In our Online Opinion poll last week, we asked readers to voteon whether or not they thought there was a need for the city tobuild a new intermodal transportation facility. Sixty-eight percentof the respondents said “no.”

While we would not oppose anything that would improve Brookhavenand Lincoln County, we do think now is the time to question thereal need for the transportation center, which is estimated to costbetween $3 million and $5 million.

And, we agree with the community leaders and businessmen who areraising questions about the short-term local match costs andlong-term operational costs of the facility. What exactly will itcost? Between $3 million and $5 million seems a bit “ballpark” tous. How much in real dollars will Brookhaven citizens have tocontribute to the project? How much will it cost to staff andoperate the facility once it is completed?

As we pointed out earlier, some contractual issues, such aswhether private bus service can be located at the facility, havealso been raised.

The need for a public meeting with architects, engineers andothers has been suggested for the near future to address questionsand issues. We hope city officials will do this soon. The taxpayersdeserve answers to their questions.