Laserfiche WebLink
City Council <br />Meeting Minutes <br />April 5, 2016: <br />Page 3 of 18 <br />Joan Peck, 1935 Spruce Avenue, Longmont, CO discussed FasTracks lack of progress <br />in the Northwest Corridor and felt since the taxpayers are paying for a rail line, it needs <br />to be built. Ms. Peck noted Longmont passed a resolution to encourage RTD to finish <br />the northwest corridor. <br />Ms. Peck addressed the Northwest Area Mobility Study (NAMS) and some of the myths <br />surrounding the build out of the corridor including; <br />1. Ridership numbers are not there to warrant building the northwest corridor — there are <br />questions around how those numbers were calculated, <br />2. BNSF railroad will not work with us, - BNSF was frustrated with FasTracks and RTD <br />not having a solid plan, <br />3. There is no money — RTD budget is flexible and dollars could be moved into the <br />FasTracks budget. <br />She asked Louisville City Council to come up with a resolution and a letter to ask <br />Boulder County to put the northwest corridor ahead of any busses planned. <br />Karen Benker, 1919 Andrew Alden St., Longmont, CO noted her familiarity with <br />government budgeting. Eleven years of sales tax dollars have gone into the fund <br />without any benefit of rail. Citizen's for Finishing FasTracks started going over the <br />financial assumptions. The NAMS study suggested to Boulder County there was no <br />money for the rail line until 2040. Tax collection has gone up since the study was done <br />and projections now show a surplus starting in 2020. She wanted to remind citizens of <br />Boulder County they are paying the tax and should be getting a rail line. Federal <br />funding could be sought through the Small Starts program. RTD reports they are <br />paying off the bonds for the other rail lines faster than projected and still have $150 <br />million of bonding authority. She wants to start a conversation to form a coalition to be <br />heard by RTD. She asked Louisville City Council to pass a resolution, talk to the <br />Chamber of Commerce, prompt DRCOG awareness and talk to the Boulder County <br />Commissioners. She described the contact information for the Citizens for Finishing <br />FasTracks Coalition. <br />Mayor Pro Tem Lipton thanked the representatives for the presentation. <br />Council member Stolzmann thanked Ms. Peck and Ms. Benker and noted the voters <br />have made it clear they want FasTracks. She asked to direct staff to come back with a <br />resolution and letter to the County Commissioners. <br />City Attorney Light suggested staff direction could be done under item 10 to identify <br />future agenda items. <br />RECREATION CENTER/SENIOR CENTER AND AQUATIC CENTER EXPANSION — <br />SURVEY RESULTS <br />