Agenda - 6-c - Consideration to Discontinue the Durham-Orange Light Rail Project

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1 ORANGE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT Meeting Date: April 2, 2019 Action Agenda Item No. 6-c SUBJECT: Consideration to Discontinue the Durham-Orange Light Rail Project DEPARTMENT: County Manager's Office ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: Attachment 1: Cost Sharing Agreement Travis Myren, 919-245-2300 John Tallmadge, 919-485-7430 Attachment 2: GoTriangle Press Release on Discontinuation of the Durham-Orange Light Rail Project PURPOSE: To consider discontinuing the Durham-Orange Light Rail Project as recommended by the Go Triangle Board of Trustees. This action will satisfy the requirements of the Interlocal Cost Sharing Agreement for the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project by formally discontinuing the project and beginning a process to reallocate funds that had been allocated to the light rail project through an amended Orange County Transit Plan. BACKGROUND: On March 27, 2019, the GoTriangle Board of Trustees voted unanimously to recommend that the cost-sharing partners in Durham and Orange counties and the Durham - Chapel Hill - Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization discontinue the light-rail project. According to a statement issued by GoTriangle (Attachment 2), the Federal Transit Administration informed GoTriangle leadership that due the continued uncertainty with Duke University, the North Carolina Railroad, and additional environmental assessment needed for the downtown Durham changes, it is no longer practical to anticipate that the Durham-Orange Light Rail Project will receive a Full Funding Grant Agreement by November 2019. This means the project would not be able to meet the November 30 deadline set by the North Carolina General Assembly and therefore would no longer be eligible for any State funding. The Interlocal Cost Sharing Agreement for the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project (Attachment 1) prescribes a decision making process when funding becomes unavailable. It requires the parties to the agreement to meet within fifteen (15) business days to determine how to address the situation. One of the options available to the cost share partners is to discontinue the project. If this option is chosen, the Agreement stipulates that the Staff Working Group comprised of representatives from each County, GoTriangle, and the Durham - Chapel Hill - Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization shall convene within twenty (20) business days to begin the process of developing new Transit Plans that reallocate the dedicated transit revenue that had been allocated to the light rail project.