By DAN TELVOCK
Two members of the Virginia Railway Express Operations Board say they think the board will approve concessions Spotsylvania County officials want in an agreement to join the commuter-rail service.
Paul Milde, a Stafford County supervisor and VRE board member, said he hopes the entire board approves the concessions by Nov. 30, which would clear the way for Spotsylvania to join VRE.
"[The concessions] have already been vetted by the CEO and the operations board has a copy of the changes," he said. "This may not be perfect, but this is definitely a step in the right direction. This is the closest we've ever gotten to having our southern brother officially in the system, and I am happy for that."
Fredericksburg City Councilman Matt Kelly, a VRE board member, said he has not heard any feedback from members from the other eight VRE member jurisdictions, but he is "confident we can work with the agreement as has been negotiated."
On Tuesday night, supervisors narrowly agreed to join VRE but postponed the date the county would do so from Jan. 1 to Feb. 15. That date is important because it is almost a month after supervisors elected to board seats on the November ballot take office.
D.J. McGuire, a Republican who opposes joining VRE, is challenging Gary Skinner, who was instrumental in getting the agreement approved on a 4-3 vote after a 3 -hour public hearing.
Supervisor Benjamin Pitts, who voted for the VRE agreement, is being challenged by Chris Yakabouski, a Republican who opposes joining VRE.
If either Yakabouski or McGuire wins, he could try to reverse the vote. But Milde said he doesn't think campaigning against VRE would be a smart move by his fellow Republicans.
"I dare them to make this an election issue," Milde said. "If they want to make this an issue, go ahead. It is a losing issue for them."
VRE Chief Executive Officer Dale Zehner said the Operations Board will probably discuss Spotsylvania's contract terms at its meeting today.
Some of Spotsylvania's proposed revisions include delaying payments to VRE for three years, guaranteeing that a station and third rail are finished within two years, and capping its subsidy so the county would never have to dip into its general fund to pay its share of VRE.
Zehner would not predict how the Operations Board would react to Spotsylvania's proposed conditions but said he is optimistic an agreement can be reached.
"This is a positive. That's the way I take it, and I'm going to start to work with Spotsylvania right now and start to do the things we have to do to get that third track all the way to Crossroads [Business Park near the VRE rail yard]," he said.
Zehner was impressed by the speakers at the public hearing Tuesday night. People were respectful and had clearly done advance research on development concerns, membership issues, population growth and taxes, he said.
"It was a real public hearing," Zehner said.
He said he was cheered that the debate was no longer about train delays. VRE trains arrived on time 88 percent of the time in fiscal year 2009 and more than 90 percent of the time last month.
Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Email: dtelvock@freelancestar.com