Orange County NC Website
33 <br /> Commissioner Greene asked what happens when the property is disposed of and if <br /> Orange County gets its share back. She said that Orange County transit plan does not see <br /> going down that corridor for probably ever. She said she would like their share back. <br /> Charles Lattuca said this issue was also raised at the Durham County meeting. He said <br /> that if the property is sold, then 20% of property sales will go back to reimburse the transit plan. <br /> Commissioner Richards asked about other assets that may remain and what is the <br /> disposition plan of the total project. <br /> Katherine Eggleston said the 23 acres described in the slides are the only physical <br /> assets. She said that the remainder of the work was for development of plans and reports. She <br /> said there has been reuse or repurposing of some of that work. She said at the conclusion of <br /> the project they indexed and provided them to local governments to use. She said that the city <br /> of Durham is working on transportation project on Durham Road and can achieve it at a cost <br /> savings by using some of the reports on file. She said that the reuse is only a fraction of the <br /> value that would have been created. <br /> Commissioner Richards asked if the only benefits to share would be the sale of the real <br /> estate. <br /> Katherine Eggleston said that the evaluation is being completed for transit plans are <br /> being updated. She expects that to occur within a year or so and if a decision is made to sell <br /> the properties, the reimbursements will be made to transit plan at that time. <br /> Commissioner Bedford thanked Katherine Eggleston for her ability to communicate the <br /> technical language. She asked if any of the $157 million was covered by debt. <br /> Katherine Eggleston said no debt was incurred. <br /> Commissioner Bedford said one of the things that a consultant identified that could be <br /> done is to change the makeup of the Board to add expertise. <br /> Katherine Eggleston said that after the project, GoTriangle requested a peer review to <br /> assess the situation and make recommendations. She said that the CEO of MARTA Atlanta, <br /> the executive from WMATA in Washington DC, and other industry representatives provided the <br /> review. She said that report with recommendations that is available publicly. She said they <br /> reviewed the composition of board, improve alignment with riders, composition is dictated by <br /> agency's charter <br /> Charles Lattuca said that the commuter rail feasibility study is being done in a way that <br /> is sensitive to the peer review recommendations. He said that report will be available soon for <br /> project management, stakeholders, and government partners. He said that the study is <br /> comprehensive and should be finalized in July. He said they spent $9 million on the study, and <br /> they are very confident that many questions will be answered. He said that the questions <br /> around insurance have been settled with Norfolk-Southern and NCRR. He said those are <br /> already addressed if the commuter rail moves into the next phase. <br /> Chair Price said the commuter rail will not come to Orange County, but they are looking <br /> to add bus service to assist. <br /> Commissioner McKee said that the people he was frustrated with are no longer at <br /> GoTriangle. He said they played smoke and mirrors. He said that to say that Duke and NCRR <br /> were the reason the project was killed is an oversimplification. He said that they expressed <br /> reservations and concerns for years and those concerns were ignored or downplayed. He said <br /> he has one of the original sets of plans and he used to know the amount of money that was <br /> wasted on that. He said that while he did not object to the idea of light rail, some of his fellow <br /> board members have heard him argue that it was not the time to do it. He said he gets no <br /> pleasure in criticizing the representatives. He asked how much transportation they could <br /> provide for $30 million for people that need it. He said that it felt like it was portrayed that he <br /> was some country hick who does not understand. He said he hopes that they will go back and <br /> factor in that very few people who are transit dependent, who did not have options, were not <br />