Agenda - 01-24-2017 - 6-a - Minutes

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15 1 Commissioner Pelissier said there have been suggestions made of scrapping the light 2 rail and doing a bus rapid transit system instead. She said it is her understanding that stopping 3 now would require a total re-start, a loss of funds spent thus far, would take five to seven years, 4 and would end up costing the same amount of money as the light rail system. 5 Danny Rogers added that the money spent so far would not be eligible. 6 Mayor Hemminger said the need and the desire for this project is out there, and more 7 information is being received, and she wants it to work. She said Chapel Hill has a vested 8 interest in the bus transit to get to the light rail stops. She said Orange County has a huge 9 decision to make as it does not get that much benefit out of it, with the stations outside of the 10 Gateway Station, and that one is still in Durham County. She said having Orange County 11 commit to 23% of this gap scares her. 12 Mayor Hemminger said she was unaware of the BRT in Chapel Hill being a part of this 13 equation. She said she hoped the sales tax will go up. She said there is a lot more to be 14 discovered, and there are a lot of opportunities and holes. She said if there is a commitment to 15 funding these numbers, then they need to figure out how. She asked if the UNC Council Estate 16 has been asked for permission for the right of ways. 17 Danny Rogers said UNC said it would pursue the issue. He said this is the plan, and he 18 said there is precedent in North Carolina for that Right of Way donation with UNC-Charlotte. 19 Mayor Hemminger said it is important to understand what resources will be needed to 20 be able to fund these extra figures. 21 Danny Rogers said these numbers are included in the financial plan. 22 Council Member Ed Harrison said for any Bus Rapid Transit project to even approach 23 the effectiveness of the Light Rail project, it would have to be about the same alignment, which 24 would be complicated. 25 Commissioner Pelissier said assuming the Orange County Board of County 26 Commissioners will work with GoTriangle to find the funding, there are still not many 27 opportunities for benefits for Orange County as compared to Durham County. She said the 28 percentage distribution between Orange and Durham counties is a placeholder, and there could 29 be negotiations with Durham County. 30 Danny Rogers said he failed to point out, on the timeline, that this is a complimentary 31 concurrent updating for the BRT for Orange County and Durham County. 32 Council Member Parker asked if the parties that will be making the decision in April, 33 could be identified. 34 Danny Rogers said the final responsibility rests with the Board of Trustees for 35 GoTriangle. He said that Board will want to know the intentions of the governmental entities 36 and what they are going to do. He said the signatories are Orange County, Durham County, 37 MPO, and GoTriangle, 38 Jeff Mann said an updated Orange County Bus and Rail Investment plan will be 39 presented in the spring. He said the Orange County BOCC can approve it, or not. 40 Town Council Member Cianciolo said he wanted to understand the issues of cost 41 reimbursements. He said assuming all is completed successfully by 2028, and the FTA sends 42 reimbursement funds, he asked if GoTriangle then writes a check to Orange County. 43 Danny Rogers said the reimbursements are for money they have spent, to pay off the 44 debt. 45 Town Council Member Cianciolo said it has to be a decision that focuses on the costs 46 going forward, as money spent to date is gone, for all intents and purposes. He said it must be 47 decided if this project is deemed to be beneficial. 48 Danny Rogers said if the project falls out of the program, whilst decisions are trying to 49 be made and money is spent, those funds are not eligible for reimbursement. He said getting