Transit-supportive measures at Mckalla

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Delia Garza
Posts: 52
Joined: Thu Jan 15, 2015 9:20 am

Transit-supportive measures at Mckalla

Post by Delia Garza »

Colleagues,

I will be able to attend the morning part of tomorrow's Special Called Work Session, but unfortunately, now have a conflict in the afternoon.

As stated at our last council meeting, I am generally supportive of a soccer stadium at the McKalla sight if it brings community benefits to our City. I appreciate that the current term sheet has gotten us closer to what I hope will be an acceptable deal, but there is more work to do on this proposal. Since there is more time to have these discussions, I'm only going to daylight here one of my biggest concerns about the current term sheet, and that is the lack of any clear investment in our public transit system. With a proposal that only includes 1000 parking spaces for events at the space, we will most certainly be depending heavily on Cap Metro to get folks to and from the stadium. I know there has been some discussion on placing a rail station at the site and that the estimated cost for that is $12 million. There are also opportunities to improve the rapid transit line that serves the area as well as all parts of town. With these community needs in mind, I propose the following streams of funding from PSV to Cap Metro:

1. Provide Cap Metro with 3 million dollars in funding (not taken from the 8.25 million in rent to the city) so that Cap Metro can use those funds to do any of the following: build the rail station on the site, build an enhanced 803 bus stop and also enhance the bus fleet on that route to provide more frequent service, or use the funds how they see best supports the agency in improving their system.

2. Allocate 2 million of the 8.25 million of the city's portion of rent revenue to Cap Metro for uses stated above.

3. Add a 1 dollar transportation surcharge per admission ticket. That revenue will go back to the City and to Cap Metro and those two parties will negotiate the best way to use those funds to ensure that the area does not see significant changes in congestion and traffic patterns.

I propose we include all 3 of these items in the final deal. Again, it is very important any potential proposal includes a plan with transit-supportive measures such as the items listed above and I can only support a proposal that provides clear support for and makes a clear investment in our transit system.

I look forward to the discussion tomorrow,

Delia

(excuse any typos...it's after 5...but hey at least it's not 3 am...)
Mayor Pro Tem, District 2
Ann Kitchen
Posts: 294
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2015 4:04 pm

Re: Transit-supportive measures at Mckalla

Post by Ann Kitchen »

Colleagues

Thank you CM Garza for your post. I agree with the critical importance of including in any potential proposal a plan with transit supportive measures, including the three items you list. I would consider these along with providing free rides on CapMetro along with the purchase of a ticket.

The reasons are many - as a city we value safety, measures to reduce (not create more) congestion, and well thought out parking measures. A facility of this magnitude, with events where people enjoy alcohol and limited parking areas, brings with it the question of how do people safely get to and leave events? A proposal that does not responsibly address transit now is an incomplete proposal, and one that I cannot support.

While I am hoping to arrive at a proposal that provides for sufficient and appropriate community benefits (and have additional questions) - I wanted to let my colleagues know that I support your proposal and think it is critical to the proposal.

Thank you for your leadership on this issue.

Best
Ann Kitchen
City Council D5
Ann Kitchen
Council Member District 5
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