With more eyes on Loudoun County than likely have ever been on it, the Loudoun Board of Supervisors voted 5-4 on Tuesday to continue participating with the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, which will extend the now-under-construction Silver Line from Wiehle Avenue in Reston to Route 772 in Ashburn.
“Well the day has finally come for this board to make the decision about the future of Loudoun County,” County Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large) said as the vote approached. “This will help our employers reach our employees regionally.”
York and Supervisors Ken Reid (R-Leesburg), Ralph Buona (R-Ashburn), Matt Letourneau (R-Dulles) and Shawn Williams (R-Broad Run) voted in supported, while Supervisors Suzanne Volpe (R-Algonkian), Geary Higgins (R-Catoctin), Janet Clarke (R-Blue Ridge) and Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) voted against the project.
“I don’t think this package is a good deal for Loudoun,” Higgins said. “I think we couldn’t gotten a better deal.”
By participating in the project, Loudoun agrees to pay 4.8 percent of the construction costs of both phases of the project, totaling about $270 million. In total, about $16 million in ongoing maintenance and operation plus $18 million in annual debt service payments would put the county on the hook for about $34 million per year, minus any use of the county’s share of gas tax money and additional revenue coming from development around the new rail stations.
In addition, the board agreed to pursue a special tax district near the rail station, which would exclude existing residential and businesses located farther away from stations from taxes for Metro. However, if costs are higher than anticipated, other sources of revenue, including general fund dollars, could be used to make up the difference.
About 50 speakers showed up one final time Monday night, and a couple more Tuesday morning, mostly to encourage supervisors to stick to the plan and participate in the project.
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Virginia Del. Ken Plum (D-Reston), who has been part of the group advocating for rail to Dulles for 20 years, says getting past the "small but very vocal" minority of dissenters was key.
"It is a great relief," Plum said of Loudoun's Tuesday vote. "It was a good decision. It would have been a serious mistake to do otherwise. Rail will be good for the longterm economic growth of Loudoun and of the corridor."
Said Patty Nicoson of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association: “With the financing plan in place and almost every question raised and answered by the Board during this process, this is an extremely positive step for Loudoun County and the region."
Fairfax County had reconfirmed its support in April. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova said Tuesday she was happy with Loudoun's vote.
"I’m happy to see that Loudoun County has decided to remain a committed partner in Rail to Dulles," said Bulova. "I look forward to continuing to work to maximize the economic development potential that rail brings, and finding ways to keep tolls affordable and protect Fairfax County residents and commuters."
I guess you will walk or drive to the rail station when you take the train, since you have some aversion to using a bus. But now you need to arrange for day and night bus service to the rail stations. You have a few years to plan that. After January 1, 2012 you can probably work on it while you are stuck on the side roads in Fairfax County, because most people will not pay the usurious tolls - assuming they even still have a job to go to in the first place. Congratulations, if you think this is a victory. Depending on who you really are, maybe it is - for you.
I think that people, whether they supported this thing or opposed it, should put that aside now and work hard, to make this colossal blunder work as well as it possibly can. Because if it falls on its face, this region is finished.
By the way, in case it helps you to take my input more seriously, i should have mentioned this to you before - this IS my real name, not a pen name. i have been called "TJ" by friends in the past.....you can call me Ray, you can call me Ray Jay, you can call me RJ Jr...... but you doesn't have to call me Mr. Johnson - (now, i''m tipping my age because i doubt many under 50 will recall that reference but i'll bet you can !!)
:)
Dulles Corridor Predicted to See Success with Rail Herndon Patch, September 17, 2010 http://herndon.patch.com/articles/dulles-corridor-predicted-to-see-success-with-rail "Stuart Mendelsohn, who served for eight years on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors ... said ... 'Rail is really there to get the employees there. Six-hundred feet really isn't going to stop the employees from using it,' he said. He said often fewer travelers use the rail to get to the airport than airport employees." - Sharon Bulova Pushes for Alternative Location for Dulles Airport Metro Station Herndon Patch, April 19, 2011 http://herndon.patch.com/articles/sharon-bulova-pushes-for-alternative-location-for-dulles-airport-metro-station “'The percentage of people actually coming to the airport station to get on a plane will be a relatively small percentage,' [Fairfax County BOS chair] Bulova said. Most who use the station will be employees and the garage location is more convenient for them, she said." - - Airports Authority Chooses More Costly and 'User-Friendly' Option for Dulles Metro Station WMAL, April 20, 2011 http://wmal.com/Article.asp?id=2154797 "Virginia Secretary of Transportation Sean Connaughton ... says that the vast majority of those who will wind up using the Dulles Metro station will be airport employees."
This really is an 80% overcharge, t_j, and that's a lot of money. Money doesn't come easily to me, and I hate to see taxpayers ripped off, because I am one of them. I also know that the beneficiaries of this outpouring of undeserved public money will not be so generous themselves. And I can very much do without the likes of the MWAA Board, that was exposed by the DOT Inspector General's recent report. The political wagon-circling that gives support to that ilk is not a pretty sight to me, either. I hope Virginia's Governor manages to seat a few better apples in there, SOON, before MWAA can make any more trouble.
you made a lot of good points, you fought the good fight. but sometimes the other side "wins". when that happens, i move on and find an even better cause to fight, and see if i can win the next one. anyway, i wish you well.
The existing rail lines that course through America offer a significant opportunity to build better regional rail systems at a much lower cost per mile than anything that Metro is able to build. In addition, heavily used Route 7 corridor from Leesburg to Tysons is a prime candidate for express bus service during weekdays and weekends. I will work hard to encourage Fairfax and Loudoun County officials as well as Virginia and Federal officials to agree upon ways to provide an alternative for residents near Route 7. The corridor could be served by an express bus service that could terminate at a Tysons Metro station next year. Future plans could include using the right-of-way of Route 7 for construction of light rail. Officials in the affected justifications could consider establishing a VRE type of regional organization. Thinking long-term, Kevin Chisholm Candidate for U.S. House of Representatives (Virginia’s 10th Congressional) www.chisholmforcongress.com
What I fought in this rail ripoff, is the problem that is destroying this nation, and many nations of the world - excess borrowing, to pay excess charges, for things that are not needed. In this instance, a bus system was long needed, but never built; instead, we will have premature rail at an exorbitant price. Instead, we will be struggling with immediate overwhelming needs, when we should have been making prudent preparations. Do you advocate that I should not oppose such blunders?
We are paying 1.8 times for this rail extension. Let's not pay 1.8 times for those things too. We just aren't that rich. I really think the solution is a rail lottery. Call it 'Making Tracks'. Hey, if Governor Flipflop likes this rail thing now, let him get such a lottery approved. Otherwise, the only solution will be taxes and fees.
I'll be taking my talents elsewhere in the state where fiscal responsibility overrides emotion. NoVA is toast ( atleast Reston, it's been fun though)
The only way we can avoid that failure - if avoiding failure is even possible at all now - is to resist excessive prices on all future work. The near-double prices and the false financing plans in Dulles Rail must never be permitted to happen again.
While people enjoy watching the fireworks tonight, maybe they should consider this: our nation's founders were not exactly pure, but I really don't think that this kind of Billion and a half dollar overcharge was what they fought for at Valley Forge, Trenton, etc.
1) you said "money is not easy to come by for people like you" 2) i'm willing to send you money to help you......cash....to your home 3) my motivation is two -fold a) help you with something that is clearly very painful for you b) help you use your talents to engage in bigger, more important issues in this world than a train and taxes 4) so my offer is to send you cash if you will tell me, and i will trust you without proof, what good works you'll do with a portion of it. what cause that specifically helps known individual people to be better off because of Bob Bruhns e.g. "i will serve two hours at the soup kitchen", "I will go down to Big Brothers/Big Sisters and volunteer to help those young kids", "i will take in a dog from the SPCA and wash and feed and take care of it" etc. That's my offer - to give you money to help you personally and to help you to help others. If you plan to turn this offer down, please pause a minute, maybe pray or meditate and ask "why would i reject this offer to help me and others and choose to stay at my PC reiterating points i've already made to people who've already heard them on an issue that's already been decided?" I'm challenging you Bob, because deep down i think you're a good guy. Challenging you to do greater things with your talents. i am rooting for you Bob!