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REGULAR MEETING August 13, 2018
<br /> with stakeholders like NICTD and the South Bend Airport, representatives of which were present
<br /> at the meeting, but hoped to communicate the Administration's conclusions on this matter to the
<br /> Council and public.
<br /> Mayor Buttigieg stated that the economic numbers made certain options easy to fall away—such
<br /> as the South Bend Chocolate Factory station or the Amtrak station options. Of the viable options,
<br /> the Administration was most excited for downtown train access,as it provides the best opportunity
<br /> for a return on investment of all options presented. Despite being two (2) miles further into town,
<br /> this option would provide the same travel time as going to the airport. Any of the options would
<br /> be contingent upon the double-tracking plan going forward as intended, with a projected
<br /> completion date of 2020. This would bring the travel time to one (1) hour and twenty-two (22)
<br /> minutes. Mayor Buttigieg stated, The question is what would it take to get those other twelve (12)
<br /> minutes to get to the hour and a half(1 1/2 hour)figure that many consider kind of a magic number
<br /> for a step change, and people's willingness to use it as a regular commuting option. The station
<br /> project is expensive but not extreme, by train station standards. $100,000,000 is greater than the
<br /> original $25,000,000 of City contributions, but with a combination of what the City can do itself,
<br /> federal funding, and creativity, $100,000,000 is achievable.
<br /> Mayor Buttigieg asked,rhetorically,what South Bend could accomplish by 2025.Mayor Buttigieg
<br /> stated, You could picture a world in 2025 where, let's say a worker in one (1) of our new tech
<br /> companies is married to a faculty member who works in Chicago and gets off the train and maybe
<br /> goes to their home in one(1)of their housing developments that's taking shape around Four Winds
<br /> Field. Or you have'a young child living in public housing on Monroe Circle who is able to go with
<br /> a school group to take advantage of a free museum day at the Field Museum or Museum of Science
<br /> and Industry in Chicago and take advantage of the educational opportunity. Or, really, anybody
<br /> with enough money to get on the TRANSPO bus can get to one (1) stop away from one (1) of the
<br /> global economic centers in our country today. It's a compelling picture. So, we are very excited
<br /> about developing next steps to see if that picture can become a reality.
<br /> Mayor Buttigieg explained that though the Administration is confident and optimistic about
<br /> achieving in making these hypothetical visions a reality, there are lingering questions such as
<br /> whether or not there will be any increase in the price tag for this project, or whether or not it is
<br /> economically viable for the City of South Bend. He stated, This deserves a really thorough look if
<br /> we're going to commit these kinds of once-in-a-generation resources to this. Regarding the
<br /> assembly of funding for the project, Mayor Buttigieg stated, I am prepared to say to the Common
<br /> Council that I believe this level of funding is conceivable, but I am not prepared to show you the
<br /> line item roster of how we got that funding stacked up. He stated, I think we know enough to do
<br /> the work to answer some of those questions I've just posed. ...We need to get to the answers to
<br /> these questions for the downtown options even as we're answering the questions that might change
<br /> the right answer before a shovel goes into the ground, whether we are talking about some of the
<br /> other possibilities that are over the horizon at the airport or some of the other possibilities that were
<br /> floated in the course of the study.
<br /> Mayor Buttigieg explained that he was providing the City Administration's perspective on this
<br /> matter but the City is not the owner of the South Shore—NICTD is—but a partner committed to
<br /> providing substantial municipal resources to this project. He stated, We are ready to back,
<br /> potentially with game-changing resources, certain outcomes, but we cannot go down a path that
<br /> does not make sense in the eyes of the people who do the day-in day-out work at the South Shore.
<br /> The airport is a partner in this conversation,right now, and there are a number of other community
<br /> partners, including in particular inter-governmental partners all the way up to the federal
<br /> government, without whose support it is not obvious that we could find the funding to do this at
<br /> all.
<br /> Mayor Buttigieg stated, So,that is the City Administration's perspective. We are excited about the
<br /> possibilities but we want to be honest about the questions that remain, and what we would like to
<br /> do is begin down the path not just to the economic work that has already been done, but the
<br /> concrete engineering work that will inform the answers to those questions, which we believe that
<br /> we can get through the engagement of professional services over the course of the coming months
<br /> so that we can get this right, even while other questions are being asked and answered around the
<br /> community. I would like to ask now if the Council would indulge representation from the South
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