Cyrus Ramsey
07-26-2007, 01:10 PM
from SunTrib.com
Driving force behind light rail insists plan is workable
Chastain meets K.C. officials face to face
By: Jeffrey M. Salem
Thursday, July 26, 2007 11:50 AM CDT
For the first time since the new Kansas City Council was ushered in this spring, there sat Clay Chastain — the man who helped orchestrate the passage of a voter-approved light-rail line — face to face in the same room as the transportation and infrastructure committee at City Hall.
Chastain gave a presentation on how to successfully implement the rail line that transportation officials had previously called unworkable. The committee appeared receptive, but guarded, to Chastain's positive outlook on implementing his plan.
“When we have light rail in Kansas City, there's no doubt we will owe you a debt of gratitude,” said Councilman Ed Ford, committee chairman.
But Ford added that there were multiple legal and jurisdictional problems with the current plan that had to be ironed out.
Chastain, who takes residence in Virginia, spent an hour dispelling perceived problems with the plan that have been raised since it was approved by residents last fall.
He acknowledged it would be tough for the rail to receive federal matching funds if the city bus system was decimated. The approved line will draw a three-eighths-cent transportation tax for 25 years beginning April 1, 2009. Those funds currently go to buses run by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. It is still unclear what their funding source will be when the tax switches over to light rail.
Chastain suggested approving a one-eighth-cent transportation tax for the same 25-year span to pay for the bus system in addition to the current half-cent state sales tax it receives.
He said the city could bond that one-eighth-cent tax to give the buses more financial stability up front and suggested the bus system expand to a regional program to help stabilize funding in the future.
He also would solve one of the more expensive problems — how to get the line across the Missouri River — with a series of traffic signals. The traffic lights would keep vehicles off the Heart of America Bridge — the suggested passage across the river — while light-rail cars were passing to prevent any weight-limit problems. It had previously been discussed that a $65 million bridge would have to be built to get the light rail across the river.
An alternative analysis is being performed by HNTB Architects, Engineers and Planners, which is the first requirement to solidify federal funding for the rail line. Chastain was optimistic about securing matching federal funds for the project, something officials had previously been weary about because of the numerous municipalities across the nation applying for the same funds.
Chastain told the committee he expected the pie of funding for public transportation to get bigger.
“I think the pendulum of the federal government is swinging in the right direction,” he said of the Democratic shift in Congress.
Tension entered the meeting after Chastain referred to the KCATA, which was in charge of contracting HNTB, as his “nemesis” and suggested officials there were causing a road block for the voter-approved plan by calling the plan unworkable.
Mark Huffer, KCATA general manager, previously called Chastain's plan nothing more than “a line on a map.”
Melba Curls, councilwoman and committee member, backed the KCATA after Chastain's comments.
“People in my district rely on the ATA, and a lot of people ride the bus,” she said. “I believe they've done a good job with the monies they have.”
Ford ended the meeting by explaining if anything in the approved plan was deemed impossible, a reworked plan would have to be presented to voters for approval because of the Hancock Amendment, which requires voter-approved legislation to be followed exactly as it appeared on the ballot.
Chastain gave the committee a warning of a possible lawsuit.
“You will only do so if a judge allows you to do so,” he said.
Chastain claims city officials cannot put the issue on the ballot again with new wording.
Staff writer Jeffrey M. Salem can be reached at 389-6653 or jeffsalem@npgco.com.
Driving force behind light rail insists plan is workable
Chastain meets K.C. officials face to face
By: Jeffrey M. Salem
Thursday, July 26, 2007 11:50 AM CDT
For the first time since the new Kansas City Council was ushered in this spring, there sat Clay Chastain — the man who helped orchestrate the passage of a voter-approved light-rail line — face to face in the same room as the transportation and infrastructure committee at City Hall.
Chastain gave a presentation on how to successfully implement the rail line that transportation officials had previously called unworkable. The committee appeared receptive, but guarded, to Chastain's positive outlook on implementing his plan.
“When we have light rail in Kansas City, there's no doubt we will owe you a debt of gratitude,” said Councilman Ed Ford, committee chairman.
But Ford added that there were multiple legal and jurisdictional problems with the current plan that had to be ironed out.
Chastain, who takes residence in Virginia, spent an hour dispelling perceived problems with the plan that have been raised since it was approved by residents last fall.
He acknowledged it would be tough for the rail to receive federal matching funds if the city bus system was decimated. The approved line will draw a three-eighths-cent transportation tax for 25 years beginning April 1, 2009. Those funds currently go to buses run by the Kansas City Area Transportation Authority. It is still unclear what their funding source will be when the tax switches over to light rail.
Chastain suggested approving a one-eighth-cent transportation tax for the same 25-year span to pay for the bus system in addition to the current half-cent state sales tax it receives.
He said the city could bond that one-eighth-cent tax to give the buses more financial stability up front and suggested the bus system expand to a regional program to help stabilize funding in the future.
He also would solve one of the more expensive problems — how to get the line across the Missouri River — with a series of traffic signals. The traffic lights would keep vehicles off the Heart of America Bridge — the suggested passage across the river — while light-rail cars were passing to prevent any weight-limit problems. It had previously been discussed that a $65 million bridge would have to be built to get the light rail across the river.
An alternative analysis is being performed by HNTB Architects, Engineers and Planners, which is the first requirement to solidify federal funding for the rail line. Chastain was optimistic about securing matching federal funds for the project, something officials had previously been weary about because of the numerous municipalities across the nation applying for the same funds.
Chastain told the committee he expected the pie of funding for public transportation to get bigger.
“I think the pendulum of the federal government is swinging in the right direction,” he said of the Democratic shift in Congress.
Tension entered the meeting after Chastain referred to the KCATA, which was in charge of contracting HNTB, as his “nemesis” and suggested officials there were causing a road block for the voter-approved plan by calling the plan unworkable.
Mark Huffer, KCATA general manager, previously called Chastain's plan nothing more than “a line on a map.”
Melba Curls, councilwoman and committee member, backed the KCATA after Chastain's comments.
“People in my district rely on the ATA, and a lot of people ride the bus,” she said. “I believe they've done a good job with the monies they have.”
Ford ended the meeting by explaining if anything in the approved plan was deemed impossible, a reworked plan would have to be presented to voters for approval because of the Hancock Amendment, which requires voter-approved legislation to be followed exactly as it appeared on the ballot.
Chastain gave the committee a warning of a possible lawsuit.
“You will only do so if a judge allows you to do so,” he said.
Chastain claims city officials cannot put the issue on the ballot again with new wording.
Staff writer Jeffrey M. Salem can be reached at 389-6653 or jeffsalem@npgco.com.