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,i <br />addition, The Village Project prepared a resolution, which Carrboro has adopted. <br />Subsequently, on September 24th, it was presented to the Chapel Hill Town Council and it was <br />referred to staff. It will be coming back to the Chapel Hill Town Council for consideration on <br />November 19th. He read the resolution as presented by The Village Project. <br />Resolution Supporting an Amtrak Stop in the Town of Hillsborough, NC <br />WHEREAS Orange County currently has four Amtrak passenger trains pass through <br />Hillsborough each day, with none of those trains stopping to pick up or drop off passengers, <br />and <br />WHEREAS Orange County municipal governments have made significant commitments to <br />non-automobile transportation above and beyond other North Carolina cities, towns and <br />counties by supporting fare-free public transportation, sidewalk construction bonds, greenways <br />and bike facilities, and <br />WHEREAS Orange County residents receive the inconveniences of this train service such as <br />noise and intermittently stopped traffic at grade crossings, while receiving none of the <br />numerous benefits, and <br />WHEREAS over 300 Hillsborough and Orange County citizens have recently signed a petition <br />in support of putting a rail station in Hillsborough, from which they would like to travel to New <br />York, Washington, DC, Charlotte, Greensboro and other destinations, and <br />WHEREAS AMTRAK and the State of NC are making continuous improvements on this line <br />that make it faster, more reliable and even more cost competitive with car travel with goals to <br />increase ridership, and <br />WHEREAS Hillsborough has just received a designation as a Cool City for its commitment to <br />reducing greenhouse gas production, and <br />WHEREAS, Orange County, the Towns of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, and UNC have committed <br />to a 60% reduction in carbon emissions which are largely automobile exhaust-related locally <br />and train travel can help reduce automobile travel, and <br />WHEREAS, The President of the United States recently announced a national goal to cut U.S. <br />gasoline consumption by 20 percent over the next ten years; <br />THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Orange County Board of Commissioners strongly <br />urges Governor Easley, NCDOT and Amtrak to: <br />• Establish an un-staffed temporary rail stop in Hillsborough to be served by all trains <br />passing through Hillsborough by September 2009 <br />• Support the designation of a site for a permanent train station in Hillsborough that could <br />be served by intercity passenger rail trains and any potential commuter or regional rail <br />services that may develop in the Triangle in the future <br />• Identify and reserve state funds to move both of these projects forward, assuming <br />matching local public and/or private contributions are identified. <br />