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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSustainable East End Development StrategiesSOUTHOLD TRANSPOI~TATION COMMISSION Town Hall I P.O. Box 1179 53095 Main Road Southold, NY 11973.-0959 Phone (631) 765-1938 Fax (631) 765-3136 TO: FROM: RE: DATE: Supervisor Scott Russell Town Board Neboysha R. Brashich, Chairman Sustainable East End Development Strategies January 12, 2006 As you may be aware, the Sustainable East End Strategies (SEEDS) process essentially came to an end with the Summit Meeting which took place at the Southampton College on December 8, 2005. In attendance were Supervisor Scott Russell; Councilmen Tom Wickham and Bill Edwards; Vaierie Scopaz and myself. Two additional items remain for this process to be fully concluded: · Incorporation of remaining week-end data into the five scenarios which, in no way, will alter the basic f'mdings/results; and, · Publication of a final report - The SEEDS White Paper As a sitting member of the East End Transportation Council (EETC), I presented the enclosed memorandum outlining the future course of action and timetable. The f'mal result is an inter-municipal agreement (IGA) among the five towns and ten villages - a prerequisite for any future regional state/federal transportation funding for the East End. The action now rests essentially with the five Town Boards, requiring inter-board deliberations/consultations and necessitating the appointment of two Southold Town Board members for this purpose. With respect to the Regional East End Coordinator position, partial funding was appropriated already in this year's budget. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you. Enclosure: a/s SOUTHOLD TtlANSPOI~TATION COMMISSION IT own Hall P. O. Box 1~.79 53095 Main Road Southold, NY 11971-0959 Phone (631) 765-1938 Fax (631) 765-3136 TO: FROM: RE: DATE: East End Transportation Council Neboysha IL Brashich, Chairman Sustainable East End Development Strategies December 16, 2005 Since the Summit meeting, ! have thought a lot about the road the EETC has traveled since 1996 and the initial charge given to us by the EEHOtSA at that time. Namely, we were to investigate traffic and transportation Issues and come up with some viable solutions to what was a growing problem for the East End. The EETC was Joined by the MTA/LTRR, DOT, DPW, FHA, Suffolk Planning, and NYNTlC. We embarked on this research and, in due course, determined that the nexus between land use and transportation was paramount to any possible future solutions. Enter SEEDS. With the Summit, we have finished the research and provided five future scenarios to the East End towns and villages. The Summit was successful in putting this in front of the politicians and the public given recent press reviews. What has become clear in my mind is the singular fact that we must not be distracted from closing the loop and ensuring that a consensus is reached within our town/village boards as to what comes next and which entity will be given the Implementation mandate (if the EETC is not chosen for this task in the final analysis). In retrospect, ! concur with the statementa made by Fred Thlele, Tom Wickham and Bill HcGIntee - namely, that the draft HOU is in fact a Policy Statement; that a white paper is required to end the SEEDS process; that an Interim political committee be formed with two Town Board members from each of the five towns; and that an inter-governmental agreement (][GA) identify areas/projects of mutual interest as well as designate the implementing/coordinating agency which will be given this task. see this along the following time line: * NYMT]C submits the "SEEDS White Paper" along with the Power Point Presentation to the Town/Village Boards by the end of 3anuary 2006 (maybe a separate presentation akin to the Summit will be required here) * A revised "Policy Statement" is presented to the Town/Village Boards for their review and approval in February 2006 * EEH&SA appoints an EEN&SA Political Committee composed of 2 town board members from each of the five towns in January/February * The EEH~SA Political Committee prepares a draft ZGA identifying areas/projects of mutual interest and designate the ImplemenUng/coordlnatlng agency in Mar~h/Aprll 2006 - - if two or more towns wish to cooperate on an issue or project which does not Impact the rest, this should be memorialized in a separate draft ZGA * The five Town Boards and/or ten Village Boards review the draft JGA (JGAs) within their communities and approve the final document during Hay/June 2006 The five Towns and ten Villages sign the JGA and implementation begins in July 2006 Obviously, the rail shuttle feasibility study could be considered as the first project to be undertaken under the JGA (work could proceed on this prior to the final agreement as long as a consensus is reached that all the towns/villages are on board and that the funding agenclea are ~eated around the table during this proce~). The Towne will be required to up-front the money (budget line item) including a 20°/~ buy-in (cash and/or in-kind) of the total co~t of any project under federal funding guidelines to be reimbursed as each component of the project is finished. What is missing is an individual who would help to coordinate all of these actions not only as a staff person to the political committee but also as a resource for the town/village boards during their deliberations. Pam Thlele contract ends this month and she Is not being replaced (! advocated for a Transportation Coordinator and believe that everybody agreed that this had been necessary in the final analysis). ! would like now to recommend that a Regional East End Coordinator position be created to fulfill the two roles outlined in the preceding paragraph as well as work on the preparation/implementation of projects flowing out of the JGA. J also firmly believe that a person like Valerie Scopaz or another person with a similar background in local politics/planning be selected as quickly as possible, This ia a vital position for the success of the entire enterprise on the East End. J am sorry this has taken so long to enunciate and ask for your Indulgence. Many thanks, THE NEW' YORK TIMES, SUNDAY, DECEMBER 25, 2005 ,East End Transit Plans Are on' Two Paths ByJOHNRATHER ,FTER a four.year, $1 million federally financed study of transportation options for A the East End, local officials have ended up about where they be- gan. They are, az they were, in favor of improving public trwasporthtion for the 5 eastern townships of Suffolk County and their 10 incorporated vil- lages. They are, as they were, op- posed to big new road projects like a South Fork bypass or widening the North Road on the North Fork. past those general principles, though, they remain commRtod to absolutely nothing specific. At a con- ference on transportation convened Dec. 8 in Southampton, the only de- tectable progress was a general will- ingness to consider tackling the issue jointly. Hope was expressed that, by banding together, the municipalities could attract substantial federal and state financing for whatever projects they ultimately agree upon. But while those officials seemed to be on a train that still has not left the station, a separate volunteer initia- tive to create a new transit network for the East End appeared to be chugging ahead Ilke the little engine that could. At Rlverhead Town Hall on Dec. 12, a not-for-profR organization called Five Town Rural Transit laid out in some detail a plan for a com- bined rail and bus shuttle system to serve beth forks, an idea that has been around for at least a decade but had not been fleshed out until now. In essence, the group has a project and needs to secure financing, while the municipal officials have an ap- preach for gaining tinancing but no project yet. Thomas F. Neely, the Southamp- ton town director of public trans- portation and traffic safety, is over- seeing a drive to band the towns and the villages together formally with an intermualcipal agreement. The proposed agreement still must be ratified by each town and village, a process that will take months. But "what we got out of this," he said of the Dec. 8 meeting, "was a regional consensus on how to go forward." The Five Town Rural Transit group Isn't waiting. At the Riverhead presentation and in an interview, the group's executive director, Hank de Cillia of Bridgehampton, described what it has in mind. The heart of the plan is a new light- rail shuttle service running on the ex- isting, sparsely used Long Island Rail Road tracks east of Speonk and Ronkonkoma. Some 21 diesel- powered rail cars, each able to seat up to 100 passengers, would shuttle trains as often as every 30 minutes, stopping at 15 stations currently in use, I new station and 5 more, closed by the railroad years ago, that the group would reopen. Buses, timed to meet the shuttles at the stations, would serve hamlets and residential areas away from the stations. Parking would be available at some bus stops. Bus routes would Hank de Cillia of Five Town Proposed Rail-Bus Shuttle Network A volunteer group, Five Town Rural Transit, wants lo take ovar the Long Island Rail Road's sparsely served East End branches and run frequent short shuttle trains on them, supplemented with connecting bus service. Stations that have been closed by the L.I,R.R. would be reopened. SUFFOLK tlc transit link now provided only by the Suffolk Cqunty S92 bus, which carries an average of about 1,000 passengers a day on a route from East Hampton through Riverbead to Orient Point. The L.I.R.R. now runs only six weekdays, and two a day to and from considered scrapping the two budget shortfall The proposed rail shuttles would tak~ the place of that service, and connect with L.I.I~.R, trains at Ronkonoma or Spoonk for passengers headed up.Island or to New York City. The system's buses contract to Suffolk County. Together, they would make the East End the only part of Long land with its own integrated transit Mr, de Clllia said the new train cars buses and capital improve- ments would cost about $149 mi on. He hopes most of money would come from the Federal Transit Admials- trtulon's New Starts program. Oper- atthg the system would cost less than $40 million a year, he said, much tess than the $~0 million in sales taxes marked for the Metropolitan Trans- portation Authority that his group es- erhead, Shelter Island, Southampton At average fares of $1 a ride, Five Town projects that 10 to 15 percent of gestlon. Setting it up would require either agreements with the M.T.A. and Suffolk County Transit, or eisa plan for the system before East End voters in town referendums in No- vember 2006. Mr. de Cillla said his group would prefer a voBmtary agreement to im- prove East End transit along lines the group proposed. "But we feel it is uullkeiy the providers will want to change their service,'* he said. Mttobell Pally, an M.T.A. board member representing Suffolk Coun- ty, said the M.T.A. should review all propimals, including the Five Town plan, for improving East End serv- ice. "It should be examined serious- ly,' he said. "I can't go further than that until we see all the numbers and information." The Long Island Rail Road has not reacted publicly to the Five Town proposal. A call to the railroad on Monday, on the eve of the New York by a local organization." Thiele dr,, a Republican of Sag Har- bor and sponsor of an Assembly hill The four-year study completed for the municipal officials, known as the End Development Straiegies'9, said use pohcles on the East End mid the Mr. Thiele said he was disappointed "1 expected more," he said. "If you spent a coupe of hours, you could