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Hap Connors, chairman of the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors, listens to the public comment portion of last night's hearing on VRE membership at Courtland High School.
Audience members listen as Alan Branfman speaks during |
At 10:02 last night, the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors agreed to accept membership into Virginia Railway Express.
But it won't become effective until Feb. 15--after this November's election.
That date in the motion that Supervisor Jerry Logan requested is important because two people who do not support VRE will challenge two VRE-supporting supervisors in November. And if they win, they could reverse any decision to join.
The original date was Jan. 1, before any possible new members would officially take office. The motion angered Supervisors Benjamin Pitts and Gary Skinner, who face two anti-VRE opponents.
"The voters of the Battlefield District voted for me in November 2007 with over 50 percent of the votes in a three-way race. I am entitled to make a vote on behalf of the Battlefield residents on VRE until I am no longer in office," Pitts said.
The decision to wait until Feb. 15 basically provides the residents of the Battlefield and Lee Hill districts a referendum on VRE.
In the end, Pitts and Skinner supported the motion because it was the only option left to vote on. They joined Supervisors Hap Connors and Logan. Supervisors Emmitt Marshall, T.C. Waddy and Gary Jackson voted against the motion. Jackson wanted to postpone the vote until Del. Mark Cole introduced legislation that would allow the county to hold advisory referendums to put the issue to a vote. That motion died 5-2.
About 100 people attended last night's public hearing. Based on people who signed up to speak, VRE supporters outnumbered the opposition by almost a 2-to-1 margin.
The VRE Operations Board, which meets Friday, has until Nov. 30 to unanimously approve the changes to the agreement that the county has requested. Some of those revisions include delaying payments to VRE for three years, guaranteeing a station and third rail to connect the county's future train station are finished within two years, and capping the subsidy so that the county would never have to dip into general fund budget dollars to fund its share of VRE.
VRE supporters said the money left over after paying the county's share of VRE operations--estimated to be as much as $3 million annually--can be used to pay the bond debt from the 2005 bond, pave dirt roads and improve other roads.
That bond referendum included $12 million for a VRE station. Supporters also said that county residents are already paying the 2 percent gasoline tax (2.1 percent in January) required to join VRE, and that joining VRE could spur economic development here.
Jim Smith, a former county supervisor, said the county is leaving money for transportation on the table when it could be using it to pay debt or pave roads.
"Otherwise, we are going to have to tack it onto the real estate taxes because that bond is going to have to be paid," he said.
Some VRE foes said they shouldn't have to pay for commuters' rides to Washington. Some believed that the excess gasoline tax money won't be as high as elected leaders have estimated. Some opponents also said it is nearly impossible to exit the agreement with VRE if the county ever decides it no longer wants to partner with the rail service. Those who oppose it asked for a referendum on whether to join VRE, but the General Assembly would have to take action for that to happen.
Dan Fields owns a vanpool service that takes about 300 people to Washington a day. He said it can take more than two hours one way to get from Fredericksburg to D.C. on VRE trains. He said vanpools are a better option.
"I don't know how many people are riding the train, but I am not asking you to subsidize my business, and I would appreciate you not asking me to subsidize a business I am competing with," he said.
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com
