The first in a series of votes on whether the proposed Durham-Orange Light Rail line will move forward is scheduled for Monday night.
Some Orange County Commissioners appear to be more comfortable with a renegotiated cost-sharing plan with Durham County regarding the project.
“I need to thank our negotiators,” commissioner Mia Burroughs said at last Thursday’s work session. “Because we were at 23 percent when this all started….moved down to 20, which wasn’t working for us.”
The newly negotiated terms bring Orange County’s share of the 17.7-mile light rail line down to 16.5 percent.
“What I’m seeing is cash reserves that work” in the new agreement, Burroughs said, adding she would now be able to support the proposal.
The commissioners met for nearly three hours in the work session after a more-than-four-hour public hearing last Tuesday saw public opinion on the project split down the middle.
Commissioner Barry Jacobs thanked the board’s Durham counterparts for the successful negotiation.
“I think that Durham, just as it was with Little River Regional Park and Hollow Rock, is a very accommodating partner.”
While the cost-sharing portion of the agreement drew support, there was concern over another provision of the agreement. Orange County had included a provision that allowed the county to withdraw from the agreement, but an attorney from GoTriangle said they did not believe the Federal Transit Administration would interpret that as a full commitment to the project.
“GoTrianle and Durham County raised concerns about the inclusion of the unilateral termination provision in the agreement that was requested earlier this week,” a GoTriangle attorney said. “And, quite frankly, we’re not confident at all that FTA would accept that.”
With 50 percent of the funding for the project slated to come from the federal government, that disapproval would effectively stop the project from moving forward.
But Jacobs said he did not want to be part of an agreement that did not offer what he felt were adequate protections for the county.
“It’s like the big boogeyman is FTA; I get it,” Jacobs said. “What I’m worried about is Orange County’s general fund. For that to be the bottom line, we just need to be able to know that we can take an action or avoid an action based on what’s best for Orange County.
“If we’re committed to the project, then we will do our best – as we have so far – to act in good faith to make it work.”
Some commissioners said they felt other language in the proposal offered enough protection for the county.
Commissioner Penny Rich said she opposed the withdrawal provision because a future board could abandon the plan.
“I’m not particularly fond of the unilateral withdrawal,” Rich said. “Because I think that at some point this board is going to change and the future board could just say, ‘Well, we don’t like the project, and we’re pulling out.’”
Commissioner Earl McKee, who has been against the project from the preliminary stages, attempted to ease Rich’s concerns.
“I’m not going to say this is an absolute guarantee, but even I – who have opposed this project for six years, adamantly – have stated in public that once Orange County has spent $50-$100 million, even I’m not going to walk away.”
Orange County attorney John Roberts was set to work with attorneys from Durham County and GoTriangle to finalize language to be included in the plan moving forward.
Durham County commissioners are scheduled to vote on the transit plan at a meeting set for seven o’clock Monday night.
The Orange County board is then set to vote on the plan on Thursday night.
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