Minutes 02-27-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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circulator, she thinks it needs to be clear that this could be funded out of the half cents sales tax, as this will be a new service. Craig Benedict said this will still be limited by the overall $400,000. He said when this comes to the Commissioners on April 1St and May 8th, the financial plan will be included, and this will show the proposed growth rate of 4.4 percent to 2035. He said staff thinks the half cent sales tax will start at $6.2 million per year and grow at this rate moving forward. He said if you increase the growth rate at .8 percent, the revenue increase will equal $60 million through 2035. He said some of the decisions coming to the Board are going to involve allocation of money in the face of changing revenue sources and expenditures. Mayor Stevens said with the circulator route being as popular as it is now, the addition of another route will likely mean triple return rate. He said this will have a social equity impact, as well as an economic impact. He expressed appreciation for the widespread support. Chair Jacobs asked Eric Langfried if there have been any changes to the numbers. Eric Langfried said no. He said his staff has been working with the County on decisions about how the money can be spent. He said it is very important to have a good local network that feeds into a larger regional network. He said some of the connections and loop routes could be made with the east west routes and the extension of routes up to Cedar Grove, as well as more frequent service. He said there are a lot of new connections that can be made. He said it would be good to see how everything plays out before deciding on a change in priorities. Chair Jacobs said he thought Eric Langfried had said it wasn't necessarily that the existing circulator route could not be funded with new funds. Eric Langfried said the sales tax funds cannot be used, but the vehicle registration fee could be used for the increased cost of service. He said the other difficult alternative would be to change the implementation agreement and to change that date back to the retroactive play. He said it is important to find a common understanding of the best legal way to do this. Chair Jacobs asked Craig Benedict who made the decisions about how the money was applicable to new projects. Craig Benedict said this was Triangle Transit. Commissioner Pelissier said it was a legal issue. c) Amtrak Station Update Margaret Hauth said everyone is working hard to get this train station going. She said in December, the North Carolina Rail Road (NCRR), Norfolk Southern and Triangle Transit entered a contract to perform a capacity study on the rail corridor to help determine future needs (dual tracking, etc.) which could impact the station or its location. She said this study was identified last year as the critical next step, and it has begun and will be completed by September 2014. She said following the capacity study, the Town and Triangle Transit will pursue environmental documentation for the site to continue improving its feasibility for funding. She said the recent prioritization 3.0 process saw the potential cost of the station balloon to $30 million. This was due to the inclusion of additional track work along with the station for freight which has since been taken out. She said this included a large number of improvements to address moving freight, as well as passenger trains that may not even stop in Hillsborough. She said high speed rail is only meant to have 8 stops and would not stop in Hillsborough, but there would have to be more by-pass tracks to accommodate this. Margaret Hauth said NCDOT Rail staff recommends the scope be reduced to align with the $4 million previously proposed for site access, utilities, parking and a modular station.