Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority board members Clark
Trammell, Nancy Johnson, Andy Sanchez, chairman Rodd Miller,
CEO Janlyn Nesbett-Tucker, Jim Daniel, Matthew Gassen and Jim
Ogle discuss Monday whether to fund a $15,000 feasibility
study for a proposed $25 million multimodal facility. The
motion failed 4-3, with Trammell, Johnson, Gassen and Ogle
dissenting. The board has asked staff to present them with
reasons for the study during its January meeting.
(Photo by Aly Van Dyke/Topeka Capital-Journal)
The proposed plan to build a multimodal facility near Forbes Field has met a couple of roadblocks in the past few days.
For one, the Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority didn't get the $25 million federal grant it was hoping for to build the facility, which would serve as a regional hub for several forms of transportation.
CEO Janlyn Nesbett-Tucker heard the bad news Friday, she said, but wasn't given a reason for the rejection. Topeka Metro has two more opportunities to apply for a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant this year.
Shortly after Nesbett-Tucker informed the seven-member board Monday that the application was denied, the board voted 4-3 against going forward with a feasibility plan for the hub. The study would have cost Topeka Metro $15,000.
"I'd like to know whether there's even public support for the multimodal," board member Matthew Gassen said during the Metro's regular Monday meeting. "Support from people needs to come first before we spend money on something that may not happen."
Board members Gassen, Jim Ogle, Nancy Johnson and Clark Trammell voted against funding the study, saying they needed to be convinced of the need for the study before they forked over the cash.
The board directed Metro staff to come to them in January with a presentation about why the study was needed.
"I just want to make sense of it, and if we can't make sense of it, then the public can't make sense of it," Trammell said.
Johnson said the recent cuts to service and increase in fares made the money more difficult to dish out. The money for the study isn't in the Metro's budget but would come from reserves.
The $15,000 would cover 20 percent of the study's cost. The remaining $60,000 is federal money, authorized in November by the Metropolitan Planning Organization.
The MPO also gave Topeka Metro $50,000 to conduct a commuter study. The Metro board Monday voted 5-2 — with Gassen and Ogle dissenting — to go forward with the study, as well as its $12,500 local price tag.
About half of the two-hour meeting was devoted to the subject, with board members suggesting future plans be more thoroughly vetted before coming to the full board in the future and setting a five year plan to avoid more surprises. Although most of the conversation was polite, the tension in the room was, at times, palpable.
Johnson said the board needed to not view the federal dollars as free money that has to be spent, and Gassen said he wanted to conduct a popularity poll — specifically in Douglas and Osage counties — to see if people are behind the effort.
Topeka Metropolitan Transit Authority board member Andy
Sanchez and chairman Rodd Miller listen Monday as their
fellow members discuss whether to fund a $15,000 feasibility
study for a proposed $25 million multimodal facility. The
motion failed 4-3. (Photo by Aly Van Dyke/Topeka Capital-Journal)
But Nesbett-Tucker and board chairman Rodd Miller said the Metro needs to know if the facility is economically feasible before sending out surveys. Nesbett-Tucker said the study would involve some consumer feedback, but also would detail the economic feasibility of the multimodal facility.
The study also is necessary, she said, in order to be considered for funding.
"Without (the study) we will never know what kind of economic impact (the multimodal) could make on our city, if at all," Nesbett-Tucker said. "This could be a chance of a lifetime opportunity, but if we don't study, we will never know."
"I would encourage us to go forward and do a feasibility and environmental study just so we can really test this and see if this is something that our region would really embrace," she told board members.
Monday's vote doesn't send the $60,000 back to the MPO but gives the board more time to understand the need for the study before authorizing the expense, Nesbett-Tucker said.
About 15 minutes after the votes on the two studies were taken, Miller attempted to move to the next agenda item. However, conversation quickly diverted back to the study issue.
Ogle asked the board to consider changing its policy about budgeting for MPO match expenses in order to create a more transparent process.
"I'm uncomfortable with us popping up out of the blue (asking the bank for money)," he said. "I just think it should have been part of our plan of work."
The board doesn't budget for MPO funds because they aren't guaranteed, and funding is decided after the Metro's fiscal year has begun, said Chip Falldine, Metro's chief financial officer.
Aly Van Dyke can be reached at (785) 295-1270 or aly.vandyke@cjonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @alyvandyke.
http://cjonline.com/news/2011-12-19/tmtas-multimodal-project-stalled#