20150053 Ver 1_Email_20061017

Re R-2409C
Subject: Re R-2409C
From: Joel Setzer <jsetzer@dot state nc us>
Date: Tue, 17 Oct 2006 13 43 46 -0400
To: Brian Wrenn <bnan wrenn@ncmail net>
CC: david.k baker@usace army mil, markdavis@dot state nc us, Michael Turchy
<maturchy@dot state nc us>, John Hennessy <John Hennessy@ncmail net>, "Jamie
Wilson, PE" <jwilson@dot state nc us>, Greg Thorpe <gthorpe@dot state nc us>
Thank you for this thought I do not mind having a meeting to discuss the matter
The meeting could be a conference call or occur in Sylva
This is the information I will be presenting at the meeting to express why the project
should not go through the Merger Process Division 14 has a handful of projects in
the Merger Process These projects are terribly behind schedule. Each meeting
appears to become a posturing for agencies to achieve the outcome they want It has
taken up to three years to achieve concurrence point number one. The average time
on a statewide basis to complete the Merger Process is eight years.
This project is an old commitment by NCDOT to Transylvania County It has been
delayed numerous times It is now designated as a high priority in the Federal
Transportation Act and is funded with High Priority Funds I do not believe this
project can stay on schedule (construction in FY 2009) and go through Merger I
support the concepts of Merger, it just has never delivered a project for this Division
on schedule I fact, Division 14 has never gotten a project through Merger.
Although I cannot recommend the project for Merger, I fully intend and expect we
will work with all agencies to avoid and minimize. After your meeting, we have
determined Alternative 2 (the one that went through the Small Whorled Pogoma) is
not worth further consideration We have asked the consultant to look at two new
alternatives that are variations of Alternative 3. We also noted that Alternative 1 as
shown at the meeting does not account for extra widening in the curves It will have
greater impacts and these need to be considered
I believe we can accomplish a high quality project for all and not go through the
cumbersome process Merger has shown to be in Division 14.
If after considering this information you would like to have the meeting to discuss
Merger for this project, please contact me and let me know if we need to have a
meeting or if a conference call will work
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Re R-2409C
Brian Wrenn wrote
Joel,
Based on a field meeting last week for the R-2409C project, I think this project
should go through the Merger Process This is a federally funded project
involving threatened and endangered species, State Park lands, and proposed
alternatives with a wide range of impacts I think a scopmg meeting should be
arranged to make a determination on whether the Merger process is appropriate
for this project If you would like to discuss this further, please contact me at
919-733-5715 Thanks
Brian
Brian L Wrenn
Environmental Specialist III
Transportation Permitting Unit
Division of Water Quality
2321 Crabtree Blvd , Ste 250
Raleigh, NC 27604
919-733-5715 -phone
919-733-5893 - fax
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