TREASURE COAST REGIONAL PLANNING COUNCIL M E M O R A N D U M To: Council Members AGENDA ITEM 9 From: Date: Subject: Staff May 16, 2013 Council Meeting Memorandum of Understanding for Tri-Rail Coastal Link Partnership Introduction The purpose of this item is to request Council approval of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish the Tri-Rail Coastal Link Partnership. There are eight signatory parties to the MOU, including Council as well as the Palm Beach Metropolitan Planning Organization, Broward County Metropolitan Planning Organization, Miami-Dade Metropolitan Planning Organization, Southeast Florida Transportation Council (SEFTC), South Florida Regional Transportation Authority (SFRTA), Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT, represented by the Florida Rail Enterprise), and South Florida Regional Planning Council. This MOU will advance streamline efforts to re-establish passenger rail service on the Florida East Coast (FEC) rail corridor in Palm Beach, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Summary The reintroduction of passenger rail service on the FEC rail corridor, as part of a multi-modal transportation network, has been a Council priority for more than two decades. Since 2004, Council has been participating in the South Florida East Coast Corridor (SFECC) Study, which is a comprehensive analysis intended to identify a premium transit network, focusing on future commuter rail on the FEC corridor through Palm Beach, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. The project is highly complex, with extensive coordination needed among a number of different agencies, local governments, citizens, and the private sector for the project to be successful. Accordingly, for the past year, discussion has been underway among the various parties noted above to clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the various parties to improve efficiency, standardize communication and presentation protocols, and streamline the project. In November 2012, Council staff participated as part of a regional delegation to the Sustainable Communities Leadership Academy, which produced a consensus as to agency roles and responsibilities (Exhibit 1). This consensus has been utilized to develop the subject Memorandum of Understanding (Exhibit 2), which further details the agency roles and responsibilities. In addition, Florida East Coast Industries (FECI) is advancing the All Aboard Florida project, which proposes to introduce express intercity passenger rail service on the FEC rail corridor with proposed stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach, and Orlando. FECI has indicated a desire to entertain discussions with the public entities regarding the
Coastal Link commuter service; however, it has requested an agreement be established that identifies a single public face for negotiations to advance. The attached MOU maintains the consensus established in November 2012 and includes the following key components: identifies lead agency (either FDOT or SFRTA) for the various phases of the project (including preliminary project development, project development, engineering, construction, and operations) emphasizes roles of MPOs and SEFTC at various decision points throughout the process assigns financial responsibilities to SFRTA, including designation of SFRTA as the operator of the new service and as the designated recipient for any federal funds establishes Executive Steering Committee and three sub-committees (technical, financial, and public outreach), wherein each would include staff representatives of the eight parties to the MOU identifies the two regional planning councils as the coordinator of the Public Outreach Sub-Committee identifies FDOT and SFRTA collaboratively speak with unified voice for the region regarding negotiations with FECI on behalf of the parties An MOU adoption schedule has been developed that enables execution by all parties by May 2013 (see below). If approved by the parties as noted, the schedule would enable formal negotiations with FECI to begin in June 2013. The timing is significant because FECI has indicated its work on the All Aboard Florida project is underway, with construction potentially beginning in 2014. Accordingly, early negotiations could enable some aspects of commuter rail to be considered in conjunction with FECI s construction activity. Further, earlier negotiations could also enable other corridor-related topics, such as quiet zones, station locations, and ancillary development activity, to be addressed as well. TRI-RAIL COASTAL LINK PARTNERSHIP MOU SCHEDULE FOR ADOPTION (revised 5/9/2013) ENTITY DATE (TIME) LOCATION STATUS Briefings for Various Parties March-April 2013 Varied Complete SEFTC April 22, 2013 Hollywood Approved unanimously SFRTA April 26, 2013 Pompano Beach Approved unanimously SFRPC May 6, 2013 Key Largo Approved unanimously Broward MPO May 9, 2013 Fort Lauderdale Approved unanimously Palm Beach MPO May 16, 2013 West Palm Beach Pending TCRPC May 17, 2013 Stuart Pending Miami-Dade MPO May 23, 2013 Miami Pending Florida Rail Enterprise (FDOT) May 2013 no public hearing required Pending Recommendation Council should approve the attached Memorandum of Understanding establishing Tri-Rail Coastal Link Partnership. Attachment
Exhibit 1
Exhibit 2