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Approved 2/18/09 1 MINUTES 1 ORANGE UNIFIED TRANSPORTATION BOARD REGULAR MEETING 2 NOVEMBER 19, 2008 3 4 MEMBERS PRESENT: Sam Lasris, Cedar Grove Township; Nancy Cole Baker, Pedestrian Access Advocate; 5 Alice Gordon, Board of County Commissioners; Jan Grossman, Bicycle Transportation Advocate; Julian (Randy) 6 Marshall, Bingham Township; Paul Guthrie, Chapel Hill Township; Karen Barrows, Little River Township; Eric 7 Tillman, Hillsborough Township; Bryn Smith, CFE Representative; 8 9 MEMBERS ABSENT: Al Terry, Transportation Services Board Representative; Dawn Brezina, Eno Township; 10 EDC Representative, Vacant 11 12 STAFF PRESENT: Karen Lincoln, Transportation Planner; Tina Love, Administrative Assistant II 13 14 I. Call to order 15 16 II. Consideration of additions to the agenda 17 18 III. Board Comments/Updates 19 20 Paul Guthrie: I just wanted to mention that we started the rail process. 21 22 Sam Lasris: We saw you were appointed, congratulations 23 24 Paul Guthrie: We had our first meeting of the task force on the location of the rail for Amtrak in Hillsborough it was 25 more or less an organizational meeting. The task force was appointed by the Board of County Commissioners and 26 the Town of Hillsborough after the informal “Focus on Hillsborough Train Stop” group recommended it. A couple of 27 key issues we should follow: where is the most effective place for the railroad station; and the other is that this is 28 really the first look at a major change in the utilization in that corridor. Over the next five to ten years it’s likely the 29 high speed rail will make it to Raleigh. The next step in that process is Raleigh to Charlotte and then on to Atlanta. 30 Ten to fifteen years out that rail corridor may support high speeds passenger rail, commuter rail, and whatever 31 Amtrak is now doing and Amtrak may be the lowest user. When you come to the decision on where to put the 32 location, the question before the group will be do you only look at what will be the good utilization for Hillsborough 33 now, or do you also look at long term issues that could affect the scope of the project down the road taking in the 34 high speed rail. The bigger issue is the development of transportation hubs for the future that will be multimodal 35 interchange points. It has implications that go ahead for a great many years. 36 37 Nancy Baker asked if they had to do with the rail itself or just the stop. 38 39 Paul Guthrie answered that it was the stop and the 200 foot corridor. It will be a minimum of two rails once the 40 southeast system goes into place. It may eventually be three rails. There is a 200-foot right of way owned by the 41 State of North Carolina (NCRR). In answering a question posed by Sam Lasris about strategic growth, Paul stressed 42 the choices of choosing a station location either for future use in terms of facility development or for a very simple but 43 accessible stop now, knowing that you may have to change it in the future. 44 45 Eric Tillman asked if when the high speed comes in, will they even consider Hillsborough for a stop and was told 46 probably not. But commuter rail would probably have several stops between Hillsborough and Mebane. It all 47 depends on passenger load, public and private transportation, connecting feeders, the whole issue of public access 48 to the highways, and what it does to neighborhoods. 49 50 Sam Lasris asked that he give a handout of the recommended criteria used to locate the station. Paul and Karen 51 Lincoln will work on getting the information. 52 53 Alice Gordon talked about the presentation from Scott Sailor of the North Carolina Railroad Company and shared 54 information on the commuter rail study that has been commissioned. The study is for capital improvements needed 55