Orange County NC Website
7 <br /> 1 5. Amanda Hefty <br /> 2 6. Brian Huneycutt <br /> 3 7. Des Lambert <br /> 4 8. Chief Matthew Mauzy <br /> 5 9. Captain Nate Montminy <br /> 6 10. Sean Miller <br /> 7 11. Captain Tucker Philbrook <br /> 8 12. Carly Sherrod <br /> 9 13. Elizabeth Shipman <br /> 10 14. Lt. Anne Wandishin <br /> 11 15. Jay Zhang <br /> 12 <br /> 13 7. Regular Agenda <br /> 14 <br /> 15 a. GoTriangle Presentation on the Status of the Durham Orange — Light Rail <br /> 16 Transportation (DO-LRT) Project <br /> 17 The Board received a report from GoTriangle representatives, on communications <br /> 18 between GoTriangle and the Federal Transportation Authority (FTA), related to the timeline for <br /> 19 the Durham Orange— Light Rail Transportation (DO-LRT) project, and discussed the <br /> 20 implications of the most recent information on the project, and considered potential options for <br /> 21 the project. <br /> 22 Jeff Mann, GoTriangle General Manager, said this evening will provide an update, with <br /> 23 the goal of moving towards getting the light rail up and running. He said this line will provide <br /> 24 options for a more predictable, congestion-free commute, as well as economic and <br /> 25 environmental benefits. He said the funding picture has changed due to last year's legislature <br /> 26 cap of 10%. He said the GoTriangle staff has worked closely with staffs and leaders of both <br /> 27 Durham and Orange Counties, as well as local universities, governments and the private <br /> 28 sector. <br /> 29 Jeff Mann said the next phase is the engineering phase, which was applied for with the <br /> 30 FTA. He said, on February 15th, Governor Roy Cooper added this project to a list of priority <br /> 31 shovel ready, or near shovel ready, projects, that was submitted to the Department of <br /> 32 Transportation (DOT). He said there are three active bills in the General Assembly to remove <br /> 33 the 10% cap. He said GoTriangle received an email on February 16th, from the FTA requesting <br /> 34 additional documentation from all involved entities to be delivered by the end of April. He said <br /> 35 these documents would acknowledge the updated cost estimate and funding strategy for the <br /> 36 project, and would confirm that at least 30% of the non-federal funds remain committed, in <br /> 37 order to move into the engineering phase. <br /> 38 Jeff Mann said since receiving this notification, GoTriangle has worked with all <br /> 39 organizations and Counties to submit this necessary documentation. He said the Durham and <br /> 40 Orange County Staff working group met last week, where Travis Myren lead the effort to <br /> 41 develop an accelerated schedule for the review and approval for the Bus and Rail Investment <br /> 42 plans, which is at the Commissioners' places. He said this accelerated schedule will help meet <br /> 43 the April 30th deadline, and will allow the approval of the updated Bus and Rail Investment Plan <br /> 44 for Orange County. He said this was originally scheduled for April, then moved to June, partly <br /> 45 to better inform the cost share decision between the counties. He said the proposal is to move <br /> 46 the approval back to April. <br /> 47 Jeff Mann said the proposed decision to extend the project till June was a joint decision, <br /> 48 but it is believed that the new schedule is quite doable. He said if the April 30th deadline is not <br /> 49 met, then the project will automatically be withdrawn from the NewStarts process. He said it is <br />