Agenda - 03-19-2019 8-a - Minutes

Browse Search

2 1 2 3 2. Public Comments 4 5 6 a. Matters not on the Printed Agenda 7 Craig Carter said he received many calls after the joint meeting of the Board of 8 County Commissioners (BOCC) and Fire Departments. He said he wears gloves as he 9 has a nerve disease, and does not feel his hands and feet. He said he thinks that the 911 10 system is the problem, and does not always relay the information to the proper authorities. 11 He said he talked with Keith Nelson about flooding in the Eno River, which is where he 12 learned that Alamance County would be called in the case of emergency swift water. He 13 said this seemed strange, and he called the Eno Fire Department who told him they had a 14 rubber boat and a paddle. He referred to the possibility of a training facility, and said he 15 would like to see this run through Orange County resources and stakeholders, not Durham 16 Tech. He said Duke owns 7000 acres, and does not pay taxes or fire taxes. He said the 17 State Parks own 4200 acres and also pays no taxes. He said more resources are needed 18 in the northern part of the County. 19 Nick Jimonoz said he is from the Southern Environmental Law Center, and has 20 comments about the light rail project (LRT). He said the LRT has suffered setbacks since 21 Duke has decided not to support it, but this is just setback and this project has been in the 22 works for 20 years, and there is a lot of support throughout the triangle. He said none of 23 that support goes away just because of another obstacle, and he asked the Board of 24 County Commissioners (BOCC) to continue to support the light rail project. 25 26 b. Matters on the Printed Agenda 27 (These matters will be considered when the Board addresses that item on the 28 agenda below.) 29 30 3. Announcements, Petitions and Comments by Board Members 31 Commissioner Marcoplos said he attended the GoTriangle cost sharing meeting, 32 which was required to occur due to a substantive change taking place. He said this 33 meeting occurred on Monday, and the BOCC has since received the numbers that were 34 shared. He said costs have increased by $237million, with the FTA requiring $60.4 million 35 in additional contingency, based partly on costs of projects around the country; a $47.8 36 million inflation adjustment; and more contractor overhead with the monies available for the 37 project being in line with what is going on around the country. He said the Board already 38 passed a resolution that it would not spend anymore than $149.5 million as the base cost, 39 plus the financing costs. He said the FTA has given their ok to some Transportation 40 Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loans that can be procured at a lower 41 interest rate, which could generate overall savings for the project. 42 Commissioner Marcoplos said this was a hectic meeting, during which a letter was 43 being composed to Duke asking them to enter into a mediation process, which Duke has 44 indicated it is unwilling to do. He said there will be a work session with Go Triangle Board 45 on Tuesday March 12 at noon. 46 Commissioner McKee apologized to the Board of County Commissioners for an 47 email, which he sent the Board earlier this week. He said he stands by the points he made 48 in the email, but his tone was accusatory and personal, for which he apologized. 49 Commissioner McKee said the GoTriangle presentation will occur at the BOCC 50 work session on the 121", and he petitioned to allow public comment that evening.