Minutes 03-07-2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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14 Jeff Mann said the bus improvements that are in the Durham and Orange County Bus and Rail Investment Plan, which include BRT on the MLK corridor and to the Hillsborough train station, are still in the plan and are funded by the plan. Commissioner Price asked if the bus expansion would be threatened due to cost overruns of the LRT. Jeff Mann said most of the bus expansion would happen prior to the LRT. He said a large investment in one mode of transportation does limit the options of expanding other modes. Commissioner Price asked the Orange County staff if the County's credit rating will be affected by all of the risks of LRT. Gary Donaldson, Orange County Chief Financial Officer, said it depends on the recourse, and he said it if is a contingent liability then it would impact the County's credit rating. Commissioner Price said she is concerned about the finances, but is just as concerned about social justice goals. She said she wonders how this plan is meeting the needs of those with low income, and if this project takes so much of the County's time and money then the social justice goals may as well be thrown away. Commissioner Rich thanked the public for their patience. She said all involved are working on the financials, and all are thinking this through. She said the public is welcome to speak at any regular BOCC meeting, whether this item is on the agenda or not. Commissioner McKee asked if there were 35,000 new bus hours in the original plan. Jeff Mann said yes. Commissioner McKee asked if the percentage of these hours, that have already been implemented and/or committed, is known. John Talmadge, GoTriangle Regional Services Development Director, said the hours allotted to GoTriangle and the Orange Public Transportation (OPT) are fully committed. He said the Town of Chapel Hill has most of the hours, and it has not fully committed its hours yet. He said the Town has about 7,500 hours that it has not yet committed. Commissioner McKee asked if the amount of hours remaining to be allocated from the 35,000 could be identified. John Talmadge said he can get this information to the Board. Commissioner McKee said he said he understands there are 35,000 hours throughout the life of the plan. John Talmadge said there are 35,000 annually. He said it starts at 200,000 hours, and is supposed to increase to 235,000 in the first 3 to 5 years, and stay in this steady state until 2035. Commissioner McKee said technically there are very few extra hours to allocate from now to 2035. John Talmadge said of the 35,000 there is about 1/3 left to allocate. He will put precise numbers in writing. John Talmadge said once the rail service is opened, there are choices to be made about services that are parallel to the rail. Commissioner Jacobs said he finds it difficult to organize numbers that are being flown about. He suggested that the Board organize all its questions into categories, and submit them to the Manager who can submit them to GoTriangle. Commissioner McKee said he respected and endorsed Commissioner Jacobs' suggestion, but noted that he submitted a list of questions to GoTriangle on December 13th and did not receive answers. Jeff Mann said he has provided information, and if there is anything outstanding that GoTriangle can provide, it will be happy to do so. Commissioner Rich suggested that the focus be on Orange County's costs.