|
|
|
| Fri, Nov. 20 - - Mobile - RSS | |
|
|
Spotsy station down the line
It could be as many as two years before Virginia Railway Express passenger service is available in Spotsylvania County
Date published: 11/5/2009
By DAN TELVOCK Spotsylvania County residents can expect a Virginia Railway Express station by February 2012, according to the agreement governing the county's membership with the commuter rail service. Benjamin Pitts and Gary Skinner, two pro-VRE candidates, won re-election to the Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors on Tuesday night, essentially sealing the deal for the county to join VRE. Spotsylvania officials have eluded VRE membership for almost 20 years, before the historic 4-3 vote in August that also stipulated the agreement would not be official until Feb. 15. "We've always wanted the county to join and have a station in Spotsylvania," said VRE CEO Dale Zehner. "I am really happy these two supervisors won re-election." The agreement that the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission is expected to ratify tonight requires VRE to extend a third rail into Spotsylvania so that service can begin at the same time a station is built. For years, VRE plans have included the possibility of a Spotsylvania station to be located in Crossroads Industrial Park off the U.S. 17 bypass near VRE's $7.2 million train maintenance facility, which opened in the past year. VRE spokesman Mark Roeber said preliminary design and environmental testing is under way for a third rail that will run from Fredericksburg to Spotsylvania near the VRE rail yard. The agreement also states that the third rail extension must coincide with the county's building a new VRE station and parking lot. The agreement says the parking lot must have at least 500 parking spaces and the capacity to expand to 1,000 spaces. About 1,000 riders from Spotsylvania now board the trains daily from Fredericksburg and Stafford stations. The county does not have a formal agreement with any developer, landowner or company to build a VRE station. But there is a lot of support for the service among the business community in Spotsylvania. The comprehensive plan, which is a guide for growth, targets an area by the VRE Crossroads yard of U.S. 17 and State Route 2 as a prime location. This is also an area where Tricord Companies proposed, and later postponed, Summit Crossing, a 5,900-unit development with stores, night life and job centers. Roeber said the county-VRE agreement, which allows Spotsylvania to collect a 2.1 percent wholesale gasoline tax to pay for commuter rail and other local transportation projects, becomes formal when county officials sign it in February. "It then starts the clock rolling and a two-year window for them to secure funding and build the station and parking," Roeber said. Dan Telvock: 540/374-5438
Read more stories about Spotsylvania Date published: 11/5/2009
bhaas
(posted by
spotsylady
, Nov. 8, 2009 3:56 pm)
Can't find the exact page, but here are links to the bill (SB 1532): http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?091+sum+sb1532 and http://www.vpcga.com/files/public/Draft%20Motor%20Vehicle%20Fuel%20Sales%20Tax%20Guidelines%209-24-09%5B1%5D.pdf
Spotslady...
(posted by
bhaas
, Nov. 7, 2009 6:57 am)
Please post the "bill number" of that "floating around" bill effective next January. Thank you.
con't
(posted by
spotsylady
, Nov. 6, 2009 1:07 pm)
"The revenue from the tax is distributed monthly to the appropriate district and is used for transportation needs within the district.The effective date of this bill is January 1, 2010."
con't
(posted by
spotsylady
, Nov. 6, 2009 1:05 pm)
"The new license tax would be imposed at a rate of 2.1 percent of the sales price charged by the distributor for motor fuels and remitted monthly to TAX. Distributors would be allowed a dealer discount of 2 percent of the tax collected as compensation for accounting for and remitting the tax. Under current law, a 2% Motor Vehicle Fuel Sales Tax tax is levied in the localities that comprise the PRTC and NVTC..." con't
That sounds right
(posted by
spotsylady
, Nov. 6, 2009 1:03 pm)
Either way you end up with the same amount, but there's confusion on where it shows up. Found this bill floating around though: "This bill would repeal the current Motor Vehicle Fuel Sales Tax imposed in the NVTC and PRTC and would impose a new license tax on distributors engaged in the business of selling fuels at wholesale to retail dealers located in the NVTC and PRTC..."con't
|
 |
|||
|
|||
