Orange County NC Website
Browse       Search
2 <br /> a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda <br /> David Keil read the following comments: <br /> Chair Rich and Members of the County Commission, I'm David Kiel and I have been a resident <br /> of the County since 1977. <br /> Tonight I speak on behalf of Affordable Transit For All. We are a coalition of Orange and <br /> Durham citizens and civic groups. We advocate for practical transportation solutions. <br /> We have many concerns about the proposed Light Rail Project. Tonight, however, I want to <br /> focus only the potential negative impact on transportation, schools and other public services in <br /> Orange County. <br /> The original capital expense for this project was set at $2.4 billion. The actual price including <br /> interest on borrowing was recently calculated to be $3.3 billion. We just learned that changes in <br /> the plan required by Durham may add as much as $500 million to the capital cost, a figure <br /> which, as I understand it, does not include associated interest charges. As a result, the project <br /> is hundreds of millions of dollars short. And here is the essence of the threat we see: Durham <br /> and Orange will be expected to make up the difference. The light rail project is currently <br /> absorbing almost all our transit funds. We believe these funds could be used to serve more <br /> people, more flexibly at a fraction of the cost. <br /> Therefore tonight we ask the Commission to consider four actions: <br /> 1.) Please honor your commitment to cap the County's share of the capital outlay for the project <br /> at $149.5 million. <br /> 2.) Please consider a cap on Orange County's borrowing associated with light rail, already at <br /> $150 million—and we will be responsible for the associated interest costs on this amount. <br /> 3.) Please do not offer other revenue streams to close the funding gaps that we foresee. The <br /> county's schools and essential services face their own serious funding challenges. They should <br /> not lose funds to Light Rail. <br /> If there are unexpended transit tax funds, please use them to expand bus, bus rapid transit and <br /> demand services for seniors and other vulnerable populations. <br /> 4.) Since GoTriangle must now come back to this body with a new financial plan taking into <br /> account the increased costs, please invite Davenport, the County's respected financial <br /> consultant, to return and review the new Light Rail financial plan so you can be fully informed as <br /> you consider any further commitments to the project. <br /> We believe these simple actions are essential to safeguard our citizens from the likely negative <br /> impact of this project on the County's finances, transportation, and other public services. Thank <br /> you. <br /> Bonnie Hauser read the following comments: <br /> Good evening Commissioners. I'm Bonnie Hauser and I'm also speaking for Affordable Transit <br /> for All. We know you are facing some challenging questions about the light rail project, and we <br /> are working to help you become fully informed. <br /> I'm here to share some work that we did with the TOD Guidebook. You see we were really <br /> surprised to hear numbers like $1.4-$1.9 billion in revenue, even as high as $2 billion. So we <br /> went through the ream of paper and looked for ourselves. <br /> Here's what we learned. <br />