County officials continue Metrorail financing debate
Thu., May. 12 | 12:18 PM
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/county_officials_continue_metrorail_financing_debate898/

Supervisors ask MWAA for impact report showing consequences should Loudoun pull project's financing

Loudoun County supervisors want to know the consequences should they decide to pull funding from the Dulles Rail project that is set to bring Metrorail to the area.

The decision to investigate the option – one several government leaders will make in the coming months about the project – came Wednesday during a county Government Services and Finance Committee meeting on the heels of an already tense situation.

In the last month, federal, state and local officials have come out against the Washington Metropolitan Airports Authority, the board that governs the Dulles Rail project, after it decided to go with a pricer underground Metro station option for Dulles Airport.

An underground option would cost $300 million more to build than an above-ground station, which was endorsed by Loudoun and Fairfax County supervisors.

Under a financing agreement for the project, Fairfax County will pay 16.1 percent, Loudoun will pay 4.8 percent and the airports authority will pay 4.1 percent. The other 75 percent is to come from federal and state funding, as well as Dulles Toll Road revenues.

However, the project’s cost has swelled $1 billion past the original $2.5 billion estimate, leaving funding partners to wonder whether they should continue a commitment.

To finance the project, and keep rates on the Dulles Toll Road from rising, MWAA is pursuing federal loans. If MWAA gets federal financing, toll rates still will rise to $6.75 for a one-way trip, county officials say. Without federal help, the tolls would increase to $10.75.

Supervisors have 90 days to decide whether to opt out of financing upon completion of the Metrorail project’s preliminary engineering design, which MWAA has said could be available as early as July.

Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling), who voted last year to deny funding for the project, said he feared that MWAA would continue to increase the cost of the project, in turn driving up local taxes and user fees on the Dulles Toll Road.

“What I’m suggesting is today we vote to opt out and begin the process of saving hundreds of millions of dollars with a range of saving $30 to $40 million dollars today,” said Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling).

However, Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge), chairman of the Government Services and Finance Committee, said it was too soon to make a final decision on whether to pull funding from the project.
MWAA officials, Burton said, are weighing their options on the project and a change in position could come soon.

“I think it would be a mistake to take that vote to opt out at this point in time. There are negotiations going on,” Burton said. “No one knows right now, but it appears there is pressure on that board to make that decision … I would expect to see some changes before it’s all over.”

Some supervisors, including Delgaudio, said they believe MWAA would simply end construction of the Metrorail branch at Dulles Airport should Loudoun pull financing from the project. Plans for the project currently are to build past the airport with stations at Route 606 and Route 772.

Chairman Scott York (I-At Large) said Wednesday county officials already are working to gather information on how an absence of Loudoun funding would impact the project.

York requested a meeting with the MWAA advisory committee weeks ago to discuss the project’s overall cost, but a firm date has not been set.

York said County Administrator Tim Hemstreet already has sent a letter to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority and is working on a letter to MWAA, seeking clarity on how an opt-out of financing would impact the Metrorail project.

The transit authority, Hemstreet said, relaxed requirements for the airport Metrorail stations at the beginning of Phase 2 negotiations, such as bus bays, a Kiss and Ride lot and a lower cost of parking. If Loudoun opts out of financing, those waivers may disappear, he said, leaving the county to still pay for operation and maintenance of the airport station.

“There is a possibility that even if we opt out, because there is a station in Loudoun County, we may still be responsible for paying for the operations of that station,” Hemstreet said.

York said MWAA is facing several problems if Loudoun pulls financing, including an absence of commuter parking garages. The proposed Route 606 Metrorail station was to provide 6,000 parking spaces, he said.

That’s a great message to send to the development community, Eugene. For decades, literally, the County has been espousing and approving mega developments based on proximity and access to the future Silver Line, and now, at about the 22nd hour, you think it’s a good idea to pull the plug and turn your back on Metro, kiss it goodbye? How do you think Comstock and the Claude Moore Foundation are going to feel, after investing tens of millions in their Rt. 772 developments, only to have you flap your gums about pullign out the County share of bringing it here?

The short-sightedness never ends in this County by the politicians. IF only things could be run by neutral, rational people.

Officials to spend a month in talks over Metrorail at Dulles
Thu., Jun. 2 | 03:42 PM
http://www.loudountimes.com/index.php/news/article/officials_to_spend_a_month_in_talks_over_metrorail_at_dulles898/

Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority airport officials and elected leaders on Friday will start the first of a series of talks to try and reach a compromise over an ongoing dispute about the Dulles Rail Project and the undergrounding of a Metro station at Dulles Airport.

The meetings are the result of a request by U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood who as a mediator instructed the parties on Thursday to spend 30 days in talks to and reach an agreement.

Those parties include Loudoun County Chairman Scott York (I-At Large), Fairfax County Chairman Sharon Bulova and Reps. Gerald E. Connolly (D-11th) and Frank Wolf (R-10th).
York said officials will be discussing the scope of the work, the cost of the Metrorail extension and financing options for the project.

“In terms of whether or not there will be progress or not will really be determined on what happens in tomorrow’s meeting,” York said Thursday.

Loudoun and Fairfax County leaders, as well as state and federal officials, including Gov. Bob McDonnell and Wolf, have been outspoken about MWAA’s handling of the Dulles Rail Project after the board agreed on an underground Metro station option for the airport.

The station, elected leaders said, will cost $300 million more than an above-ground station.

Loudoun and Fairfax supervisors had endorsed an above-ground station.

That decision, coupled with the rising cost of the Metrorail extension – now projected to be $1 billion more than the original $2.5 billion estimate – and a project labor agreement, has driven Loudoun leaders to discuss pulling financing from the project.

Fairfax County is responsible for paying 16.1 percent of total project costs, Loudoun County will pay 4.8 percent and the airports authority will pay 4.1 percent. The other 75 percent was to come from federal and state funding, as well as Dulles Toll Road revenues.

MWAA officials are now seeking federal financing for the project.

Should Loudoun County pull funding, the extension would stop at the airport rather than continue to stops at Routes 606 and 772.

This is a developing story. Check back to loudountimes.com for more information as it becomes available.