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18 <br /> Danny Rogers said the BOCC is being provided accurate information in order to make <br /> an informed decision. <br /> Council Member Parker asked if there is any chance that this gap will get smaller. <br /> Danny Rogers said there are reasons to be optimistic, but there may be other surprises <br /> coming down the pike. <br /> Chair McKee asked if GoTriangle would be open to an independent analysis of the <br /> engineering and financial plan. <br /> Jeff Mann said the FTA conducts an independent analysis of the financial plan <br /> throughout the process. <br /> Chair McKee asked if GoTriangle is open to Orange County having a consultant, at the <br /> County's expense, review the financial plan before moving forward. <br /> Jeff Mann said yes, but there may not be time before December. <br /> Saundra Freeman, GoTriangle Chief Financial Officer, said three consultants have <br /> already reviewed the financial plan, and what Chair McKee is proposing will take several <br /> months to complete. <br /> Chair McKee asked if GoTriangle is willing to give Orange County additional time to <br /> conduct an independent financial analysis. <br /> Saundra Freeman said yes, an independent analysis would be fine, but the timing is <br /> tricky. <br /> Jeff Mann said there is a hard deadline, of the end of 2016, to submit a financial plan, <br /> with a request to enter engineering. He said the plan must be submitted by the end of <br /> December, and there is insufficient time to complete an analysis before then, but one could be <br /> done at some time. <br /> Chair McKee said he felt that he is being backed into a box, and the timeframe is so <br /> short. He said the level of detail is so great, and the implications for the taxpayers of Orange <br /> County are so critical. <br /> Saundra Freeman said GoTriangle is convening a financial consortium, which will <br /> include the appropriate financial staff from Orange County, to walk through the model. She <br /> said a great deal of detail will be provided through that process. <br /> b) Extension to North Carolina Central University (background) <br /> Danny Rogers reviewed the following background, and made the following PowerPoint <br /> presentation: <br /> In February 2016, GoTriangle received a Combined Final Environmental Impact Statement <br /> (FEIS)/Record of Decision (ROD) for the Durham-Orange Light Rail <br /> Transit (D-O LRT) project from UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill to Alston Avenue in <br /> Durham. In response to comments received during that process, GoTriangle started <br /> to evaluate the option to extend the project south on Alston Avenue to a station near North <br /> Carolina Central University (NCCU). Preliminary engineering and ridership <br /> forecasts found the station to be feasible and capable of generating high ridership. <br /> GoTriangle is currently studying the natural environment and community impacts, as <br /> well as addressing state, federal, and local funding constraints. <br /> Recent guidance from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) indicates that the DO LRT <br /> project must enter the News Starts Engineering phase by February 2017. In order to meet this <br /> milestone, allow the NCCU station to advance into the next phase along with the other parts of <br />