Orange County Board of Commissioners discuss light rail and bus rapid transit at meeting Thursday night

The Orange County Board of Commissioners met Thursday night to discuss the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund and the Durham-Orange Light Rail Transit Project. Staff Writer Sophia Wilhelm live-tweeted the meeting.

We’ll be live tweeting the Orange County BOCC meeting tonight! #OCBOCC

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BOCC collectively decided to remove the Housing Affordability Policy section from the agenda and will discuss it in a future meeting.

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Bob Dick discusses how the current financial structure of the Solid Waste Enterprise Fund is unsustainable.

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"Significant annual deficits are projected for next 5 years," Dick said.

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Dick said to increase the Program Fee, the County could increase the General Fund Contribution. #OCBOCC

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Dick recommends that the BOCC reduces their reliance on Solid Waste Fund Balance in a phased manner as necessary.

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County Manager Bonnie Hammersley evaluates the Solid Waste fee.

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“The Solid Waste Advisory Group has been very helpful in bringing the town in on this issue,” said Hammersley.

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County Attorney John Roberts comments on the potential uses for the closed landfill and how there are ways to bring in revenue.

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Roberts introduces the next topic, the Bus Rapid Transit and the Light Rail Transit.

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A representative for the @GoTriangle said that BRT was a good fit for Wake County and LRT was a good fit for Durham-Orange.

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A representative for the @GoTriangle said Durham-Orange has 72,000 transit boardings per day.

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Goals for BRT and LRT are to increase transit efficiency, improve transit
connections, and support local and regional economic development.

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A rep for @GoTriangle said Franklin Street’s traffic today is lower than it was in 1997, even with the development of buildings. #OCBOCC

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LRT travel time has gotten longer because of change in route. #OCBOCC

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The same rep for @GoTriangle suggests spending more on capital cost to add up to 40 bridges.

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The meeting has ended! #OCBOCC

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