ACTION REQUESTED:
Title
Communication from the City Manager and Director of Public Works with a Request for the Following:
A. APPROVE up to $100,000.00 for the City's Contribution to Apply for the FEDERAL RAIL ADMINISTRATION CORRIDOR IDENTIFICATION and DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM with the Remainder of the Funds Coming from the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission and the North Central Illinois Council of Goverments; and,
B. ADOPT an ORDINANCE Amending the City of Peoria 2022-2023 BIENNIAL BUDGET Related to the Use of General Fund Balance, in an Amount not to Exceed $100,000.00 in 2022.
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BACKGROUND: The Federal Rail Administration has $66 Billion available for passenger rail initiatives over the next 5 years. One of these initiatives is the Corridor Identification and Development Program, a new program to identify future rail corridors throughout the USA. The Corridor Identification and Development Program applications will be released in the 4th Quarter of this year. The City of Peoria, Tri-County Regional Planning Commission and the North Central Illinois Council of Governments have been working on a plan to prepare an application to get into the new rail corridor pipeline. The estimated cost for an application is between $200,000-$250,000.
The consultant teams that have worked on the feasibility study, Patrick Engineering and Hansen Engineering, are willing to engage with the City and our partners to prepare an application. Staff would request to utilize up to $100,000 of fund balance to support this effort. Tri-County Regional Planning Executive Director Eric Miller is asking for $50,000 of funding from the Commission, and the remaining $100,000 would come from our colleagues up north. The Rail Working Group has asked IDOT to utilize any unspent funds that they may have on the rail engagement to be applied to the application. Should the route be selected, the FRA would cover 80% of the cost of a Service Development Plan for the route.
The Cor...
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