per year and grow at this rate moving forward. He said if you 2 increase the growth rate at .8 percent, the revenue increase will equal $60 million through 2035. 3 He said some of the decisions coming to the Board are going to involve allocation of money in 4 the face of changing revenue sources and expenditures. 5 Mayor Stevens said with the circulator route being as popular as it is now, the addition of 6 another route will likely mean triple return rate. He said this will have a social equity impact, as 7 well as an economic impact. He expressed appreciation for the widespread support. 8 Chair Jacobs asked Eric Langfried if there have been any changes to the numbers. 9 Eric Langfried said no. He said his staff has been working with the County on decisions 10 about how the money can be spent. He said it is very important to have a good local network 11 that feeds into a larger regional network. He said some of the connections and loop routes 12 could be made with the east west routes and the extension of routes up to Cedar Grove, as well 13 as more frequent service. He said there are a lot of new connections that can be made. He 14 said it would be good to see how everything plays out before deciding on a change in priorities. 15 Chair Jacobs said he thought Eric Langfried had said it wasn't necessarily that the 16 existing circulator route could not be funded with new funds. 17 Eric Langfried said the sales tax funds cannot be used, but the vehicle registration fee 18 could be used for the increased cost of service. He said the other difficult alternative would be 19 to change the implementation agreement and to change that date back to the retroactive play. 20 He said it is important to find a common understanding of the best legal way to do this. 21 Chair Jacobs asked Craig Benedict who made the decisions about how the money was 22 applicable to new projects. 23 Craig Benedict said this was Triangle Transit. 24 Commissioner Pelissier said it was a legal issue. 25 26 0 Amtrak Station Update 27 Margaret Hauth said everyone is working hard to get this train station going. She said in 28 December, the North Carolina Rail Road (NCRR), Norfolk Southern and Triangle Transit 29 entered a contract to perform a capacity study on the rail corridor to help determine future 30 needs (dual tracking, etc.) which could impact the station or its location. She said this study was 31 identified last year as the critical next step, and it has begun and will be completed by 32 September 2014. She said following the capacity study, the Town and Triangle Transit will 33 pursue environmental documentation for the site to continue improving its feasibility for funding. 34 She said the recent prioritization 3.0 process saw the potential cost of the station 35 balloon to $30 million. This was due to the inclusion of additional track work along with the 36 station for freight which has since been taken out. She said this included a large number of 37 improvements to address moving freight, as well as passenger trains that may not even stop in 38 Hillsborough. She said high speed rail is only meant to have 8 stops and would not stop in 39 Hillsborough, but there would have to be more by-pass tracks to accommodate this. 40 Margaret Hauth said NCDOT Rail staff recommends the scope be reduced to align with 41 the $4 million previously proposed for site access, utilities, parking and a modular station. 42 She said the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) has suggested that the $8 million 43 permanent station be included in the Transit Plan and should be pursued since the transit tax 44 supports this phase. 45 Commissioner Gordon said there was a lot of money added to not to stop the train in 46 Hillsborough. She said she would be interested in knowing what Hillsborough wants. She 47 asked if the Town would rather have the $4 million project or the $8 million project. 48 Margaret Hauth said the projects have all been submitted to DOT for scoring purposes, 49 and the $8 million project was submitted.