Agenda - 05-02-2017 - 8-a - Minutes

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13 1 projects are complex. The light rail project has cleared significant milestones over the years that 2 place it on track to serve our region in about a decade. Any new alternative would have to start 3 over and would have to undergo engineering, financial, and environmental reviews that the light 4 rail project has completed. 5 6 Thank you for your thoughtful approach to this complex issue. I hope you will support the transit 7 plan, including the Durham-Orange Light Rail. 8 9 Tom Farmer provided a hand out. He said he is a Chapel Hill resident and came to live 10 here, in part, for the easy public transportation. He said easy transportation attracts residents 11 and jobs. He said he supports the transit plan and the LRT as it benefits residents, the 12 environment, and the economy. 13 Desiree Goldman said she is against light rail. She said believes in public transit 14 philosophically, but she is a pragmatist and the cost of the LRT is the problem. She said 16.5% 15 cost share may not cover the overruns. She said this light rail is great for Durham, UNC and 16 Duke, but they do not pay taxes. She said there will probably be very little affordable housing 17 on this route, and this plan will continue to increase the rural-urban political divide in the County. 18 She asked if the Board has a contingency plan if Orange County loses all of their impact fees, 19 and the state makes them merge the school districts. She said Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) would 20 make the County more adaptable. 21 Josh Mayo said he is a senior at UNC and a lifelong resident of Orange County, and he 22 supports light rail and more buses. 23 Matt Bailey said he is an Orange County resident, and he supports light rail. 24 Jason Baker said he supports light rail, and asked the Board to continue to support the 25 light rail. He said he works in Raleigh, and rides the GoTriangle CRX bus each day. He said 26 transit is an investment. 27 Brenda McCall reviewed the following email comments: 28 I am a volunteer on behalf of SALT/Project Engage and OCRA. In addition to visiting 29 homebound rural seniors, we refer our clients and others to the volunteer driver program 30 operated by Orange County Department on Aging. We have about 15 drivers who help seniors 31 get to medical appointments and errands in Orange and surrounding counties. We cannot meet 32 the demand. 33 34 It's disheartening for the many volunteers who work tirelessly to support our transit dependent 35 communities, and then see a $3.3 billion transportation plan that offers no help to us. When we 36 noticed that Wake issued a transit plan that included demand services to rural seniors and 37 disabled residents, we were even more disappointed. How could you approve a plan with 38 billions of dollars for light rail without any funds for demand services for seniors? It's not just 39 us. Over the last few months, you've heard from groups all over the county who need better 40 transportation. The Northern Orange NAACP, Fathers on the Move, the Grange, Efland Habitat 41 communities and others told you that we need better bus service — not just between UNC and 42 Durham — but from Northern Orange to Mebane, Durham, RTP and Wake. And not just a 43 couple of buses — but service at night and on weekends- so our many service employees can 44 get to work. 45 46 We're not asking for a lot— but it's hard to see billions going to light rail when we don't have 47 basic bus service in most of the county. Please do not approve this plan. 48 49 Peter Calingaert reviewed the following comments: 50 The standard benchmark of interest rates in the United States is the 10-year Treasury note. Its