Laserfiche WebLink
Railroad Wye Update <br />July 23, 2010 <br />Page 5 <br />involved and new demands are being made. Among these are: 1) the City <br />pay some type fee/rent for use of the CP right-of-way and 2) the City pay for <br />maintenance costs in the first 5 years of the project. MT Properties and city staff have <br />pushed back on these demands, but so far the CP has not backed down. There are <br />some other legal issues that the city attorney is concerned about, but the financial <br />issues have been most problematic. <br />The CP's financial demands are somewhat difficult to quantity. At one point, the rent <br />amountwas in the range of $21,000 for a 30 -year lease. In addition, the City was asked <br />to pay $6,000 toward the maintenance costs of the CP wye connection. Most of these <br />costs relate to annual Federal Railroad Authority (FRA) inspections. Our initial <br />conclusion is Nat these are unreasonable costs for the City to absorb since these relate <br />to operations and maintenance. Furthermore, the expenses are probably not eligible for <br />reimbursement through the Stale grant. We are continuing to wait for resolution of <br />these latest demands. <br />Next Steps <br />Staff would like Council direction on whether we should spend additional time and <br />resources on this project. If the demands latest demands of the railroads are <br />unacceptable, we need to communicate that to the appropriate people. The City could <br />decide that these additional expenses are worthwhile to make the project happen. If we <br />do move ahead, the Council will be asked at some point in the neM month or so to <br />approve a variety of agreements. In the meantime, we look forward to Council <br />feedback. <br />Attachments <br />