INTER-NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL

Making Better Neighborhoods

http://www.rtpnet.org/durhminc

Minutes of Meeting of July 25, 2000

Police Department Community Services Room

Members Present

Al Stone

Duke Homestead

Ann Steedly

NCDOT Rail

Carrie Mowry

Colony Park

Cheryl King

Carter & Burgess/NCDOT

Dale Stouch

Placid Valley

Janene Tompkins

Trinity Park

Erick Larson

TLNA

Fred L. Mowry

Colony Park

Jim Emery

Old North Durham

John Dagenhart

Trinity Park

Johnea D. Kelley

Duke Park

Karen Fried

Placid Valley

Leza Munot

Aradis/NCDOC

Linwood Best

Housing and Com., City of Durham

Norm Krause

Hope Valley

Tad Howard

Carpenter-Fletcher

Terri Koch

Watts Hospital/Hillandale

Administration and announcements

John Dagenhart called the meeting to order at 7:10.

Treasurer Norm Krause reported that no new neighborhoods have paid. The totals are thus the same as last month: 24 neighborhoods have paid dues, and the INC bank balance remains at $1186.

The minutes for June were approved, with the suggestion that a paragraph be added to report that Governor Hunt's Million Acres initiative passed.

Carrie Mowry reported that she has a draft INC newsletter and invited comments on it.

New Business

Featured Speakers: Ann Steedly and others from NCDOT, speaking on the Southeast High Speed Rail project.

Ann heads an NCDOT team that has been holding local workshops (26 of them held by the end June) to explain the project and to solicit citizen comments. Despite its name, the project is focused less on speed than on improving rail efficiency and safety, and on providing service competitive with air and auto. The planned maximum speed for trains in North Carolina would be 79 mph, rising ultimately to 110 mph. The speed limit within Durham would be 50 mph. By contrast, the speed for the Northeast Corridor (Washington to NY) is 125, to rise later to 150 mph.

Current plans call for six of eight trains on the NC southeast route to have stops in Durham. The trains will be part of the AMTRAK system. The engines probably will be diesel, not electric. The line eventually will link with another connecting Greenville SC, Macon GA, and Atlanta.

Ann said she expects the plans to be implemented in about ten years.

Other new business:

· City-county merger: John Dagenhart said he would like INC to tell the city and county that we would like to be able to vote on the issue. However, he did not propose a formal motion because we lacked a quorum.

Closing

The meeting was adjourned at 8:25.

AAS

8/22/00