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

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19 1 the plan where the dollars are insufficient, and he is worried about start-up costs and safety. 2 He said he is in complete opposition to the LRT project. 3 Commissioner McKee said he would like to request that GoTriangle copy the BOCC on 4 its answers to Mr. Gordon's questions. 5 Molly McConnell said she has lived in Orange County for 47 years, is a public servant, 6 and a child advocate. She said the current transit plan does not serve the whole community, 7 and she does not support light rail. She said there are too many other greater needs in Orange 8 County. 9 Phil Earnhardt said Denver was in the same place as Orange County 20 years ago. He 10 said Denver's plan was analyzed in 2013, and he urged the BOCC to look at this analysis. He 11 said this plan has had huge expansions, and this is likely to continue. He urged the BOCC to 12 see the failures from Denver and Dallas, and noted that facts are stubborn things. He said he 13 cannot see a way for Orange County to avoid similar failures. He advocated that the BOCC 14 stop this project now. 15 Vijay Sivaraman said he is a Carrboro resident, a parent, and a professor at NCCU. For 16 these reasons, he fully supports the Transit plan and believes the County should forward their 17 commitment as well. As an academic, he appreciates data. As a result, he stands behind 18 TTA's data acquisition and reporting, that demonstrates that 58% are minorities, 70% are ages 19 44 or below and 95% are employed or students within our community, training to soon 20 contribute to our growing economy. The transit plan (yes with Light Rail) has been a constant 21 discussion point for many years and is the closest to implementation as it has ever been. He 22 sees this as something students can use to efficiently take courses between our hallowed 23 Academic institutions; residents can safely attend sporting events and go to work in a regular 24 and dependable manner not depending on whims of car congestion. He said he is a biologist: 25 he said he sees our cities as connected veins of narrow roadways that can barely support the 26 flow rate of our automotive traffic. Increases will likely lead to occlusion that stop access to 27 work and negatively impact our economy and lifestyle. The population growth within Orange 28 and Durham counties are staggering, and this must be supported by systems to move people 29 around efficiently. The Transit plan will provide a major step towards improving this. Finally: it is 30 well known that properties around transit stations will be increase and value and will prosper for 31 small businesses. Both Chapel Hill and Durham will enjoy these increases, which we can all 32 get behind. Let us please not be bullied by bogymen like unknown increasing costs and or 33 irrational fears of one city benefiting more than the other. Let's move forward with this plan. 34 Thank you! 35 Aaron Nelson said he is the president of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of 36 Commerce. He said their Board of Directors (BOD) voted to support the transit tax in 2012 and 37 has continued to do so. He said in this past year, the BOD has been concerned about the 38 costs, and did some research. He said after conducting this research, the BOD is still in full 39 support of the plan and the north-south corridor, contingent on the fact that Orange County's 40 portion of capital costs does not exceed 18%. He said there are risks, but they are worth it. 41 Kristen Smith is a chamber employee, and they support the plan. She reviewed a 42 summary of their Board's comments. 43 Kenneth Parker said he is a transit ambassador working in Carrboro. He spoke to the 44 importance of public transit in everyone's life. He said he supports public transit in any and all 45 forms. 46 Allen Spalt said he and his wife are here to support the light rail and BRT. He said 47 congestion is here, and it will only get worse. He said if the BOCC waits, the costs will escalate. 48 He said this is the start of a regional plan. 49 William Charles said Orange County has been a victim of hippie thinking. He said this 50 light rail plan is an abuse of all Orange County taxpayers for the next 45 years, starving the