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May 14, 2003 <br /> <br />The Honorable Governor Tim Pawlenty <br />130 State Capitol <br />75 Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. <br />St. Paul, MN 55155 <br /> <br />Dear Governor Pawlenty: <br /> <br />On behalf of the Northstar Corridor Development Authority (NCDA), thank you for the <br />opportunity to respond to the issues raised in the letter and supporting documents you received <br />from Representative Phil Krink_ie and other legislators dated May 8, 2003. In general, the letter <br />and .the O'Toole/Thoreau Institute analysis are seriously flawed, provide misinformation, and <br />gossly distort the position of the Federal Transit Authority (FTA) and the costs and benefits of <br />the commuter rail proposal for the Northstar corridor. <br /> <br />FTA Status <br /> <br />As you know, in November 2002 the FTA downgraded the stares of the Northstar project from <br />"Recommended" to "Not Recommended." Their justification, found on page A-338 of the 2003 <br />News Starts Report, states "The Not Recommended rating is primarily based on the inability of <br />the project sponsors to obtain a local financial commitment to construct and operate the proposed <br />project." The FTA decision was not related in any way to Mr. Anton's analysis, which was <br />completed two months after the release of the 2003 New Starts Report. <br /> <br />Representative Krinkie references a quote about concerns expressed by the FTA. Those <br />concerns relate to the computation of Cost Per Transportation System User Benefit, a new <br />measure used by the FTA to determine the v/ability of the project. Other projects throughout the <br />country have also not been rated in this category as a result of the computation formula and are <br />in similar discussions with the FTA. MnDOT and the NCDA will recalculate this measure later <br />this year when new ridership projections are completed. <br /> <br />Mr. O'Toole's Qualifications <br /> <br />The depth of Mr. O'Toole's work has been on forestry issues -- aggressively opposing the <br />President's plan for thinning national forests as a method to prevent forest fires. He has also <br />proposed private ownership of animals as a preferred method of managing endangered species. <br /> <br /> Northstar Corridor Development Authority <br />2100 3rd Avenue, Anoka, Minnesota 55303-2265 (763) 323-5700 Fax: (763) 323-5682 www. northstartrain.org <br /> <br /> <br />