Agenda - 05-16-2017 - 8-a - Minutes

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6 1 • She said every township will pay the transit tax but the proposed financial scheme 2 disproportionally allots more funding to serve a small percentage of area residents who 3 may use the LRT, and thus disproportionately allots less funding for buses to serve the 4 residents of Cedar Grove, Little River and Bingham. 5 • This project fails to serve transient dependent communities, and the proposed route fails 6 to provide direct service to communities of low to moderate wealth, and/or communities 7 of color, including Northside, Rogers Road, Efland, West Hillsborough and Fairview, 8 and therefore continues to marginalize these constituents. 9 Commissioner Price said, as a Commissioner, she is accountable to the Orange County 10 constituents, and development planning should be long term, comprehensive and flexible, but 11 she likened the newest plan proposals to shifting sand, without firm foundation and without 12 confidence. She said County government needs to maintain control and oversight of its 13 revenues and expenditures, and the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) must wisely 14 steward the County resources. 15 Commissioner Price referred to the emails received from the community, and noted 16 hundreds of residents voted no to the LRT, and her vote will be no as well. 17 Commissioner McKee said he has had people tell him to stand down, or burn the place 18 down. He said he will do neither. 19 Commissioner McKee said he has been opposed to the LRT since 2012. He said he 20 stood down from opposition when the residents voted in favor of the transit tax. He said he 21 started raising objections back in the fall of 2016, when he saw numerous financial models that 22 did not make sense. He said the original proposal had this project being paid off by 2036, but 23 this was no longer the case. He said the long-term nature of loan repayment will use up any 24 additional funds that may have been available for bus transit. 25 Commissioner McKee said once Orange County has spent $50 to $100 million he will be 26 quiet, because the County will be too invested at that point to walk away and waste the money. 27 Commissioner McKee said the Board has received emails that have an approximate 28 ratio of 3-1 being against this plan, and, interestingly, many of these emails are from the 29 southern part of the County. He said he is not sure anyone on the Board fully understands 30 every aspect of this issue, and no one knows what will happen if the BOCC approves this. 31 Commissioner McKee said he would like to make a motion after comments have been 32 received. 33 Commissioner Jacobs said he actually did not make up his mind until yesterday. He 34 said he came at this issue with a set of values that he includes in all of his decision-making: a 35 sense of environmental responsibility and social justice. He said he has had moments of 36 disquieting and reassurance during this entire process. He said he has been involved in 37 Orange County planning for 30 years, and he believes in channeling growth where it should be, 38 which is why the rural buffer is important, and two and five acre zoning to protect watersheds. 39 He said he had to consider whether the LRT was a tool to channel growth. He said the Board 40 has seen where the LRT line will run, and it is misleading to think that it will only serve a very 41 small area as the universities at either end of the LRT provide immense opportunities and 42 employment in Orange County. 43 Commissioner Jacobs said he was not challenging the route or the mode, but whether 44 Orange County would be at risk financially. He said he does not want the BOCC to be 45 compelled to spend money that could be used for schools, land protection, affordable housing, 46 etc. He said he and Chair Dorosin worked diligently with Durham on the Cost Share Agreement 47 to avoid such a scenario, and the Durham County Commissioners listened. He said this is a 48 university rail line, and adding North Carolina Central University (NCCU) changed the 49 percentage of what Durham was getting, and Orange County has the fewest miles, the least