Posted on May 26, 2017
Author Mary Perren, WKVI
The North Judson Town Council has hired an appraiser for their railroad line. During a special-called Wednesday meeting members agreed to pay Alexandria, Va.-based G.W. Fauth & Associates an amount not to exceed $35,000 for the work. It will mark the first appraisal the town has had of the rail line since taking over ownership in 2004.
The town council last July selected Michigan-based Lake State Railway to operate it.
Meanwhile, the Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad (CKIN), which formerly leased the line from the town, has not voluntarily vacated it. Their lease expired last Aug. 15th.
In July of 2015 farmer-owed grain handling cooperative Co-Alliance sent a letter to the Surface Transportation Board stating the need for a rail line operator with knowledge of grain commodity shipping and expressing their support for a continued relationship with CKIN.
The town had a May 10th deadline to file an Application for Adverse Discontinuance of Service by Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad with the Surface Transportation Board. Such a filing would allow for the removal of CKIN as the operator by legal means.
Until that is done, the town cannot finalize the lease with Lake State Railway. The uncertainty is also keeping excursion trains operated by the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum from traveling past English Lake due to the storage of freight cars on the tracks. The train rides through the countryside to English Lake and LaCrosse are popular tourism draws.
Chicago-based Railroad Regulatory Attorney Thomas McFarlad is handling the STB filings for the town. Attempts by WKVI to reach him via email were not successful.
Showing posts with label Co-Alliance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Co-Alliance. Show all posts
Friday, May 26, 2017
Friday, July 22, 2016
Lake State Railway Selected to Lease North Judson’s Railroad
Posted on July 21, 2016
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI
The Town of North Judson has selected Lake State Railway to lease its short line railroad. The town council unanimously made the decision during a special meeting Thursday.
Town Attorney Rachel Arndt says a few more steps have to be taken before the lease is finalized, though. She says notices need to be published, and a public hearing will be held on the lease agreement. It’s tentatively scheduled for Thursday, August 11 at 6:30 p.m.
After that, Arndt says some additional negotiations will take place during a closed meeting the following day, “It’s going to be a meeting between the [Hoosier Valley] Railroad Museum, Co-Alliance, any of the other customers on the line that want to be involved, the town, and then Lake State we’ll invite, now that they’re the chosen lessee, to see if we can come to some agreements on the freight schedule and the passenger schedule, and kind of what our long-term goals are as a unit of folks on the line.”
The new lease is expected to impact the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, which operates excursions on the line. It’s had to suspend its trips beyond English Lake and into LaCrosse, due to the terms of a short-term extension of the town’s operating agreement with the Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad.
Additionally, Arndt says an agreement on pricing must be reached with the line’s major freight customer before the lease can go ahead. “This is going to be subject to negotiation with Co-Alliance of commercially reasonable rates, so we’ll bring Co-Alliance in the fold and get them involved with trying to figure out what their freight rate arrangement is going to be with the lessee,” she says. “We kind of stay out of that. It’s just between them and what they can negotiate.”
According to its website, Lake State Railway currently operates about 300 miles of track in Michigan, between Flint, Gaylord, and Alpena, with headquarters in Saginaw. Lake State beat out NIWX as the town’s final selection.
Author Michael Gallenberger, WKVI
The Town of North Judson has selected Lake State Railway to lease its short line railroad. The town council unanimously made the decision during a special meeting Thursday.
Town Attorney Rachel Arndt says a few more steps have to be taken before the lease is finalized, though. She says notices need to be published, and a public hearing will be held on the lease agreement. It’s tentatively scheduled for Thursday, August 11 at 6:30 p.m.
After that, Arndt says some additional negotiations will take place during a closed meeting the following day, “It’s going to be a meeting between the [Hoosier Valley] Railroad Museum, Co-Alliance, any of the other customers on the line that want to be involved, the town, and then Lake State we’ll invite, now that they’re the chosen lessee, to see if we can come to some agreements on the freight schedule and the passenger schedule, and kind of what our long-term goals are as a unit of folks on the line.”
The new lease is expected to impact the Hoosier Valley Railroad Museum, which operates excursions on the line. It’s had to suspend its trips beyond English Lake and into LaCrosse, due to the terms of a short-term extension of the town’s operating agreement with the Chesapeake and Indiana Railroad.
Additionally, Arndt says an agreement on pricing must be reached with the line’s major freight customer before the lease can go ahead. “This is going to be subject to negotiation with Co-Alliance of commercially reasonable rates, so we’ll bring Co-Alliance in the fold and get them involved with trying to figure out what their freight rate arrangement is going to be with the lessee,” she says. “We kind of stay out of that. It’s just between them and what they can negotiate.”
According to its website, Lake State Railway currently operates about 300 miles of track in Michigan, between Flint, Gaylord, and Alpena, with headquarters in Saginaw. Lake State beat out NIWX as the town’s final selection.
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