In front of North Meck officials, including Davidson Mayor John Woods and Bill Thunberg, executive director of the Lake Norman Transportation Commission, the Iredell Board insisted on  more information on the $452 million plan.
Jan. 17 Iredell County commissioners didn't derail the proposed Red Line at their Tuesday night board meeting. They just put a herd of cattle in front of it.

After a series of blunt arguments against the proposed commuter and freight service from Charlotte to southern Iredell County, they voted unanimously to withhold support for the "current draft business finance plan," saying "we believe the draft plan will lead to higher taxes for all citizens of Iredell, despite claims to the contrary."

The resolution said Iredell will reject all future Red Line proposals unless the consultants hired by the NC Department of Transportation produce the names of the corporations that will build along the proposed line.

“We have an obligation, if we are going to turn this thing down, that they have a target to shoot at,” said Steve Johnson, chairman of the Iredell Board of Commissioners.

Like Tonya Harding at a sportsmanship convention, the Red Line consultants fled the meeting room in Iredell County's historic government building, where "In God We Trust" is emblazoned in stone across the entryway.

I can not in good conscience hold the taxpayers of Iredell County hostage. In the economic times we live in, I cannot see this as a good investment," said Renee Griffith, a member of the Iredell board. Commissioner Ken Robertson, who said he was "totally out" when it came to supporting the Red Line, declared that Iredell would likely be left holding the bag because it is at the terminus of the Red Line, and therefore most subject to cost over-runs. He said the nature of commuter rail, coupled with Iredell's highly regarded school system, would bring young families, not jobs. The factories and office buildings that drive ratables would stay in Mecklenburg, Robertson said.

Mark Briggs

The Red Line Regional Rail project requires buy-in from all the governments up and down the 25-mile line. Supporters say the line would spur development at each of the commuter stations from Huntersville to Mooresville, as well as "freight villages" that would enhance tax ratables from new manufacturing plants.

Asked if a thumbs-down from the Iredell County Commission meant "game over" for the Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte said: "Probably.  There are alternatives but they are difficult at best."

The Red Line, which would extend from Gateway Station near the center of Charlotte to Mount Mourne, near the Lowe's corporate headquarters in Mount Mourne, comes out of years of study and planning for growth. The Metropolitan Transit Commission established a task force in June 2010. With support from the N.C. Department of Transportation, the MTC has asked for intense study right now as well as public hearings, followed by votes up or down in the spring.

Iredell has been consistently absent at Red Line-related meetings, and the effect of its opposition to the plan was the first question posed at Cornelius Today's Newsmakers Breakfast last week at The Peninsula Yacht Club.

At Tuesday's Iredell Commission meeting, the consultants who are trying to outline the plan to local governments, Mark Briggs of Parsons Brinckerhoff Advisory Services and Katherine Henderson of KKH Consulting, might as well have been steak tartare at a bed and breakfast for alligators.

County chair Johnson used the word "cockamamie" to describe the financial acumen behind the plan. Saying that "major components" in the plan were faulty, Johnson said the best way to insulate Iredell taxpayers from cost overruns is a "sound business plan based on hard numbers."

Johnson stated: "If anybody worked for a U.S. corporation and went in with a business plan like this I'd be surprised if they had a job."

Tarte said that all nine entities that would be involved -- Mecklenburg and Iredell counties;  Huntersville; Cornelius; Davidson; Mooresville; Charlotte; the N.C. Department of Transportation, and the Charlotte Area Transit System -- "all need to agree for us to move forward." Even without the Iredell County issue, the plan requires buy-in from property owners on a local level. Tarte said establishing the special tax assessment districts "may be an equally difficult hurdle even if it gets past Iredell."