Travis County Commissioners Court
February 10, 2009, 2009
Item 36
>> we did tell the high speed rail people we would try to call up number 36 at 11.
36 is to consider and take appropriate action on request to join the Texas high speed rail and transportation corporation project.
any questions?
we did discuss this in executive session -- in work session a couple of weeks ago.
the yearly dues here would be $50,000.
>> have you made this presentation to the Austin -- your program to the Austin-san antonio rail corridor?
>> yes, ma'am.
informally we have.
and we have a verbal agreement that our projects are not usually exclusive.
>> yes, ma'am.
>> what other local agencies have you made presentations to?
>> in this area the city of Austin has been briefed a number of times and for various reasons have deferred, deciding on joining as well as in san antonio.
the court and bexar county has been briefed and the city has been briefed as well.
both have decided to defer deciding.
>> what would the membership be to join this?
>> the amount?
>> the amount, was it 35,000?
>> it was $50,000 and it's based on the year 2000 population.
>> are you pursuing with campo the -- are you planning to make a presentation to campo in regards to the 2035 plan?
>> we would like to.
there is -- we have several membership categories in the corporation, one of which is for cooperating --
>> not in regard to membership in your organization, but in regard to your specific proposal being included in our long range transportation plan?
>> yes, ma'am.
that would be the goal.
>> these folks, have you gone to those different counties or cities to ask them to see if they will like to participate in the high speed rail setting that you have made presentation to us on, has there been a time line?
i guess basically for those particular persons, counties or cities that have already joined as members, and also are there representatives from that area after they decided to come on board?
how is that determined?
let's say that Travis County would move favorably and would like to maybe become a member.
and of course as such, would Travis County at that time have an opportunity to have a person to sit in on meetings or stuff like that?
i mean, how is it that work?
>> certainly.
that's correct.
each member is given three representatives on -- at each meeting.
only those dues-paying members, which are the cities and counties.
we do have one rail district member, are afforded a vote on substantive issues pertain to go plank of the corporation's visions and goals and the project is zest.
so upon joining Travis County would have one vote and up to three representatives.
it would receive notice of all upcoming meetings and all that.
>> if the county decides to -- I don't know what we're going to do, but if the county -- Travis County decides to participate in this, that means the financials also, and of course source of funding is always a critical situation, but I would definitely like to probably be that person that would serve as far as for Travis County Commissioners court.
to serve in that capacity as far as membership.
so I'm kind of concerned, though as far as looking for a source of funding.
and I don't know what the court's going to recommend as far as the source of funding, if that's what the court wants -- wishes to do.
and we don't know, at that time, but -- as far as that's concerned.
i'm in support of this, and -- but, of course, begin, trying to come up with a source of funding is something that we need to maybe look at as far as it's concerned.
i definitely support this particular item.
>> obviously it's an economic development tool and a transportation project, and so there are a number of ways -- I can't speak to how each member comes up with the money and I understand that to be a concern, especially these days.
>> my chief concern is how this project would fit in the overall consolation of our long range plan as a region.
and because this project is coming sort of allah cart, outside of our long range plan, outside of our mpo's process for reviewing rail projects, I -- although in principle I am a huge fan of rail and that in principle this proposal -- the proposal for what you plan to build is very intariking to me, -- intrigue to go me, but I would need to see this project proposal go through the transit working group, through campo, and through our long range process at campo so that I could more fully understand how it would interact with our other rail projects and our other transit and transportation projects.
because of course even though your proposal is for it to be privately funded and privately operated, it still needs to be really part of a larger cohesive transit and transportation structure.
>> certainly.
and the corporation's leadership understands that and this project of course transcends regions.
it's 440 miles in Texas, and we've heard from several colleagues and mpo's that they can't really formally consider and endorse the project until the county elected officials give them the green light to do so.
and that wasn't the case with campo, of course.
we've heard that elsewhere.
Travis County is joining as a member would of course green light that for campo and others to work towards incorporating that.
>> we also have frankly a reticence for memberships.
usually we do contracts for service.
and I'm unclear what the gift thousand dollars gets us -- $50,000 gets us.
>> that's a very good question.
this certainly should not be viewed as dues or membership.
this isn't like a chamber membership or something of the sort.
the money goes to advance the project itself.
when we presented it to the court last year in the work session we mentioned that a senator had asked the corporation to testify before what was then called the hearing, but the committees hadn't been set, so it became an informational briefing.
we were allotted 20 minutes.
we ened up having 40 minutes because of the enthusiastic exchange.
what the senators really liked about the project was the difference between the current effort and the effort 20 years ago.
and the primary difference being that this one is grassroots.
this project is to become what the elected officials and what the cities and counties along the corridor want it to be.
and part of that is that the counties and cities become actively involved and pay to have the project become what they want it to be and to sit at that table and make decisions.
and just last week txdot sent a letter to the federal railroad administration endorsing the corporation's efforts to comply on our federal grant process for high speed rail.
the senator has made this project one of his top legislative priorities.
there's a lot of momentum with this project right now.
and it's incredibly important that the stakeholders all along the corridor be involved and at the table.
so this money is a big concern and would go towards advancing the goals of the project and having you all at the table, making those decisions, is incredibly important to what the project looks like when it happens.
>> well, and tie would have to say that I support trains.
i love trains and I would love to have us travel all over this country on trains, but we can't.
and that dispoints me.
but I think I would have to agree with what's been said before here that it is essential for all of these projects to go through a process, to be vetted appropriately and long enough.
and in Travis County especially it takes a little bit longer because you're going to have to almost get every single citizen to have his or her say.
and that's going to take a little while.
but I think it needs to go through the proper process for the groups that are already in place to study the issue.
and so I would hesitate to pay dues into something that hasn't begun through all of the process that's been set up.
>> certainly.
>> Austin still has not formally responded to you?
>> no, sir.
no, sir, they have not.
>> move that we delay action today and touch base with the city of Austin, Austin-san antonio commuter rail corridor group and campo, try to figure out where they are on this.
>> second.
>> and try to move forward as a region.
i think you really are looking at three to four months.
so --
>> three to four months you said?
>> yeah.
it will take three to four months to get that done.
the -- I think all of us are a bit uneasy about joining yet another group.
>> sure.
>> the question really is whether the region is supportive of this project enough for us to make an investment to advance it.
>> yes, sir?
>> and can I comment along those lines?
loving trains, we all love trains.
loving trains is not a good enough reason in and of itself in my opinion.
and like you made the point, $50,000 of taxpayer money to advance the project that by golly not everybody is in favor of it.
we live in a -- we're not new york city.
we're not in a population dense area that makes sense for trains.
and as you know, thousands upon thousands of tax paying citizens here in Travis County time after time after time have been voting this down.
you passed it, squeaked through this last time, but that's not a good enough reason in my mind.
i'll do everything I can as a citizen to say no, we need to spend our monies on more important things.
make the buses -- the buses will do the same thing at a much less cost, less environmental damage, less less -- it's not as trendy and not everybody will say they love buses, but fact is buses do just as well for a lot less money.
>> in fairness, this proposal, though, really would be more of a -- it's an intercity connector.
it's for going from houston to dallas.
>> the same with buses.
the same things apply, if not more so.
because it costs -- there's so much money percent meter, per foot for a train.
it just costs too much more.
there are advantages, I suppose to trains, but I don't think the -- we have the population density here to justify it.
>> as I stated earlier, self-funding is something that needs to be considered, but also contractual situation, the direction the court would like to go in.
i can definitely see the need in the regional approach, tying in east Texas into central Texas, all up to north Texas and then points beyond.
it's actually a link to the entire nation as far as a high speed rail is concerned in many regards.
so I'm really concerned about that and of course it probably is the wave of the future as far as high speed rail is concerned.
so I'm looking forward to seeing what the results are of those different venues that have been mentioned here today that the court appears -- that they feel that you should go through.
but I'm really supportive of this and so I just wanted to let you know that.
>> thank you, Commissioner.
>> the motion is really for us to touch base with those groups and try to figure out the contact people and ascertain level of interest.
any more discussion of the motion?
all in favor?
that passes by unanimous vote.
thank you.
>> thank you.
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Last Modified:
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 2:00 PM