Loudoun Supervisors Janet Clarke, Ken Reid and Geary Higgins offered a list of 21 terms they believe should be integrated with the county’s decision to participate in the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. They offered their list toward the end of a work session Monday on potential ways to finance the project.
The Loudoun Board of Supervisors now has a July 4 deadline to make a decision. A lack of action by that date would commit the county to the project.
Some of the conditions proposed by Clarke (R-Blue Ridge), who is the board’s vice chairman, Reid (R-Leesburg) and Higgins (R-Catoctin) include items that are in progress or require action by another entity, such as giving Virginia two additional seats on the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority board or calling for a permanent inspector general for that body.
Other board members balked at the notion of making demands that may not be within the control of supervisors or any of the partners in the proposed rail project, the second phase of which would extend the Silver Line now under construction from Wiehle Avenue to Ashburn.
Among the requests is one calling for the state to commit more money and another to oppose project labor agreements, a move previously made.
“I think we need to ask for an extension on the decision on Dulles Rail,” Higgins said Monday. “I cannot vote for this project until we decide tax-wise who’s in and who’s out and who’s going to pay for it.”
But some board members said the 21-point letter should have been presented earlier in the process, not at 4 p.m. the day of one of the last work sessions on rail.
“I got this at 4 o’clock today. This is a wish list,” said Supervisor Matt Letourneau (R-Dulles). “Some of these things are already in the queue. Some of them are things we cannot possibly resolve prior to this vote.”
Supervisors also learned about the preliminary results of a survey that indicated support for rail by a majority of residents in both eastern Loudoun and the rural area. Clarke questioned whether the 1,000-person sample was large enough for accurate results.
Attached is the letter with the 21 terms proposed by the Clarke, Reid and Higgins.
For complete coverage of the Silver Line, go to Patch's Metro Silver Line Project archives.
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[Correction: Supervisor Letourneau's party affiliation was incorrectly listed in the original version of this story. Patch apologizes for the error.]
Since 1974 - and nobody ever thought about running a dedicated bus line where the rail would be going, so that businesses could build up and be ready to benefit from the rail (and pay for it as well)? But of course nobody wants to pay for it, so why should businesses? Except that in Fairfax County, businesses have been paying into a fund for two years now for this Dulles Rail Phase II rail extension, while the irresponsible business and government leaders in Loudoun County were whistling and looking the other way. Your guys were trying to make a killing by dumping it on the county taxpayers, weren't they? tsk tsk And what about the toll paydown, that you better believe will come from Fairfax and Loudoun counties. Is that factored into the rail decision now? And who is going to pay for all of this? (Hint: TAXPAYERS.) Who's kidding who, Victoria? This rail extension is a premature, overpriced, overfinanced, unfunded disaster!
Represent the people, BoS, and stop putting off the vote. We are ready for Metro.
Congressman Wolf is delinquent in his support payment for Phase 2. I respectfully offer this advice to the Congressman; "You, sir, conceived this Metro puppy, you are the daddy, so instead of passing the buck, pony up or be silent on it, please." http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6313378419940948019#editor/target=post;postID=2960267198848153439
The real question is are you willing to pay CC girl. This I want a free ride message is getting a bit old.
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors: Oppose the creation of a Special Metrorail Tax District. http://www.change.org/petitions/loudoun-county-board-of-supervisors-oppose-the-creation-of-a-special-metrorail-tax-district
http://loudounoptout.blogspot.com/2012/06/if-us-government-can-opt-out-why-cant.html
However, I want to point out that you've gone from accusing me of being a landowner, rolling through Countryside in my stretch limo, to making snide comments about me wanting a free ride and/or that I could use my EBT card to pay for my train ride. All of those assumptions are false, yet you persist in trying to negate my opinion by bullying me. You can't even get real with someone you've spoken to in person, yet you think you're some voice of awesome leading the charge against the big, bad train. Pathetic. Why would anyone listen to such a pompous, deceptive, insulting and degrading person? You do more harm than good for your cause, Sir, and people are laughing at you. Laughing. I want Metro even more, just to hear that scream all the way from Pigland. Thanks for the inspiration. XOXO, CC
Classy guy. I love your wiehle suggestion for loudoun metro users - pay $12-13 dollars to take the greenway and toll road, pay to park( but hope u can find a spot) and them metro in. Clealry someone who isnt affected by crowded roads and trying to get Anywhere during rush hour.
I completely agree, urbanization is unavoidable in this case. All of that land is not just going to sit there vacant next to the Greenway. This is the opportunity to give Loudoun County some identity and create some vibrant highrise office and condo developments. Mike, In regards to "not being sampled" for the coming of Metro, I will say that idea of you moving to Ashburn in the first place is a bit ridiculous especially since these Metro stations have been on the planning maps for years and years. I also think it is ironic that there are some people who live in Ashburn that are contesting suburban sprawl when Ashburn, VA is the definition of "Suburban Sprawl". I'm not trying to be rude, but it certainly is interesting to point these things out. If you were trying to avoid the Metro then you definitely should have chosen some other place to live.
I am really curious, where in Loudoun County do you live? Your so called alternative method of commuting (West Falls Church) is not exactly a quick shot to Loudoun. I respect your opinion but I don't think that the alternative to the Metro (doing nothing) is going to be beneficial in the long run. There is already overwhelming support for Metro in Loudoun. I think most people in Loudoun are willing to pay a little bit more in taxes for the Metro because they know that Metro will directly improve their quality of life (in terms of commuting, and access to DC). Obviously the metro extension will cost us money, but the Metro should be seen as an investment. Everyone in Loudoun needs to chip in to get this built now. And yes we are willing to pay for it (well, most of us at least). We can be certain that the price tag will not decrease if we wait.
Rising tolls = people USING Metro. That's pretty simple math.
http://loudounoptout.blogspot.com/2012/06/ashburn-update-tuesday-6-19-tax-pig-opt.html
There's nothing like rolling in the mud with pigs. Oink. Oink.
I-66, Rt. 50, the Greenway, and the Dulles Toll Road will all remain at service F (Severely congested, gridlock) with or without Phase II! Unfortunately, only a small percentage of Loudoun Commuters are projected to use the Metro for commuting.
The real problem is that this rail plan is premature. Instead of jumping the gun, why don't you opt out, and see what (if anything) you can arrange in the next 18 months. Of course people will see what happens in Fairfax County, and they won't like it, so you may stay opted out for many years. That would be a good thing, because you can then set up a serious bus transit system instead - and you will need this anyway, to support the rail stations you are contemplating - and extend this bus transit across the county. Then you will have transit routes in place, you will build up business, and in twenty or thirty years, when rail actually becomes appropriate, you can switch it to rail in steps of a few miles at a time - so you can actually afford it. But if you spend everything you have for this rail plan now, how will you pay for the dedicated-road bus system that you will need to support it, and to reserve the future rail routes? You won't... and uncoordinated development will block any future rail extension, while your leaders whistle and look the other way. Big mistake.
To be fair, your campaign is quite aggressive and extremely biased. I'm not surprised that they were called liars. After briefly browsing the Loudoun Opt Out website, I have noticed numerous areas where statistics are deliberately misleading to favor your cause. To be completely honest with you, I have not met anyone in Sterling who has opposed the coming of Metro, and yet Loudoun Opt Out goes far out of their way to make it appear like it will destroy Loudoun. And by the way, citing Loudoun Opt Out as a source of information on the Loudoun Opt Out website is NOT VALID... you cannot cite yourself as a source of information. It does not work that way. It is ridiculous things like this that make your campaign appear desperate. It is very obvious to me that a vast majority of the Opt Out Campaign is from Western Loudoun County. Sorry but I don't think that your changing anyone's mind.
Go with bus, until rail actually becomes appropriate. You all seem to have 'Train on the Brain', and it seems to be blinding you to the real cost of rail.