Minutes 03-07-2019 Regular Meeting

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