Minutes 12-05-2016 - Laserfiche WebLink

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30 Jeff Mann said when the final design phase is entered, money will be spent at a faster rate. He said this will be done with local funds until a full funding grant agreement is reached with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and state funding begins in 2019. Commissioner Jacobs asked for the timeline, if one looks at a calendar. Jeff Mann said state funding would not be available until 2019/2020, and federal funding not until 2020. Commissioner Jacobs said April 2017 is not a hard deadline, as there are funds to proceed; but the funds will just be spent at a faster rate. Jeff Mann said it is an internal checkpoint for them to see if the project is clear to go into the engineering phase. Commissioner Jacobs referred to the bus side of the funding, and said the BOCC received a presentation, and no consultation, regarding a bus rapid transit project (BRT) in Chapel Hill, which exceeds $100 million. He asked what would happen to this money if this project was removed from the bus side of the equation. Jeff Mann said the local share of the Chapel Hill BRT project is about $40 million. Commissioner Jacobs said the total is triple the amount of the original projection. Jeff Mann said yes, as the project was extended and more dedicated lanes were added. Commissioner Jacobs asked if this $40 million is removed, where would the funds go. Jeff Mann said removing the BRT project would be a modification to the bus and rail investment plan, and the BOCC would make a recommendation for the allocation of these funds. He said GoTriangle would not determine the purpose of these funds. Commissioner Jacobs said the funds could be put toward the gap. Jeff Mann said yes. PUBLIC COMMENT: Tony Blake said he is against light rail. He urged the Board not to approve the MOU until an independent cost analysis is completed, and the more hidden costs are known. He said if the BOCC wants to sign the MOU, he would suggest two amendments to it: no more spending on engineering of light rail until a cost benefit cost study is done. Alex Castro provided a handout, and asked what is the funding gap and why is there a funding gap. He said if all available funds go to the light rail, then other services will suffer such as local transit, OPT, etc. He said Light Rail will not serve its first customer until 2028. Ken Larsen said light rail is a giant vacuum cleaner to suck the money from all the taxpayers. He said the only benefactors are UNC and the developers. He does not want the Board to sign the MOU-Letter of Intent. Aaron Butner said he is a resident of Hillsborough from a modest background. He is a current employer in Chapel Hill, and asked the Board not to sign the Letter of Intent. Ed Tiryakian asked the Board not to sign the Letter of Intent. He said the MOU would put expectations on the County, and it goes against the will of the voters. He said the burden of financing has shifted heavily to Orange County. Sam Gharbo said the Board has a golden opportunity to be fiscally responsible. He said the Board could not find enough money for schools, and had to float a bond. He said if there is not enough funding for schools, where will the Board find double, if not triple that amount for this project. He wondered if the Board will be putting forth a light rail bond. He said the County is going to be rail poor. He said this was a bad idea four years ago, and it is a bad idea today. Olivia Truax said she is in support of the Light Rail project, and its many benefits to the residents of Orange County.